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November 2009
Categories
| Don't know if you really even care anymore, but OKC part owner Aubrey McClendon's stock has plummeted. Forbes.com put out the latest list of rich Americans. He's number 371, worth 1 billion dollars. Last year, McClendon was ranked at 134th and worth $3 billion. So he lost 2 billion over the past year. Ouch! Considering he sold off parts of two companies last year for 3.1 billion dollars. He's lost all of that and more. ...According to the Boston Herald, the NBA has handed down an anti-handshake directive to help prevent the possibility of an H1N1 flu outbreak. Players and coaches have been asked to greet each other via more sanitary means of contact, like fist pounding, or maybe chest bumps. Should we all do the fist bump or chest bump at work when greeting a guest or co-worker? Is this getting a little out of hand? No pun intended. Yes, I'm sure every Cougar fan would have you believe Ron Artest isn't the final piece to a Los Angeles Lakers repeat. Of course, it's guard Thomas Kelati. The defending NBA champs have signed the former Coug to a free agent deal. ...I know the final tally isn't in, but Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels may not make it out of the primary. So far, the two-term incumbant is only receiving 25.2% of the vote. He's 1.3% behind the candidate in second place.
Former Husky Nate Robinson was arrested Tuesday. He was pulled over in the Bronx and busted for driving with a suspended license. Nate tweeted "Cops pulled me over cuz my windows were 2 dark (but my windows were down) lol how funny is that." Also in the article, Rainier Beach's Terrence Williams was in the car with Krypto-Nate. Hopefully, this doesn't hurt his chances to resign with the Knicks. ...New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner is showing numerous signs that he's selling his team. Ratner hopes to keep them in New Jersey/Brooklyn. "They're up for sale," a minority ownership source said flatly. -- NY Post.com The Nets have been showing signs of financial problems throughout the summer. They've cut the office staff by 25%, reducing non-basketball employees pay by 20%, and trading their highest paid employee, Vince Carter, to Orlando. So the Nets join a list of NBA teams with financial problems. Charlotte, New Orleans, and Milwaukee are a few that have come out front to say they're having issues. Plus, don't forget the 15 teams that could grab a loan from the NBA. Add the fact that less than half of the teams made a profit last season, Commissioner David Stern's league could have problems. ...Well, less than 24 hours after the Blazers drafted former UW Center Jon Brockman with the 38th pick, they sent him to the Sacramento for the Kings 31st pick. Would have loved to see this young man stay on the Northwest roundball scene with a rapidly developing and contending team like Portland, but expectations will be lower in Sacto and he should get more minutes. Met this guy at a careers event at the UW and was very impressed with him as a person. We know he has talent on the floor. ...The hoopsreport.com reports Huskies forward Jon Brockman has been give a promise to be drafted early in the second round. According to the article, Brockman has shut down until the draft. They think the rebounding machine received a promise from the Blazers or Pistons. Could you imagine him with Portland? Reunited with Brandon Roy? I could see Nate McMillan grabbing him for his character and hustle alone. Brockman has been laying low, but on his twitter account, he says he's golfing at Echo Falls.
Former Sonic Kevin Durant made, what seems to be, a unintentional gaffe. During an ESPN chat, Durant was asked which city was a better NBA city, Seattle or OKC? Here's his answer: I think the toughest thing is moving everything from Seattle. With Seattle having a team for so long, I think they are more of an NBA city. But the fans in Oklahoma City are great. -- Kevin Durant on ESPN.com I like that he was nice enough to say something to appease the OKC fans. By the way, Durant becomes a restricted free agent in 2010. You gotta believe his agent wants him to get the heck out of Dodge, aka OKC. In Durant's rookie season they rewarded him with three national spots and five more local spots in Seattle. Now that he is in Oklahoma City he had no national campaigns and no local ones either. Nike wants their clients to be in the spotlight and that is not going to happen in Oklahoma City. -- Bleacherreport.com Shocking, huh? So while some may chase LeBron James in 2010, teams may get more bang for their buck to grab Durant. Because we all know that Bubba Bennett and his cronies won't be able to afford KD in the very near future. So start the farewell tour now, Bubba. ...Calling Steve Balmer, the Charlotte Bobcats are now for sale. Majority Owner Bob Johnson says he's losing 20-40 million dollars a year. Last December, Forbes listed the Bobcats as worth $284 million. Johnson owns 70 percent of the club. It's reported that he wants 325-350 million dollars for his share of the Bobcats. It's believed that Johnson will want to sell it to Michael Jordan, if possible. Hopefully, Balmer can jump in and bring the NBA back to Seattle. ...Don't call it a comeback. Actually, you've got to call it a comeback. Former Federal Way star Michael Dickerson is trying to make it back to the NBA. He's one of more than 20 players trying out for the Memphis Grizzlies. Dickerson was forced into retirement back 2003 due to severe groin and hamstring injuries. ...If you're not familiar with Paul Brogan, go to his myspace account and check out his videos. They're pretty funny. The latest probably holds the sentiment of most Sonics fans right on his jersey. UPDATE: KING 5's Chris Daniels is in Olympia. While he did ask the question that prompted Senator Kohl-Wells response yesterday, Daniels is told today by a member on the Democratic side the bill is dead. We'll have to wait until the end of the session Sunday to see how it comes out.
