Sonic Boom legal team had this to say:

"Leases are generally not specifically enforceable"

I'm going to keep this nice and short, I promise. 

I have a hard time holding back my anger when I see a new angle to this complicated web of a situation that Clay Bennett has woven us into.  We are near the 11th hour folks.  Its common knowledge that no matter what happens after Leasegate, Judge Pechman's ruling will be appealed, so this is just a popcorn trial for the time being.  It will be nice to see what Sonic Boom's legal team will come up with other than "whaaaa whaaa whaaa we're losing money!" because "boo-hoo" is all I will have to say (SLAM!)

To the point already!

Wiley Williams, Oklahoma City's assistant municipal counselor, had sent a letter to Yarmuth on May 8 indicating his city would take legal action if the Sonics didn't honor the Ford Center lease agreement Bennett has already signed, even if control of the team ultimately is taken away by Schultz's suit.

Richard Yarmuth is the (awesome) attorney representing Howard Schultz (funny that my spell check [os 10.5] says the correct spelling is schmaltz - which is yiddish for chicken fat).

This quote from Wiley last month sets a new obstacle in retaining our team.  If we win both cases, the Sonics have to play the remainder of the lease in Seattle and sold to a new investment group with interest to keep them in Seattle.  However, Oklahoma seems to agree that a lease is a lease is a lease - if there is no buyout agreement accomplished, then the lease remains intact!  Whereas the Sonics ownership is fighting to do the opposite, if no agreement is met, a settlement in court takes place where grievances from either side are heard and depending on the ruling, a buyout amount may be set and enforced.

Now I don't know who I stand with.  The new best-case scenario seems to be - 

1. Sonic Boom wins Lease-gate.
2. City of Seattle appeals the decision - to buy time keeping the team in Seattle for the next season.
3. Schultz wins his lawsuit - Sonic Boom is sold to a Seattle based investment group.
4. Supersonics take Oklahoma City to court to settle what a 15 year buyout costs.

No matter what happens in the courtroom in the following 2 weeks, a precedent will be set that may have a direct effect on how (and if) we get to keep the team.  If the City of Seattle wins this case, and Schultz the next, the Sonics may need to take a 15 year hiatus in Oklahoma City before coming back with our loyal management group.

Food for thought - imagine that the latter happens, and Sonic Boom wins two championships in the 15 years in Oklahoma city before returning home - does that make for another painful thorn in the side of a Seattle fan?  40+ years in Seattle, 1 trophy; 15 in Oklahoma City, 2 trophies?

Whatever happens my friends, the worst is over.  Either the scar heals, or the band-aid gets torn off and we bleed to death.

Snitch three and you go free... not so all of a sudden!

For better or worse, a liar and a cheat ought not be trusted- or listened to for that matter.  However the latest coming out of the Tim Donaghy circle must be atleast read, and rejected if you so please.  

I'm a big believer that big time sports can be rigged.  The Black Sox did it, why cant officials?  Hell, Tim Donaghy ADMITTED to doing it; and now, with sentencing looming, he's alleged that the Celtics vs Lakers series is rigged.  Thats where it ends, it really starts out playful and innocent- a la referees using team facilites (not the bathrooms doofus), playing tennis with owners, and receiving rim jobs from star athletes on the roster (sans jelly).

I was disregarding nearly everything said like a Steelers fan when the subject of "officiating" and "superbowl xl" comes up, but the responses from NBA executive vice president and general counsel Richard Buchanan and Lamell McMorris, head of the NBA referees union made me reconsider my viewpoint.  Maybe it wasn't in relation to what Donaghy specifically said, because he's a jerkoff anyway, but it made me think of the people above him, the even bigger jerkoffs whose sputum can be directly linked to David Stern's gold member.

From ABC7

"According to Mr. Donaghy, all of his allegations have previously been made to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney, and they are clearly being disclosed now as part of his desperate attempt to lighten the sentence that will be imposed for his criminal conduct," the statement read. "The NBA remains vigilant in protecting the integrity of our game and has fully cooperated with the government at every stage of its investigation. The only criminal activity uncovered is Mr. Donaghy's."  ~ Buchanan

Lets run through this one sentence at a time.

According to Mr. Donaghy, all of his allegations have previously been made to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney, and they are clearly being disclosed now as part of his desperate attempt to lighten the sentence that will be imposed for his criminal conduct

  I can understand that the NBA doesn't want its diapers rubbed in national news programs.  That statement is fine by me, though funny that he needs to TELL US that Donaghy is only trying to lighten his sentence, if this was really non-news, I'm sure a statement would not be necessary.  But because these allegations ARE news, the following is brought to you by Vice Czar of the NBA:

The NBA remains vigilant in protecting the integrity of our game and has fully cooperated with the government at every stage of its investigation.

