Last week we witnessed the POS consistently spreading lies about the impact of constructing the Seattle Stadium in the stadium-zoned district. According to their deceitful claims, the addition of a new stadium (which has less than half the seating capacity of the smallest of the two existing stadiums) will destroy jobs, increase homelessness, rip families apart, create a hellish traffic nightmare, blah, blah, blah, blah, the children, the economy, the babies, the baby kittens, the baby seal bashers... threatening the very heart & soul of the great city of Seattle. The POS painted a consistent picture of lies & scare tactics. They are well funded, well trained and well rehearsed.
I was proud of the the fans showing up and passionately stating why the alley should be vacated and why our Sonics should return. But I feel Chris Hansen and his team missed an important opportunity and dropped the ball at a crucial time of the game, leaving the fans alone to present his (our) case at the public portion of the meeting. I'm sure the future owners are busy doing whatever future owners do but I think an occasional sighting and sound bite would go a long ways in reaffirming the commitment to the stadium and to the region and the positive benefits.
Where are the Nordstroms, the popular former owners of Seattle's favorite professional franchise, the Seahawks? Why can't they come out from behind closed doors? I don't think their lack of presence in winning this battle is helping at all. Establishing a connection between the region and new owners could improve the public's perception of the project. I never thought of this project as controversial but apparently the 3 villains have made it appear to be.
Get endorsement from Seattle icons and get the facts out to the average Joe. The wrong side is most visible and vocal and their false messages of doom & gloom are being heard and read. And I am afraid, they could win when this clearly should have been a blowout victory for us. I thought this final step would be a slam dunk and I couldn't believe my ears when my brother told me the measure will fail. I think it is well past time for the individuals trying to return the Sonics to be seen & heard as an important part of the community. Let's face it, the opponents turned this into a dogfight. They are going all-in and I feel the owners gave a pretty weak effort to get the truth into the hands of the Seattle people. We can't afford to be nonchalant, we need to be in flyin-chickens-in-the-barnyard beast mode. The moderators of the site have done a tremendous job in this regard but as the arrogant two faced liar from the Times dismissed this an a small blog, the message needs to reach more than just the hardcore fans.
There are three well funded groups all pressing full court determined to prevent our dreams of ever having a professional basketball or hockey team and yet the Seattle Arena folks are practically invisible. Just like Wally Walker's wasted first round draft center picks. It's obvious that the other team is inferior but their game plan is to run the clock down and hope the politicians are too afraid to do the right thing.
I am tired of listening to the lies from the enemy. And I hope our whole team shows up to win each & every critical meeting in the next month, or 2, or 3 or....
"Kemp steps up and rejects, rebukes, refutes, denies and generally send it into orbit!" Kevin Colabro
