NBA City
July 03, 2008
Oklahoma City is now an NBA city… no name, colors, or mascot, but we have a team.
I like having a team, but I’m unhappy with the process and the PR that came with it. Having a team should help OKC leave behind its dust bowl/bombing image, but taking an existing franchise like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
For what it’s worth (maybe just to sooth my soul), Seattle was near the bottom in average attendance, at a bit over 14,000/game (28 of 30). OKC, when hosting the Hornets, was near the top at around 17,500/game. I’m not saying it’s a fair deal, but it seems as though OKC fans will be more supportive of a team.
JA Addande (of ESPN) wrote an anti-move column last night stating that us voters in OKC should be concerned that the Sonics owners claimed the move from Seattle would not have a negative impact on their economy, and yet we were sold on the fact that having a team would be a positive impact. What JA failed to note was that Seattle also has two other major league teams (Seahawks and Mariners), as well as an extremely successful soccer them, the Seattle Sounders, and they’ve been granted a Major League Soccer expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC. OKC has other minor league sports, but the NBA is now our only major one; therefore, the argument that it positively affects the OKC economy with minimal impact to Seattle seems sound to me (no pun intended).
To conclude… I’m not sure I finished my whole thought… other than to say, Yay!, we have a team, and Ugh!, why did we have to create negative publicity in getting one?
Posted by paul at July 3, 2008 08:59 AM
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