 

Of course, because the NBA  does have integrity issues.  And I'm not just talking about the plight of our beloved Sonics, the best team to ever touch a basketball until fucktard Schultz sold the team to fucktard Bennett.  I'm talking about Lakers v Kings game 7, the new basketball, Tim Donaghy himself etc... Remember after the Tim Donaghy scandal came out?  We only heard two things; He's guilty (he confessed to it, duh) and that Tim is an isolated event, nobody else who calls fouls in a game is guilty or associated with violating the integrity of a The Game, PERIOD.  And if there were a shred of doubt, I'm sure we'd all hear about it, because after all, the NBA is vigilant about their integrity crisis.

The only criminal activity uncovered is Mr. Donaghy's.

Thats just a slap in the face.  This is like last throes Hillary rhetoric.  Its a garbage statement, and if were in email form, I'm sure Mr. Buchanan would say that what he meant to say was "The only criminal activity uncovered is Mr. Donaghy's if it were deemed no other officials have mob connections" but we havent heard anything about that, and I'm sure we wont, unless somebody outside the NBA says so first!

"Tim Donaghy has had honesty and credibility issues from the get-go," the statement read. "He is a convicted felon who has not yet been sentenced for the criminal conduct he has already admitted to. He may be willing to say anything to help his cause and he may believe these most recent allegations will help his agenda. I'm not aware of any improper conduct by any current NBA referee in the playoffs six years ago or any conspiracy by the NBA to affect the outcome of any game then or now. Frankly we're tired of Tim Donaghy's cat and mouse games."  ~McMorris

What a load of jesus jizz!  And we're expected to lap it up like hungry hungry whores!  Fizzuuuuck  Thaaaaaat!  Look McMasterbate, once the Brooklyn Bridge is doubled in length, eight lanes wide, retrofitted to service light rail, connects Bellevue to Seattle, and all on Clay Bennetts dollar semicolon I'm going to take that statement with a grain of salt.  You're fucking nuts to believe we are going to just accept what you're saying here.  

Tim has about as much honesty issues as a drug dealer whom when approached gives the cops 3 names, and ... those people don't get arrested?  I know a few people who wished everybody went with your logic on this one.  While I'm sure Saddam would say before the Military Tribunal  "Well North Korea actually has a nuke, Genocide is actually occurring right now in Darfur, and Iran is a bunch of imbeciles" only a fool wouldn't believe him and it wouldn't help his sentence one bit.  

While I'm sure Tim would say anything to make his situation better, your tone comes off more as an accomplice, than a witness.  And for that, one more fan has to wonder, wtf is going on in the NBA?  Because even with your efforts made in good faith to all fans of the NBA, Seattleites know what they're worth.

10 Things You Must Do Before You Die

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Da M's

Greg Briley. Rich Amaral. Pete O'brien. Mike Blowers. Sterling Hitchcock. Russ Davis. Scott Bradley. Jeffrey Leonard. Alvin Davis. Paul Sorrento. Mike Schooler. Dave Fleming.

The unsung heroes. The hard hat and lunch pail crew who carried the team from a one time laughing stock, to a credible franchise. The pillars who lifted budding stars Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. to a new plateau.

I will never forget these names as long as I remain cognisant. They send a Pavlovian charge in my brain stem whenever anyone brings up the Mariners. These are the players I grew up worshipping. The guys I looked up to in awe.

Most of these guys were out of the league before the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies were even conceived. Let alone the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays. Four teams with four World Series appearances and three sets of rings amongst them.

Meanwhile the Mariners have zero.

I will be the first to acknowledge that the vast majority of my childhood favorites were not fantastic major leaguers. They did not have to be. Times were different then. The Mariners did not hold the ninth highest payroll in sports. Sportswriters never projected Seattle as a potential lock for supremacy in the AL West.

Until recently it was never the marginal players at fault. If anything, the Mariners were always guilty of releasing or trading them too soon. If anything , they were a strength. And then after some success early in the century, the marginal players started being paid like all stars.

And performing like Little League All Stars.

Most of the problems in the Mariners system have derived from their willingness to hold onto old fan favorite players far too long. This is why Edgar Martinez was allowed to toil in mediocrity for the waning years of his career. Others, such as Dan Wilson and Brett Boone decomposed before our very eyes. Simply put, if a particular player struck a chord with the community, he was kept on staff. And this in turn affected playing time and development for potential solid replacements.

Look at it this way. If Shaun Alexander were a Mariner, he would have never been cut.

I like all Mariner faithful loved these guys as well. However I also am aware that sometimes you have to say goodbye to a fan favorite to stay competitive. The Sonics knew this when they dealt Desmond Mason and Gary Payton for Ray Allen. As did the Seahawks when they released Cortez Kennedy to gain flexibility under the salary cap.

