As with many events over the last couple of years I have said what needs to be said, I truly believe what I am saying, but emotionally it is hard to be upbeat this morning.
My official line on last nights vote goes something like this
"What goes on in Oklahoma City has never mattered. At the end of the day this is, and always has been, about building a building in Seattle. If we take care of business on our end we will be able to keep our team.
The reality is that from day one we all expected this measure to pass and as a result it should be no suprise, nor affect the gameplan in any way. Nothing about this vote changes matters at all.
If anything Seattle should take note of the fact that across the country cities that have had NBA basketball and lost it, Minneapolis, Charlotte, New Orleans, Kansas City, and even Oklahoma City which hosted the Hornets have all undertakentaken great effort and cost to bring basketball back to their cities.
We need to see the reality that there is value to this civic asset and there is a reason cities are lining up to lure teams. Seeing this we should take steps to make sure we don't wind up being one of those cities trying to get back what we have lost."
That is it in a nutshell. I figured the measure would pass. I figured it would get about 60% of the vote. More or less would have been mildly suprising and a failure would have been absolutely stunning.
Still there are days when it hits like a ton of bricks. Riding the roller coaster up (with new ownerships proposal) then down at an OKC win like this.
I assume lots of you are with me.
So here is the solace. I want to thank Roy Williams, the head of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce for making these honest comments that should be listened to by our local politicians.
"The Sonics are in Seattle, and the Sonics can stay in Seattle. That's in the hands of Seattle. Seattle can still keep their team if they're willing to do what it takes to pay for it. It's not ours to win. It's Seattle's to lose.""
Off to Olympia...