SonicsGate Now Playing in a Web Browser Near You
by Atma Brother ONE on Oct 15, 2009 7:42 PM PDT
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PrintOver here in Dubs land we have Chris Cohan of Recall Cohan fame (true Dubs heads know the reference to the classic online destination), Robert Rowell's utter incompetence, Moped Gate, "Captain" Jack being a royal Jack -, but nothing, nothing compares to what Seattle SuperSonics fans (shout out to GSoMer mcwalter44) have endured recently. I want to give the Sonics faithful major props for banding together and putting together the SonicsGate documentary.
Jump for the entire 2 hours of the Sonicsgate in streaming video and some good words from our FTB buddy M. Meshery in The Great Basketball Swindle: Sonicsgate Documentary tells all.
This documentary, released in its entirety online (watch it here), does an amazing job of capturing the history of the team and its place in the community. It also illustrates everything that's wrong with the "business" of basketball. It could be an addendum to Michael Moore's new film, "Capitalism, A Love Story," as in "Capitalism, A Love Story about Basketball." What's sad is that we as fans simply shrug at the honesty of players when they say, "hey, it's a business," as if that's the only rational for why they've been traded, or why they're leaving a team for free agency or why they're endorsing such and such product. At least they're being honest I guess. What's worse is that it's often the owners that give lip service to their business being a part of the community, a part of the public trust, something the fans can own etc. etc. As Clay Bennet might say, "Horseshit!" As all of us Warriors fans know, the interest of the fans or the community come last on the list for owners and players. Greed and egos trump all.
If you are a Warriors fan, you might not want to watch this movie unless you're prepared to start throwing blunt objects at your computer screen. There are too many paralels here of how a team can be dismantled by terrible self-interested management. Hey, at least we know that what happened to The Sonics could never happen here, right? Or maybe it could for the right price. Uh, I guess San Jose isn't that far away.
San Jose Warriors just ain't right.
Here's my thoughts on the Sonics Gate from the very last Seattle SuperSonics game which just happened to be the last game of the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors season which FJ and I were at- Recap: Warriors 121, SEATTLE SuperSonics 126- Too Hot for TV! That's That.
S.O.S.
Here's my take on the Sonics and Seattle situation. You have a passionate hoops fan base that's getting played. The city already used public money to renovate the stadium in the mid 90's. Now some greedy billionaire owners are complaining that the taxpayers won't shell out their own hard earned dollars to help them build more corporate (read: less than casual fans) targeted luxury boxes so they can get richer. You know there are more important things in this world than continuing to line up billionaire's pockets with more green like improving public school education, public transportation, pollution, and other other public services. Disgusting. Capitalism and fan exploitation at it's worst. Let's hope Warriors owner Chris Cohan is at least classy enough not to go that route in a few years.
By the way Howard Schultz- nice little publicity stunt. Too bad you're probably going to lose the case and your efforts seem just a little bit disingenuous seeing as how you sold the team to a group of Oklahoma City investors in the first place.
Some far superior insights from around the web:
- Why Warriors Fans Should Care about the Sonics (xacto)
- Save the Sonics, and Your Team [Fast Break]
- Save Our Sonics
- Save the Sonics! Rock the NBA Board of Governors vote! [Ball Don't Lie]
- Legal experts call Schultz suit a long shot [Seattle PI]
Stern's trash talk stinks, but pros could teach him a lesson [Seattle Times]
SonicsGate in HD:
Sonicsgate HD Part 1 of 2 from sonicsgate on Vimeo.
Sonicsgate HD Part 2 of 2 from sonicsgate on Vimeo.
SonicsGate in SD for those of you on slower connections:
Sonicsgate SD Full Version from sonicsgate on Vimeo.
Shout out to the two stand-up fan blogs that the Seattle SuperSonics were/ are blessed to have:
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Having lived in Seattle for several years,
I know how heartbroken Sonics fans must have felt (feel).
Seattle’s a great city. Not a large, world-class city, but it’s the commercial and cultural capitol of the Pacific Northwest. It deserves a basketball team. Losing the Seattle Sonics to the OKC Thunder was bad for basketball.
It
was good for basketball. Zorgon is happy. OK fans fill the arena.
hum...
the Sonics fan basically got treated like the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League. They didn’t lose the team because of attendance and that’s despite the fact that the new owner blew up the team.
A Sonics fan without a team... but after 6 seasons now of GS Warriors season tickets have convinced me to adopt the boys from Oakland.
by mcwalter44 on Oct 15, 2009 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
OK fans fill the arena.