Toting out the local hero players was ideal only for the bandwagon Seattle Mariners fan. The folks who are more enthralled with the concept of garlic on french fries at Safeco than the poor production on the field. The yuppies who lean over the rail and snag live balls in play, squelching late inning rallies.

For a short while it was okay to let the hometown greats have their curtain call, if only to appease the folks in the luxury box who have to ask why a player gets a free base on four balls. The bourgeois crowd that bought season tickets when the team was up. "Fans" who had no idea that all of the Mariner teams that have achieved success were made up of mostly mid level players who raised their level of play, not solidified superstars.

However these crowds are dwindling. With the losing culture, the game is being brought back to the real fans. The folks who view the team as a representation of themselves and boo accordingly to to signify disapproval at underachievement. The old ladies who tally their own box scores. The handicapped savants who can list the entire Tacoma Rainier's roster. The little kids who still bring a glove to the park.

The same folks who get misty eyed recalling the aforementioned players, as they can actually put a face to the name. People who know that winning comes easier with solid role players than through throwing money around. A crowd that will demand more from management and the front office than ever before.

Jeff Cirillo. Pokey Reese. Brad Wilkerson. Ben Broussard. Scott Spiezio. Jose Paniagua. Luis Ugeto. Giovanni Carrara. Julio Mateo. Jeff Weaver. Ben Davis. Miguel Olivo.

Somehow these names do not have the same ring to them.

Geoff Baker: Mental Midget

So as I promised yesterday I will bring you, my dear loyal readers, more ammo for our fight against Geoff and his blog. I will keep tirelessly doing this until Geoff confronts me and accepts my challenge of a blog off.

So today's Geoff-ism comes from his pre-game post yesterday "There should be smiles galore out in blogland today. That's because Richie Sexson is back in the Mariners lineup, batting seventh."

Give me a break Geoff, there wasn't a single fan in Marinerdom that was excited about the return of Richie to the lineup, especially when the act of reinsertion seems wholly random. As I said in my last post, peole just felt that Richie gave the team a better shot to win in that given situation. Nobody was advocating Richie as The Igniter II (The Original Igniter being Willie Bloomquist).

Coming out and putting incredibly imbecilic words into your readers collective mouth is no way to endear yourself to them. Nor does it do anything to settle the disagreement on poor in-game management. Yet Geoff seems to revel in making these kind of comments. Like throwing rocks at a hornets nest.

Anyway, shortly after picking up an anti-Richie pinch-hitting ran he throws us a highly confusing little quote from manager John MacLaren on why Richie was back in the swing of things, so to speak. Note his little parting jab at the MacLaren haters/Richie pinch-hit people, classy Geoff, real classy.

"What I was thinking was, I wanted him with a fresh start,'' McLaren said. "He cleared his mind, he worked hard and tonight he's going to get that start. I understand, some people have told me there's been a lot of talk about why we didn't use him yesterday. I'm kind of glad. Maybe we're rallying around this guy a little bit. He needs that. And we need him.''

So, there you go. Congratulations. Apparently, the fan voice has been heard loud and clear. Um, maybe.

No comment on how little sense MacLaren's reasoning makes, or why it's necessary to sit out an entire week to fix your swing, or why Miguel Cairo suddenly stopped "hitting the ball pretty well" Grow some huevos there Geoff and question why things are happening.

This kind of taking nonsensical answers at face value is how this country got into the post 9/11 quagmire of Iraq, Domestic Spying, Secret Prisons, etc...

It's the same way this team thought it was a contender last year despite giving up more runs than scored. It's what led the team to deal a ton of prospects for a #1 Staff Ace and declare itself a contender. It led to the Soriano for Ho-Ram trade and if no one calls them on this BS they'll continue to make poor decisions and back them up with half-answers and flawed logic.

But rather than ask a tough question, Geoff chooses to let it go at face value and instead pick a fight with his readers. In the process Geoff just adds fuel to my fire.

Don't Sleep on the Gingers

The hullabaloo over the NBA Finals has reached fever pitch. Baseball has finally turned the corner into the realm of competitiveness. In the short, shallow distance, the poignant, musty aroma of football tantalizes the cognisant nostril.

And all the while, the red headed step child of the four major sports is attempting to crown a champion. Two American teams battling it out, for a chance to defile Lord Stanley's cup in the off season. However, no one seems to care.

And its a damned shame.

Despite being all, but locked in an attic and fed fish heads for sustenance by the networks, playoff hockey is back. The return could not have been scripted better if penned by Charlie Kaufman himself.

The dashing young prince, Sidney Crosby, LeBron James of the ice, matching mettle with the Yankee-esque Red Wings.

Two major sports towns in Detroit and Pittsburgh, battling for the rights to upturn cars and set fires in celebration.

But no one cares. They may as well be playing for the Champions League title.

