What will the new Sonics arena be called?

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Nowadays you can’t have an arena called The Kingdome or, as much as we’d probably all like it, Sonics Arena. It has to be corporate. You have to sell the naming rights to the highest bidder. Hence why we have CenturyLink Field, Barclays Center, the Boston Garden is now the TD Garden for God’s sake! Not to mention a witty nickname is always fun. Fans of the Charlotte Bobcats (yes, there are some) call the Time Warner Cable Arena “The Cable Box.” So who should buy the naming rights to the Sonics’ new home? Below are some Seattle-area companies that could potentially claim the name. along with some clever nicknames for each.

The Microsoft Center (aka The X-Box or The Bing Dome) - the most obvious one

Amazon Arena (aka The Jungle) - has a theme song built in

Starbucks Center (aka The Grounds) - c’mon Howard, it’s the least you could do. Well, the least you could do is absolutely nothing but you’ve already done that. Go one better.

Weyerhauser Garden (aka The Weyerhause [pronounced "Warehouse"] or simply The House)

KeyArena (aka Key2) - Can this happen? Do arenas have sequels? This could cause a lot of confusion, though.

Icanhascheezburger Center… nevermind.

What do you think of these names? What other suggestions you got, Sonics fans?

235 thoughts on “What will the new Sonics arena be called?”

  1. Not to be picky, but the Boston Garden is not “TD Garden” now. Boston Garden is now the site of a parking lot. “TD Garden” is the new name of its successor, formerly the Fleet Center.

  2. I like something like the x-box colisuem. For a nickname we could call it “the box” or something.

  5. Tully’s The Best Major Coffee And Coffee Company Based In Seattle As Opposed To That Other One Run By That Douche Pavilion?

  6. Don’t assume it’ll be a local company. they’ll take as much revenue as they can get to pay off the bonds faster IMO.

  8. I like Nordstrom Arena. Not sure what nickname it could be called, but since there will be Nordstroms as part owners . . . why not?

  9. I still love “The Bing Dome” I mean not only is it northwest related because of Microsoft but it reminds me of all the games I used to see in the old cement monstrosity that used to be in that area.

  16. My money is on a Banking institution (Key, Chase, BoA). I think if you look nationally, Bank’s are frequently the sponsor of Stadiums/Arenas because of scale, and brand placement. Aside from a bank, I could see Amazon.com Arena being a strong possibility. Seems like a natural next step for a company that has grown exponentially over the past 10 years.

    Personally, I would be shocked if Nordstrom or Microsoft ended up as the Arena name sponsor… Pete/Erik Nordstrom and/or Ballmer would be forced into an awkward conversation about whether they are using corporate assets to fund their own pockets. This is certainly not a prohibitive factor, but could be a large barrio to overcome.

  19. BOEING FIELD HOUSE @SODO
    Boeing name synonymous to the Seattle region, and
    named after one of Boeing’s Supersonic jets made in
    the 60′s, here in Seattle.
    It’s got a nice ring to it.

  20. Quicken Loans is also a privately held Company. Nordstrom and Microsoft are both publicly traded corporations, making a related party transaction (such as a Nordstrom/Microsoft naming deal) subject to significantly more scrutiny than a private company.

  24. Would love to see the nickname go along with the rest of our stadiums - - the Key, the Clink, the Safe. Maybe - - - - - - - the Slammer, The Cell.

  26. Lot of good choices in here but I think it’s to the point that I’ll be disappointed if it’s NOT The Bing Dome :-)

  27. The Cell…that could be T-Mobile Arena. (As long as they don’t insist on pink lighting.)

  32. Obviously I hope for one of the cool ones like X-Box, Amazon, or The Rack. . . But mostly I just hope we don’t get something completely lame.

