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February 18, 2007

No Kidding, the Sonics will likely play in Seattle next year

SEATTLE - The Tacoma News Tribune's Frank Hughes writes next year's story today, getting a jump on the Seattle PI's Gary Washburn, and the Seattle Times beat writer when they are at home, Percy Allen (they don't go on the road with the Sonics anymore).

Las vegas – The SuperSonics have 11 days to file for relocation or they will be forced to play the 2007-08 season in Seattle.
According to NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, the Sonics have not filed a relocation request and, as far as he knows, are not planning on filing by the March 1 deadline.
Sonics chairman Clay Bennett said if an agreement on funding for a new arena is not reached by Oct. 31, the one-year anniversary of the sale of the team, he will move the franchise, most likely to Oklahoma City.
Frank Hughes


Dear Frank,
The Oct. 31 in your story is for the year 2007, not 2006. The side letter agreement that was a condition of sale between Howard Schultz and Clay Bennett was that the buyer would make a best effort to secure an arena site in the Seattle area for one year from taking ownership. It was the thing that Howard put out there as some kind of blame repellent the minute the sale was annnounced. Bennett's group took control on Oct. 31, 2006, a year of "best effort" would run through Oct. 31, 2007.
I don't know about you, but I do not believe that trying to weasel out of Seattle this week while asking for a new facility wouldn't be "best effort" material.

By the way, please tell KJR's Gasman when the clock actually started. He thinks it started the day the team announced the sale last July. He would find out what the real date is as soon as the Sonics clarify it for him, or it falls out of the sky, god forbit he get's off his fat ass and makes a phone call. I guess he has to wait for an intern to show up to push all those buttons and hold the phone to his ear.

To answer a question by an infrequent reader, my problem is that you are a shill, and yes, I think that's a not so good thing. It isn't a personal thing, the media (Communication Technology and Society) is my area of study. I call it as I have been trained to see it.

It's all academic.

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