Yesterday I watched as the Penguins tied the game with twenty seconds to play in regulation. Utilizing the pulled goalie tactic that never seems to work, they passed the puck effectively as the seconds waned, looking to set up a perfect shot.

This was followed by two and a half overtimes of intense breakneck action. Sudden death. Detroit on home ice. Both goal keepers logging over one hundred minutes of ice time.

Shots were fired. Bodies strewn. Blood spilled.

With every break in the action the Detroit crowd rose to their feet, like a modern day Roman aristocracy, applauding the efforts of both side. Wishing for an eventual outcome, but relishing in the exacerbating tension.

All this and not a single point was scored until the third overtime.

And for the die hard loyal hockey fan, this matters naught. Much like so many soccer crazed nation, effort is valued over result. inspiration is drawn, not from seeing a player dominate, but from seeing his composure as a game drags on and frustration mounts.

But to the casual American sports fan, this concept is fleeting.

Why applaud Torry Holt for his ability to run crisp, pristine routes, as a decoy, when Chad Johnson is one deep ball away from a zany end zone celebration?

Should Tom Glavine receive a curtain call for his perfectly executed draw bunts over Jim Thome crushing a home run out of the DH spot every other week?

Is Rip Hamilton held to a higher esteem for his movement away from the ball, as opposed to Dwight Howard's constant lurking underneath the basket?

Of course not. Should they be? Not at all.

But perhaps if the casual American fan watched the game with this perspective, this would be the case. Then maybe perhaps, hockey would be accepted back into the main stream. Highly unlikely, but possible none the less.

And then maybe then Soccer will even have a chance in the States.

Nah...

I Wanna Start A Feud!!!!!

And I think it's gonna be with Geoff Baker, the Seattle Times Mariners blogger.

I'm a fair man. I'm always willing to listen to all sides of an issue, weigh all things equally and formulate my opinion. I often give the benefit of the doubt, sometimes when it's not really deserved. A fuck-up once, does not a fuck-up always make. With that said I am getting tired of Geoff Baker, over at The Times.

As a loyal reader of USS Mariner for years I always enjoy and respect their insight into the game. Even when I do not fully agree with those insights, I always have to give what they say some weight because of how well they lay out their points of view. There are scant emotional ravings over there, arguments are often backed up with mounds of data(kinda like the opposite of here). So when they claim time and again that Geoff is the best beat writer the M's have had in some time, I give the statement some credence.

Reading some of his posts I could see what the guys at USS Mariner were talking about. He seemed not to be a victim of blind homerism, like so many other M's beat writers. He made some pretty good arguments that though ran slightly counter to the USS Mariner stance, were well thought out. But then it seemed the job got to him.

Now whenever I go over and read his take on the state of the team I cringe. Now he seems content to offer quotes and audio clips from players and managers without critique. No one is asking him to be Helen Thomas out here and constantly ride the team for every little flaw. I just expect that when someone backs up a dumb decision with a drivel like this "I just think that Cairo has been swinging the bat pretty good and so forth and so on," McLaren said. "So I would have stuck with Cairo." they get called on the fact that Miguel Cairo has not EVER "been swinging the bat pretty good". And then they could be enlightened of the fact that in a 2 run game with a man and 2 out you don't want a washed-up singles hitter deciding the game for you, especially if there are better options on the bench(however marginally better those options might be, Richie).

When people point out the flaws in Geoff's logic he seems to get really defensive and almost seems to start talking down to his readers. The fact that he has been a beat writer for years and has the closest and, in his eyes, the best perspective of the team is held over the readers head and used to end arguments without resolution. "I Know more than you, shut-up!"

He has a penchant for putting arguments into readers mouths like this little gem "Most of you wanted Sexson gone a month ago. Now, he's the team's savior? Not sure I get it." No one was saying he's the team savior and the fact that he is a better option pinch-hitting than letting Miguel Cairo swing away is an indictment of the Mariners Front Office and their atrocious roster construction skills. But no one, no matter in what kind of altered state, would ever rationally believe that Richie is the team savior.

To act like people believe that somehow Richie is the answer to the season because they wanted to see him pinch-hit for a crappy singles hitter is highly disingenuous and demeans the intelligence of his readers. It seems every time someone has a reasonable argument against the M's current strategy for winning, Geoff gets defensive and throws up a straw man to make the argument seem ridiculous.

I, for one, am sick of this style of passive aggressive blogging. The only way to stop this is to Call Geoff out on a large platform, and while NLS isn't exactly that, it's as good of a starting point as any. So, I encourage you loyal readers to go out and troll the shit out of his board. Tell them Willie Mays Haze over at Nobody Likes Soccer sent ya and if he don't like it to come to the page and challenge me to a blog-off.

Until this day happens I will continue to post any flaws I see in his arguments and lay them bare. Geoff Baker will know my name when I lay my hand upon him...