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Originally Posted by That article
4. Item: The drama continues for Hornets owner George Shinn and the fans of both Oklahoma City and New Orleans. This past week, he made contentions of loyalty in both cities — making you wonder if perhaps he was interested in splitting the team in half as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, however dreadful that three-year experiment proved to be.
What this really means: In the wake of taking out an option for a third year next season in Oklahoma City to play there, storm clouds appeared again for New Orleans. But realistically, it was only logical should there be stumbling blocks returning to the Big Easy. And while the city is big, there will be nothing easy about a transition back. Shinn deserves credit for aggressively rebuilding the Hornets around Chris Paul with huge financial commitments by trading for Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler. Nobody is comfortable about the long-term prospects of the NBA in New Orleans, if only because the locals had already cooled on the Hornets before Katrina — with little or no corporate involvement.
So how can this work long-range? It can't. But for the first time, it seems Shinn is doing things the right way. He's been inoffensive and committed to a good product. Has he really changed that much from a guy that Charlotte kicked out of town and caused the NBA office to cringe every time his name came up? It's doubtful. At least now he understands the ropes. What we don't know is what he will do as the plot thickens over the next few years. It could be they'll stay in Oklahoma City, go to New Orleans, or go to Seattle. Keep in mind the new Sonics ownership group from Oklahoma City could move the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Or maybe a swap of franchises is coming. One of these cities will be left out in the cold, and with Shinn holding most of the cards, that's never a comforting prospect — despite what he's showing today.
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Oh, where to begin ...
The bottom line is this: Oklahoma City wants a major professional sports team (preferably an NBA team), and at least last season shown it can support one (we'll see about this coming season, but so far it seems like its going like last year).
The problem is Oklahoma City won't have one without ticking off another city in the process, which just exascerbates the existing image problems that Oklahoma has (i.e. that Oklahoma is nothing but cowboys and a bunch of ignorant rednecks -- unfortunately there are a lot of ignorant rednecks here, and sadly for me they elect other ignorant rednecks to offices like U.S. Senator but that's a story for another time) and it just gets harder and harder every day to try to tell people that WE'RE NOT ALL LIKE THAT SO PLEASE QUIT PAINTING US WITH THE REDNECK BRUSH.
THAT SAID ... Shinn is still the worst owner in the NBA (yes, I'd even venture to say worse than James Dolan) AND I'm sorry with him and his history in Charlotte I fail to confuse trying to be delicate with being two-faced.
I'm also still convinced this is just another little subtle jab at Clayton Bennett. I think Shinn really thinks he's going to screw up Bennett's plans to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City, and its his way of throwing a little hissy fit. I think everybody knows that when the announcement came down a few months ago that Bennett bought the Sonics and the Storm that it sent shockwaves. Bennett's group tried to buy the majority share of the Hornets from George Shinn, and Shinn balked. The one side, I think, thinks the other is wrong. I am beginning to think they all suck.
I think the reason Shinn is being two faced is because he actually
does want the Oklahoma City market -- however small it is -- but won't come out and say it because, most of all, he doesn't want to have his (stupid) head crushed by David Stern's big fleshy thumb. While there are some economic questions that need to be addressed about the future of the NBA in New Orleans, the city IS coming back to life, thankfully, and I don't see why the Hornets can't go home in 2007. But unfortunately there's also black and white proof -- attendance figures, for example -- that show the Hornets weren't a great draw in NOLA, even in years they went to the playoffs, the 18-64 2004-2005 season didn't help matters in that department. I really want to empathize and understand Shinn but I can't when he makes pronouncements of one kind to Oklahoma City and pronouncements of a different kind to New Orleans and people in both cities are so fed up with it.
And yet at the same time I wonder if forcing Shinn back to NOLA is Stern's way of saying
you made your bed, now lay in it ... I remember your BS in Charlotte. Not gonna happen again.
Shinn is between a rock and a hard place -- his team made beaucoup bucks in OKC last season; in part that enabled him to go out and get a guy like Peja Stojakovic and to take on Tyson Chandler's outrageous contract (at the expense of PJ Brown and Some Other Guy). In the
New Orleans Times-Picayune this week:
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TP: Although you have a lease that legally binds your team to play in New Orleans until 2012, why do you make statements in Oklahoma City that cast doubt about your impending return?
SHINN: When I respond to questions asked about storms or whatever, I don't have any guarantees about what's going to happen. I don't have a crystal ball, and I don't read tea leaves. Our return makes business sense for all parties for the state and for New Orleans. Our goal is to move forward and nothing has changed. Our plan is imminent, we plan to come back to New Orleans. If I say something good about New Orleans, they write something bad about me in Oklahoma City. It's very frustrating and annoying trying to balance it out. I just decided that I'm going to put this in God's hands and pray for guidance. I'm going to bust my chops to do everything right.
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Funny that Georgie Porgie Puddin' n' Pie just happens to throw that in (bolded part) in the middle of his usual mantra about not being able to read tea leaves and whatever ... we've heard that before.
But unfortunately he's right about the Oklahoma City newspaper, which is 1) a joke; and 2) I think engaged in conflict of interest because
The Oklahoman was one of the Hornets' sponsors last season, and 3) Have at least one opinion columnist -- Berry Tramel -- who has been convinced since Day One that the Hornets are never going to -- and shouldn't -- leave Oklahoma City (granted, columnists are supposed to get people worked up, but the Oklahoman's writers make Quick and Canzano look like Pulitizer Prize candidates.)
Oh and by the way, the Sonics' new owner is related by marriage to the family that owns
The Oklahoman, so you put two and two together about how that paper is handling the Sonics. If they ever did actually move to Oklahoma City -- something I honestly don't see happening -- I doubt they would be covered fairly and squarely by the monopoly media for some reason.
I know this rambles and doesn't make much sense ... I have so many conflicting thoughts about all of this, I'm just so sick of it all ...
OT: kings, Hornets and sonics oh my!
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