Thanks to the person who linked this in an earlier thread.
Click here to listen to his complete interview:
I know that people think I'm sappy in all this, but I don't hate Clay Bennet the way other people do. When we were at the game the other night I found myself asking "What is Clay Bennet feeling right now?"
I don't get the sense that Clay is a guy who wants to break childrens hearts, or hurt the people of this community. I highly doubt he felt good when he heard those chants of SaveOurSonics and it started to settle in what he was doing and the personal toll it would take.
There are lots of reasons for us to criticize the guy. There are some actions here locally that make me understand why most pretty much despise him. I try not to take it personally. If he had more semi-candid conversations like this with the people of Seattle he would probably have built a better relationship with the community. If a Seattle guy were having this same conversation 4 years from now about bringing the team to our market from Memphis or somewhere else we would probably be standing up and cheering him.
Getting mad at Bennett is an effective rallying tool. In the end though we should save our real anger for the electeds here who are simply failing to address the issue.