Sonics fans filled the arena too, it wasn’t about the fan support it was about some azzhole from okla wanting to jack a team.
Standing on the moon
Where talk is cheap and vision true
Standing on the moon
But I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up to heaven
At this crescent in the sky
by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 15, 2009 10:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Ugh
Atma… thanks for the shout out. I’m in the doc (just a pic) about 3:45 mark of the 2nd video. Oh, and you forgot my preferred voting option for when Seattle will get a team… NEVER!!! I’m with Sherman Alexie, who speaks at the end of the movie, I don’t want another team to relocate to Seattle and I don’t see the NBA expanding (hell they should probably contract Memphis and New Orleans). I don’t want to make another fan base surf like the Sonics fans have suffered just so that I can feel better about my favorite sports franchise.
I’m a shamed to hale from Seattle. The city in no way is going to build a new arena. Hell if they don’t pass an remodeling bill (either by the city or the state) then Clay Bennett doesn’t owe Seattle $30 million of his $70 million dollar buy out. I’d give it at 99.9% chance of not happening and Seattle being SOL and Bennett being $30 million richer.
A Sonics fan without a team... but after 6 seasons now of GS Warriors season tickets have convinced me to adopt the boys from Oakland.
Good documentary. Seattle politicians, not NBA, are ones to blame.
It’s about time someone gets it right. The fact that this is a Seattle based documentary that puts the blame on it’s own politicians is proof enough that they are the ones to blame.
I disagree with Alexie though. There are a few markets that won’t care if they lose their team. Instead of contracting the Grizz and Hornets, why not just move either one or the Clippers to Seattle when they do get funding. Those markets could care less about their respecitve teams so nobody will feel the same pain that Seattle felt.
thanks for posting the link
all nba fans should watch Sonicsgate and think of their own team and situation. it was a perfect storm of factors that led to the Sonics departure, including egos of many different people (Schultz, City of Seattle, State legislature, Bennett, Stern, Public at large) all centered around a new stadium. the movie paints a good picture of it all…
i grew up in seattle and still live here. the Sonics were my team, and it was beyond painful when they left. i helped with research for Sonicsgate and sherman alexie stole the show in my opinion, he was right that it is ‘death’….
BUT…i told myself i wouldn’t stop loving basketball, and i couldn’t stay away from professional basketball because the NBA has the greatest athletes in the world. i was drawn to the Warriors simply because they were a west coast team that weren’t a Sonic rival…a team interesting enough to follow. the final 2 years of the Sonics were marred by Relocation news, and all the shit summed up in Sonicsgate. for 2 years being a basketball fan meant reading court documents, redacted emails, and calling state legislatures….so since i’ve slowly started following the Warriors it has been refreshing to hear only basketball news, and have only basketball related problems (media day fiasco 2009!!). i have to laugh at some of the dire straights Warriors fans have proclaimed, trust me it could always be a lot worse than bad basketball….enjoy the ride!!
on that note, thank you for this Sonicsgate posting, it’s a funeral of sorts for Sonics fans.
I’m making the slow conversion to Warriors fan, and I’m excited for what’s to come….Anthony Randolph is going to be a superstar…cherish every minute watching that man play basketball.
by Brickowski BOOM on Oct 16, 2009 10:27 AM PDT reply actions
SONICSGATE
First off, Seattle IS a large city and certainly world class.
Second, ALL parties involved that contributed to the demise have blame in this game. They are ALL at fault, equally, but in some cases different ways.
The big thing that I think Sherman is missing, (he is now one of my favorite personalities by the way), is that there is going to be a strike, and it is going to kill some teams or require them to move. So we won’t be taking anyone’s team. Fans will be angry at Stern for what is about to go down, and Sonicsgate is somewhat of a glaring warning in multiple ways.
Helping with Sonicsgate was an amazing experience (writing the voice over), certainly bittersweet. I personally don’t view it as a funeral, but I think that is the beauty of it all. For some of us…it is a funeral, for others, a step back in the right direction. I fit into the latter.
This thing honestly needs to be more than just a two hour doc. There is SOOOO much that has yet to be shown, that needs to be seen that didn’t make the final cut. IF this thing was a 5 part series on the History Channel, ESPN, FSN, or the Discovery Channel, or SOMETHING…it would help a lot. However, the reality is at this point it would need a massive following and request from fans of the doc to make something like that happen.
Anyway, guys, thanks for taking the time to watch it, really appreciate it.
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