Thoughts on a historic day

Listening to the national talk radio shows tonight, it's already apparent that the "poor Seattle" is drawing the sympathy card from around the nation. Granted, it's a sad day for those fans who truly stuck with their team to the bitter end. It's a shame that Sonics history is relegated to the storage units for a while, but Seattle is certainly not the first city to sit by and wait for a new franchise to heal its wounds. Baltimore, Houston, and Cleveland felt the sting in the NFL. And let's not forget that the original Baltimore Orioles came from New York, paving the way for the new Yankees to call the Big Apple home.

But let's be honest before we tip our cap too much to Seattle's loss...

** As commissioner David Stern said in his statement earlier tonight, "In order for (a new team to call Seattle home) to occur, a state-of-the-art NBA arena must be funded and constructed in the Seattle area, a subject that has been extensively debated -- but not ultimately acted upon -- by local political and business leaders over the past four years." Four years? It's not like this is a shock that the team is moving. The warning bells were sounded and no one responded. Safeco Field and Qwest Stadium went up while the Kingdome came crumbling down.

** While Seattle's attendance decreased last season to 28th in the league, the team still officially drew an average of 13,355 fans per game. That's 78 percent of capacity in the NBA's smallest venue. It also marked the fourth consecutive year the attendance had shrunk in Seattle. For every fan who was chanting "Save our Sonics," there were many more fans yawning and looking for the next Starbuck's.

** Speaking of Starbuck's, did anyone in Seattle really not believe when coffee mogul
Howard Schultz sold the team to Clay Bennett that the Sonics weren't coming to Oklahoma? If Seattle wanted to keep the team so bad, why not block the sale before it even happened? Where were the potential owners then?

** The Ford Center expansion and renovations voted upon by Oklahoma City voters spoke volumes when citizens and lawmakers in Seattle would do nothing to upgrade an arena that local and national officials deemed unsuitable.

There were steps that could've been taken long before any court listened to closing arguments. There were plenty of ways Seattle could've shown support, but didn't. Not even the karma of Jack Sikma and Gary Payton could stop the inevitable leaving.

It's time to start a new era in Oklahoma City. Let's hope the tears flowing from Seattle don't tarnish what should be an amazing few months leading up to the NBA tipoff.