Money Maggots At Work…….
Oh, I guess I’m supposed to be politically correct and call them magnates, but I think maggots fits much better…… Not really being a sports nut nor a gambler (I think if gambling laws were enforced you would see a very serious drop in the interest of professional sports)…… At 5:00 pm CST today, the money maggots of Seattle are going to announce the sell of The Seattle Super Sonics to the money maggots of Oklahoma City……. Seems the money maggots of Seattle couldn’t get the population to build them a new playing court to replace Key Arena (Cry, Baby, Cry)…… The money has supposedly already changed hands – As to when the team moves to OKC has not been announced….. Apparently, if the Sonics leave Seattle, The Storm (WNBA) will accompany them….. I say whatever, but, that’s just me…… Maybe after they leave, there’ll be enough room in Seattle for me to move there at a reasonable cost…….
July 19th, 2006 at 7:54 am
This just gets better and better….. I watched the announcement and the bottom line is if the city of Seattle doesn’t commit to building a “world class” playing facility for the Sonics within a year, the new “Owners” (money maggots of Oklahoma City) will move the team and the NBA is fully supporting them….. How has our society got to the point that sports organizations can hold a city ransom with extortion and blackmail and get away with it?….. These same maggots pulled this in OKC…. They convinced the voters that we needed a new baseball field for our minor league team “The ’89’ers”…. They just forgot to mention that it would be GIVEN to the owners of the team (the maggots), the name of the team would be changed to “The Redhawks”, and it would be built on property that they owned…. To top it off, they collected $1 Mill from Southwestern Bell to name the stadium after them…. The new team sucks, it costs you $5 to park your car, and it’s harder than hell to get to and from the stadium….. I’ve had it with these type people…. Just what percentage of the population actually go to these games played in a stadium built by taxpayer’s funds anyway?….. I don’t and I don’t think the average person can afford it…. What other private business’s do the taxpayer’s pay for their building, give it to them, and then pay exorbitant prices to attend these facilities…. None that I know of!….. These maggots got a taste of all the money they can make when the Hornet’s temporarily moved to OKC from New Orleans…. They’re returning to New Orleans next season and they just can’t stand to see all that profit leave with them, so they bought the Sonics…. This has gone too far and I hope that Seattle sends them packing and I know I will be voting against any bill to build them a “world class” playground here in OKC…..
July 19th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
MR, I appreciate the no-public-funding for sports point of view, but yours is the sports scrooge position. Unfortunately, this kind of thing has been a part of pro sports since day one — moving teams and trading big-time players. Babe Ruth and moving the Dodgers to LA. Brazenly extorting city/county/state governments does seem to be on the rise, I guess. For those of us who are sports fans, this whole thing is somewhat more complicated.
I enjoyed having the Hornets here this past season. Having the Sonics, a rather storied franchise with a championship to its name and some good years in the 90s, moved to the prairie, just doesn’t seem right.
BTW, the RedHawks have been quite good overall since the name change, with the exception of a couple seasons. It’s a nice little ballpark, and not much more expensive than going to the movies.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:49 am
Okay, HS, I admit I was a bit hard on the RedHawks record…. I was basically “mouthing off” as I really haven’t kept-up with their win-loss record….. You do have to admit that the OKC-Seattle connection is weird since most of our community is from one or the other, or both….. I was also surprised to find out that there was $350 Mill loose cash available in OKC…. I went to the bank yesterday to cash a $4.00 check and they told me it would be at least a week – all their cash assets went to Seattle!….. (That’s a joke)…..
July 20th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Maybe this is on the rise, too: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/50814
July 20th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
That’s a good one, HS, and right on the mark….. I have a question for you since you are into sports and I will go along with your answer since I consider you an expert in the field (Left, Right, or Center – your choice)….. In your opinion, do you think the overall added income to local government and businesses generated by having a pro team located within a city would generally equal or exceed the expenditure of taxpayer’s funds spent to build and maintain the playing facilities for the team(s)?…..
July 20th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
I have absolutely no clue.
It’s fascinating that San Francisco, one of the most liberal places in the country, is home to a ballpark built almost entirely with private financing (I say “almost,” because there was some TIF-type breaks which contributed a small percentage).
July 20th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
I can go with your “no clue” answer, but, I’m sure that a tremendous amount of revenue is generated around a Pro-team, especially a winning one, and I’m sure the local governments would get their fair share, but whether that would be used to replace the taxpayer furnished funds for projects that could have been completed instead of building a playing venue is what I question….. I will say, HS, you did get me to view the whole situation in a completely different perspective….. Thanks…. It’s sort of like all the people who made the statement of, “Why are we spending all that money in outer space?”…… I don’t know of a single Wal-Mart in outer space…… The money was spent here on Earth furnishing thousands of jobs for the general population……
July 21st, 2006 at 1:53 am
I’m not a hoops fan, so I couldn’t care less where the Sonics play. But if they are moved to OKC, at least the venue ( The Ford Center ) is already built and paid for. At least until the money maggots decide it’s time to extort a new arena from OKC tax-payers. But a larger injustice was perpetrated on OKC sporting goods store owners a few years back when OKC money maggots spent tons o’ tax monies to lure Bass Pro to Bricktown. Of course, most ( if not all ) of those store owners are right-wingers, and I’m all for the “Cheney Doctrine” ( Republicans shooting Republicans ), so I guess I couldn’t care less about that injustice
either.