  39. At the Jam Slammer you could propose a toast to all the parties involved in its creation.

  41. Have the donut shop and local dispensaries team up to buy the naming rights for Top Pot Arena- vending for each.

  42. Kinda quiet on the Sac front . . . … … after perusing SacBee again, their Arena plans seem so up in the air and so far behind. Total deja vu.

    Happy as hell for us - - - but I really feel for their fans as the acceptance of the inevitable starts to sink in.

  43. It won’t be family-friendly, but:

    Starf*cks Arena. Instead of the icon thing we see in the conceptual images of the arena, place on top of it a giant construction of the Starbucks logo-except have the mermaid giving a double-barreled salute (if you know what I mean) with its fins (or hands or whatever), to be directed at nearby Starbucks HQ. Howard would have a nice view of it from his corner office.
    Occasionally we could rotate it to face the Port. Or Safeco Field.

  46. Whatever the new arena is eventually called I bet it will be the toast of the town….

  48. True, but…a non-local company might shy away, for fear that fans elsewhere (especially in California) might see it as being party to stealing another city’s team. If the Blunder had been playing, say, in a “Wells Fargo Arena,” don’t you think that bank would have lost a ton of customers here?

  50. If Microsoft get naming rights, they should totally call it “The Office”.
    I would’ve paid to hear Calabro call “… and Gary Payton’s going to work here at The Office”! :-)

  51. Because I suspect a few people missed this in the other thread…

    From this ESPN post by Marc Stein…

    6. The truth about the Sacramento (for now) Kings

    More clarity on where they’ll actually be playing next season is expected two weekends from now when the league’s power brokers all migrate to Houston for the All-Star Game and the meetings and madness that surround it. But this isn’t the place for Seattle-or-Sacramento stuff anyway.

    This is the place to talk about Tyreke Evans, since DeMarcus Cousins remains firmly off-limits while the Kings are in sale limbo, according to NBA front-office sources.

    As for Evans? Word is that the Grizzlies would have loved to acquire him as part of the big trade that sent Gay away, but the Kings really aren’t in a position to take on salary as they await clarification on who’ll be buying the team from the Maloof brothers.

    A couple of teams consulted have volunteered the notion that Kings GM Geoff Petrie is ready to move Evans, but you have to wonder how much shot-calling Petrie can do at the minute. The greater likelihood is that the Kings don’t do anything at this deadline unless it saves money or comes in cash neutral.

    Hmmm… :-)

  54. I hold firm to the Amazon Arena. Has a nice ring to it and if they really are trying to implement a lot of cool fan integration and connectivity things, then amazon may want to leverage its technology side of things as a show piece. Sort of how nintendo uses the DS/3DS at SafeCo for certain things.

  55. I don’t know..do you think Steve Ballmer would be happy to see in his brand new home (the arena), it was promoting a competitor?

    Love the name and all the cool nickname possibilities that go with it though.

  58. I wonder if any big news will drop this week. Is it possible that we are in a blackout that lasts til April?

  61. In my suggestion, the official name would be something the Microsoft Center, Bing Dome would just be the nickname.

  62. If its called “The Office” then I wonder how often this song would get played.

    http://bit.ly/6vUZv

  64. Very interesting, I’m really hoping for more clarity on this situation at the all star break

  68. I’d settle for Actual Arena (home of the Non-Theoretical Completely Tangible NBA Basketball Team).

  70. Maybe the Ivar’s Chowder Bowl? The illustrations of the arena look like a bread bowl full of chowder.

  71. Geoff Baker weighs in on Coyotes situation.

    http://seattletimes.com/html/hockey/2020268888_hockey04.html

  72. Amazon Arena HANDS DOWN!!

    Imagine “Welcome to the Jungle” blasting in the playoffs vs OKC as the players are introduced.

    It would be NUTZ!!!!

    Marv Albert: Game 7 here in Seattle, welcome to the JUNGLE ladies and gentlemen. This reminds me of Sonics playoff games in the past at the old coliseum and KeyArena. It’s loud and wild like a jungle!!!