Forbes is calling Seattle the "Most Miserable Sports City" in 2009. Wow, I guess if we're going to suck, why not be the best at it. But I don't think we need Forbes to tell us that, we lived through it. I mean that's just rubbing salt on the wound. The Sonics leaving Seattle gave us the title, according to Forbes. Here are some stats to backup the magazine's claim. So do you think Seattle deserves that title? I guess it's only for one year, but I think things are turning around. Look at the Mariners. The Sounders look legit. The Huskies got some mojo going on Montlake with the basketball team and football team. Plus, the Seahawks can't have another injury-riddled season like last year. And if Lauren Jackson returns, Seattle has to be a contender for the WNBA title. So hopefully, last year's woes was just an anomaly.
Portland T-Blazers assistant coach Maurice Lucas will not finish out the year on the bench next to head man Nate McMillen. The team announced today that Lucas has successful surgery for bladder cancer and will need 6-8 weeks of recovery time. Lucas said, "I am so proud of how our guys have played and I'm confident that I will spend a good deal of my recovery time watching us win games." Lucas, of course, was part of that Blazers '77 title team that beat Dr. J. and 76ers. Plus, he was born in my old hometown of Pittsburgh. You may remember about a month or so ago, OKC part-owner Aubrey McClendon planned to sell his wine collection because the one-time billionaire isn't a billionaire no more. He's doing fairly well at the auction. The first half of the collection that was sold over the weekend raked in $2,225,009, topping the projected estimate of $1.5 million to $2.1 million. Fully 96% of the lots sold. -- Wall Street Journal 3/17/09 Here's the WSJ's full article. But the guy, who couldn't keep a secret or keep his e-mail private, needs the money. Forbes recently ranked the billionaires. Bubba Bennet's buddy is no longer on that list. McClendon went from $2.8 Billion down to $800 million. Or $802 million after the first part of his wine sale. ...Sonicscentral.com reports there's going to be a public hearing tomorrow on Senate Bill 6116. It's the bill that would allow King County to raise certain taxes on hotel, car rental and more (similar to the Safeco Field tax). Here's the link to find out when and where for the public hearing in Olympia. ...The good people at Save Our Sonics are sending out the word again about another Blazers/OKC battle. They want you to go to the game with them Monday April 13th. Tickets are $22 or $46 depending on where you want to sit. The group hopes to raise awareness again. Here's a quote from S.O.S co-founder Steven Pyeatt: "Seattle has been an outstanding NBA city for 41 years, and we're still fans of the game. We want to remind everyone - the league, the state legislature and especially Clay Bennett - that we are still here and still angry after being unjustly robbed of our team." You can even ride the "Blunder Bus" aka Shuttle Express. The name "Blunder Bus" is farce on what the team formerly known as the Sonics have become. A ticket on the "Bus" costs $49 roundtrip. You can read the S.O.S news release after the jump. It's kind of surprising that the NBA didn't suspend Lakers Trevor Ariza for a clothesline like hit on Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez. If you didn't see, I've added a youtube video of it below. You gotta love former Husky Brandon Roy letting the Lakers know, right away, that wasn't cool. After watching the video again today, I still can't believe there's no punishment for Ariza. He just winds up and whacks while Rudy is in the air. And it's from behind, Rudy had a clear path to the hoop. The NBA should have sent a message and suspended him for at least a couple of games. Btw, Rudy was released from the hospital today. He's doubtful (No duh) for Wednesday's game. ...KING 5 Sports is doing a story on amputee basketball on Tuesday, 3/10, on Northwest Sports Tonight.
For more information please contact: Jaclyn Burkeen You can also check out their website: www.amputeebasketball.com Games are played in Seattle at Aki Kurose Middle School. I've got a little more information on Bill 6116 today. It isn't necessarily designed specifically for KeyArena. But it opens up an avenue to potentially help fund. The bill gives the King county the authority to raise certain types of taxes if they want help to fund a variety projects.
I found an interesting blog on Sonicscentral.com. It appears that a Senate Bill was introduced Ed Murray and co-sponsored by Jeanie Kohl-Welles. Here's the Bill. Maybe you can decipher it better than I. It appears to be like the taxes/bonds raised for Safeco Field. It's just a bill and it can be altered and changed before it makes through the House or Senate.
Somebody call Lois Lane for this scoop. The NBA got beat by a comic book giant. The NBA wanted to make a limited series t-shirt to honor Nate Robinson's Slam Dunk Contest win. It was a green NY Knicks t-shirt with "Krypto-Nate" on the back. Check it out below. Robinson's Krypto-Nate scheme - designed to topple a red-caped Dwight Howard and his Superman shtick - was too close to home for DC Comics. Kryptonite is the green emerald crystal found on the fictional planet Krypton that weakens Superman. -- nypost.com 3/2/09 Oh, in case you have a few extra bucks laying around, the NBA is auctioning off Nate Robinson's green ball. It's the one he used to win the Slam Dunk Contest.
As of 8pm on Monday night, the highest bid on the Krypto-Ball is $1525. Click here if you want to see the auction. ...Supers agent David Falk has a new book out. He claims the NBA is headed towards a major disaster which could end up in a two-year work stoppage. I swear Falk's revelation is just another sign in a long list of signs that the NBA's economic model does not work.
I like Charles Barkley on TV. He makes you want to watch. He has a point of view, a great personality and unpredictability. He got off easy after the DUI mess, and Turner Sports even made sure he stayed away during their Alll-Star telecasts, so that he did not become the center of attention in Phoenix. No doubt David Stern made sure of that. So, let's see, this guy is a compulsive gambler and will now do alcohol treatment. Chuck, you were right from the beginning when you said: "I am not a role model." ... |
