I am writing this as a result of the apparent move by the new owner of the Seattle Supersonics to hijack that team and move it to Oklahoma City. I am amazed that I don’t hear more outrage from Cleveland fans regarding this situation. I know we are all very happy here right now in the NBA with LeBron James and the blockbuster deal that Danny Ferry just pulled off to rid this town of Larry Hughes. I know that our noses are buried deep in the newspaper watching the moves that Phil Savage pulls off to rebuild the defense and rise above a surprising 10-win season. But Cleveland fans should be screaming almost as loudly as Seattle fans as cross-country advocates for a city that appears to be about to lose its team.
It is a situation that is so familiar to Clevelanders. We lost the Browns because Art Modell wanted to hold the city at gunpoint over a new stadium. Sure there was some bad political play in there as well, but the bottom line is that Cleveland lost their football team and it never should have happened. Well, Seattle shouldn’t lose their basketball team either just because some guy has tons and tons of money. He could afford the team, but to put his desires and wishes above all those basketball fans who have been following the Sonics for 40+ years is ridiculous.
Just like what happened in Cleveland, there are a lot of people to blame in Seattle. I am not going to go into the blame game except one place. Just like Paul Tagliabue never should have allowed Art Modell to move the Browns out of Cleveland, David Stern should not allow the Sonics to be moved out of Seattle. You shouldn’t allow that to happen to a fan base in a city that has traditionally supported the team. Even if the Sonics have lost money over the last few years, the NBA as a business has not. It is a franchise agreement and it is up to the NBA to wade through the details of making every one of their clubs profitable. It is hard for me to believe that Stern would allow this long-standing franchise with a good track record to be swiped from a traditional NBA city. It is bad business to bring harm to your fan base.
Anyway, I don’t really care about the issues in this case. All I care about is a fan base is about to lose their team. That is where I identify with Seattle today. I support their plight to save their team and I hope that they are at least as successful as the Cleveland fans were in keeping their team identity even as all the players, ownership and staff left to become the Baltimore Ravens. I would hope that other Cleveland fans would at least speak up in support of the Seattle Sonics fans. If anyone out in this world of professional sports fans can understand the horrible suffering they are facing, it is all the rabid Browns fans in Cleveland.