  73. Makes sense from a timing perspective, and I think he is correct about the tepid hockey fandom here. We do have quite a few registered hockey players compared to other non traditional hockey markets, but a year or two of knowing the team is coming is probably better for building a fan base compared to a few months.

  74. Thanks for posting this Paul. This has been my take on the Coyotes situation as well.

    I’m a huge hockey guy, but right now, my only focus is to get the ‘Supes back and return Bball to this town. A part of us is gone, and we are passionate for their return.

    Same can be said for the Nordiques fans, who so love their hockey, and have been teamless sice GP took us to the NBA finals. It’s been 5 excruciating hyears for, us, but I cannot imagine the pain the a Quebec fan must be feeling.

    They should go first- and not limited to expansion. First available team goes to them, then us. Its a new sport for us (as a region- not discounting the awesome WHL fans we have all over state, but to the “masses”), so I think there is some time for patience.

  76. I’m declaring this the winner. Only other region that you could get this to work in is San Jose.

  77. “I think he is correct about the tepid hockey fandom here.” i tend to disagree with this comment. the t birds probably draw around 4k/game and the silvertips about 6k/game. both of those teams do have pretty devoted and consistent fan bases and that’s for the minor leagues. there are also many canucks fans in the seattle area. i think with an nhl team, you would capture all of those existing fan bases while also bringing in more casual fans.

    but one thing we can all agree on. supes are priority # 1!

  78. Thats a really good article by Geoff Baker.

    Really having fun with the concept of KG going to the Clippers. That would just be the type of entertainment I love to see. Would he be rejuvenated and bring his insane competitiveness to the young team or is he just past his prime and turning into a headcase?

    I’ve loved Garnett his whole career and think it would be really fun to watch him play with Blake Griffin. One more reason to watch that really fun team.

  79. Maybe I should have said in comparison to the fans in Canada. I do think the city can and will support an NHL team, but I do think having something to build towards and get the casual fans acclimated to the game would certainly help make the team a bigger success than a quick relocation would allow.

  80. It’s a really interesting trade proposal. I think he would thrive with veterans like Paul, Hill and Billups on the roster. His intensity combined with Paul’s would be off the charts. He would be invaluable to Griffin helping him with his post D. I wonder if he would start or come off the bench?

  82. That’s the beauty of Windows 8. Code once, use in all three mediums PC/Tablet/Phone

  83. Amazon Rainforest?

    Keep in mind it only makes sense for a nationwide brand. It also needs to be a brand that needs to advertise. Boeing wouldnt make sense. Neither would Weyerhauser…..or Ivars.

    Microsoft makes sense.

  85. Was going to do a bit of a write up on this tonight and how it would affect both teams going forward.

  86. I’ ve been a pretty big fan of Kevin’ s too, but his increasingly bizarre and way more frequent bully behavior once he got to Boston was practically impossible to defend.

    Minnesota Garnett: Awesome. A must see talent in his prime.

    Boston Garnett: strange, embarrassing, and more than a little sad to see someone so clumsily try to transform himself into a tough guy enforcer type.

    If the Clippers do snag him, I think they have to be considered the favorite in the West. They are fun to watch. I really can’t stand Chris Paul though.

  91. Just please keep EQC out of the mix! I really don’t want to see their name on this thing.

  92. I was thinking about potential destinations and come up with San Antonio for Paul Pierce. I refuse to consider sending talent to OKC :)

    I’m really not that familiar with the league anymore. Need to work on that for sure.

  94. If the roof of the stadium is designed to depict the turbine of a plane, then I kind of hope Boeing buys the naming rights.

    Then we can nickname it Bo-Dome or something.

  96. It would be interesting if Boeing throws their name out there. I don’t think they’ve ever bought the naming rights to any sports venue?

  97. Maybe the Seattle Center people should buy naming rights and call it Seattle Center Coliseum. Then they would still feel relevant :)

  99. Not everyone can buy a plane. There is a reason that Bentley and Ferrari dont run commercials. It would be a waste of money for them.

  101. I mentioned this many months ago on SC: call it Costco Court and sell Costco hot dogs, pizzas, and smoothies in the concession stands.

  103. Except Boeing does run tv commercials and they do advertise at SafeCo, so they could do this. Also, they might be able to write it off as an image enhancer after the battery debacle. In all likelihood they wouldn’t buy the naming rights, but they do advertise for some reason.

  106. Forget concession stands, they could just have little old ladies with their tables at each aisle giving free samples.

  110. R.E. Graswich‏@REGraswich
    Attn Sea fans: please send me link to PDF’d contract to purchase 65% Kings. Would like to study.

    R.E. Graswich‏@REGraswich
    Also attn Sea fans: please send me link to PDF’d term sheet between city & Hansen on new arena. Very much appreciate.

  113. His best one is at the end. “How do we know about Sea purchase offer? Only what Hansen wants us to know.” Um…except the NBA and the Maloofs said they had a purchase offer.

  116. I’m expecting his next tweet to ask for Hansen’s online banking login and tape recorded conversations of all arena or Kings related negotiations.

  117. Clearly he is running the mayor’s distraction campaign from some of the other stuff he has said.

  118. @REGraswich
    And what do we know about new Sea arena? Pretty pictures (but paying for it is Sea taxpayers’ problem, not mine).

    Except it’s not either.

  119. @REGraswich
    Bottom line: What do we really know about Sea purchase offer? Only what Hansen wants us to know.

    Replace “Hansen” with “the NBA” and I might agree.

  120. R.E. Graswich‏@REGraswich
    At least Anaheim posted Kings term sheet on city web site. Calif gvts more up front about spending public dollars than Sea?

  122. Yeah, just read the last 20 or so posts. Basically he knows that KJ has nothing right now (he is a special assistant btw) and wants to runt he slander campaign on Mr. Hansen without looking at any facts or reading any recent news stories about the arena and the myriad stories about EIS, I-91 or litigation. Not to mention the public funding aspect.

  124. Nothing has been more frustrating during this whole process than PEOPLE WITH QUESTIONS… that, if they did 3 seconds of research, would be answered. But then, WHAT COULD WE QUESTION?!?

  128. When you can’t win on your own merits, diminish the value of your opponent. By asking them for the necessary information. Even the straws they’re grasping at are starting to look soft.

  130. Maybe I should tweet him that easy to read picture from seattle.gov. I wonder if he was a commenter in the Times forum?

  131. yeah, didn’t mcginn have some special letter and post all the details months ago?? doesn’t this guy know anything. it’s really weird that someone actually associated with the sac mayor’s office would be engaging in this petty bickering. sounds like they’re really hurtning down there. instead of naming whales and making progress, they’re coming out this week flinging poop

  137. Paul Rogers‏@RPaulRogers
    @REGraswich sactown should emulate this deal. majority private financed. $200 mil of public bonds, repaid by arena fees. zero gen fund

  138. Well the NBA isn’t doing anything to stop stuff like this. I thought the NBA would have done something to shut them up by now.

  140. I’m wondering if the NBA put a gag order on KJ after his meaningless press conferences. If so, it clearly didn’t extend to his staff.

  141. Nice, but if he read he would know the county is involved and how the $200 mill is only with both tenants. This guy really is just trying to distract at this point

  143. Brett, my assumption about the NBA frowning on Twitter wars by local politicians is that it serves the NBA’s owners no benefit. The NBA and many city/state politicians don’t seem to have the greatest of relationships. So threatening lawsuits, boycotts and childish Twitter wars, I just think would be a negative. But money talks and b.s. walks. So it’s all kinda moot anyways,

  146. oh for heaven shakes.

    R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
    Sea/Hansen MOU of 10/9/12 is solid first-step doc, but not a term sheet showing how arena will be financed.

    R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
    Have seen MOU with Hansen calling for $200m of Sea public funds. Doc emphasizes need for NHL team (plus unknown NBA team) to cover costs.

  147. Ummm isn’t a term sheet a preliminary document bulleting the financial agreement which leads to an MOU? Why would he want to see the term sheet when the MOU is the binding agreement?

  148. Oh I agree with you. I’m just saying that I don’t think this Graswich guy is relevant enough for the league to concern themselves with.

  149. If that is who is advising KJ, I feel sorry for the city of Sacramento. They never had a chance.

  150. Graswich uses the logic of the Times commenters or, worse yet, the times editorial board.

  153. Not sure what tweeting with some guy like that should do for us.

    Anyways, since holding three press conferences in a row it’s gotten really quite from KJ’s camp.

    Instead of presenting his “whales” and definite plans on the arena all that’s been said has been:
    - Burkle interested in buying AEG
    - the city still looking at different sites for a possible arena
    - first studies(very early stage) about the Burkles land to build an arena
    - Mastrov talking to KJ(not Burkle) and having ideas
    - no “whales” being announced
    - the bankrupt minority owners trustee talking about ROFR

    All things combined, it currently looks to me like the only card they’re able to play is trying to slow the process in Seattle(arena in Seattle, sale and relocation to Seattle), as they’re still scrambling to find a solution that could be acceptable to the NBA.

  156. I don’t know where my post about the term sheet is going, but I googled Arena Term Sheet and the first thing that comes up is a King 5 article from Feb 2012 from Hansen to the City/County and a term sheet….

    http://tinyurl.com/b83lkdv

  161. RE Graswich is projecting the status of the Sacramento arena onto Seattle. He can criticize and question all he wants. It really is Sacramento’s problem if he has low level ability for reading comprehension. If he is more of an audio/visual learner, there is a great video on the King County website of the October 16, 2025 “Arena Legislation Bill Signing Ceremony.”

    Go to Google and enter “october 2012 mou seattle arena.” It is the very first link returned.

    I am surprised that someone with his Twitter acumen does not seem to be able to exhibit the skills needed to work a search engine.

  162. @ChrisDaniels5: Good analysis on the on-court decline of #NBAKings, since #Seattle move announced, by the guys @cowbell_kingdom http://t.co/MNXVAXsL

  163. I’m not surprised. He’s not interested in information. He is only interested in starting a Twitter war between the two fanbases. What is sad is that he’s not even trying to hide it.

  164. WTF?

    R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
    Sense is Sea’s Hansen not quite as pregnant as he wants people to believe.

  169. Who cares. Sac town should be worried at the task at hand. Their Arena issue should be backburner for right now.

  170. Sense is Sea’s Hansen not quite as pregnant as he wants people to believe.

    And he would know how? This is someone acting like a child and calling someone names. Very sad that they would do anything get there way.

  171. @SHowardCooper: No practical hit to Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson missing a self-imposed timeline to unveil majority owner(s)… http://t.co/ZoTPKeRl

    Does he mean legal battle with sac?

  172. Send me proof that their isnt a term sheet.

    Send me a list of all your locked down “whales”

  175. +1

    Seriously, if he needs to spend a day or two learning how to use A search engine at the risk of him calling us chicken, let him do it

  177. I’ve made it a point to refuse to learn the corporate name of any arena or ballkpark. The last straw was Enron Field, the name was shown to be a bad idea from the start when Enron turned out to be run by crooks and went bankrupt. Suddenly the name of the ballpark becomes a big, and bad, joke.

    Even when the corporation doesn’t do something evil, mergers and takeovers can cause the name to change, and once again the name of the arena has to be changed; the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark had this happen.

    So for me it’s the “Lakers’ arena”, the “49ers’ stadium”, the “Texas ballpark”, etc.

    That being said, I recognize the reality that most arenas these days have corporate naming rights being auctioned off. Furthermore, I make a partial exception for Seattle teams. Safeco is Safeco. Key Arena was Key Arena. The Seahawks’ stadium is a mixed bag, I wanted to avoid following the absurd corporate maneuvers which led to one company name disappearing and the name of the stadium needing to be changed, but when the time comes to buy a ticket to a Sounders game, I’ll need to know the name of the stadium to know where the game is being played.

  178. “The Seattle plan is locked in. Ownership group in place, agreement with the Maloof family to buy controlling interest in place, details for a new arena in place. Sacramento has none of that at a time it needs impress the Board of Governors as organized and being more deserving of the Kings than Seattle. “

  179. No one is pregnant. The baby(Kings) already exist. The Maloof’s just signed over full custodial rights to their “baby” to Chris Hansen(pending adoption agency-NBA-approval).

  180. Are there any NBA rules about having sponsorship on jerseys? Like they do in soccer. Hear me out. I know it wont make the uniforms look cool. I know its kind of cheesy.

    But historically we havent been big time players. Maybe CH will change that. But every little bit helps. If Arena naming rights and or uniform sponsorship can make the team money and in turn give them more to spend then I would be all for that.

  182. So KJ has a press conference for tomorrow? Is it finally time for whales to be revealed?

  184. No. Cooper speculated that the announcement of the majority owner may come as early as tomorrow.

  185. I quit following when the league folded a few years back.
    Since the talk of restarting it, I have noticed a thing or two about teams or players or something…

  186. @ChrisDaniels5: RT @kcrabienick: Spksmn for @KJ_MayorJohnson says mayor planning news conf for tomm.Not clear if this will be simple update on #NBAKings

  189. Should be an interesting Tuesday then.

    We’ll see if KJ’s able to present his “whales” and how exactly the wording will be, if he’s announcing them.

    If it’s still about a “fair and competitive” offer and not definite on how they try to work this then it’s another setback for them.

    Though, if it’s not even that, then it looks really bad for them.

  191. Maybe we get lucky and he says he has done all that he can do to keep the Kings there and he is moving on to getting things done for long term consideration.

    Would kind of make sense with his Asst. RE Graswich spouting off. Maybe the NBA told him to back off and that this is a done deal. Maybe KJ feels that he needs to announce before the big herewebuy thing Saturday because he doesnt want constituents upset that they paid the Maloofs money for nothing.

    Seriously its probably wishful thinking but a pissed off Asst spouting off a bunch of crap and the presser which I assume would be leaked that he is announcing his whales. Hmmm?

  193. Maybe the reason RE Grawich is saying all that stuff is he is pissed and doesnt think that the NBA should be telling KJ to back off because he doesnt believe that the Seattle sitaution isnt far enough along to merit the NBA telling them its done move along. Would kind of make sense with him throwing a fit like he is

  194. Doubt that.

    He’s promised a fight and certainly won’t quit before the owners at least vote for the sale.

    That would make him look bad to the folks down there in Sacramento.

  195. Silvio- The NBA could say backoff (or possibly already vetted everything) like they did with Seattle in 2008. If the NBA tells him to backoff unless they dont want future consideration for a team. Maybe the NBA is telling them because of legal worries coming from things going forward?

    I doubt that will be the case and it is either s status report or whales.

    Remember though if you put into context what I said and Burkle’s AEG pursuit it does lend some reasoning to my spin on it

  196. Dont you think that if a press conference was being talked about for tomorrow and that whales were to be announced that they would leak that so EVERYBODY tunes in?

  198. kinda seems like if something BIG is being announced good or bad, you’d start to “sources” ineaking info…

  200. Synopsis of the Graswich Tweets:

    “Hi, I’m looking for holes in your Arena plan and can’t find any.
    Would you care to lend an assist? Much appreciated”

  202. Well Bob Condotta says that this is just KJ resuming his weekly press conferences that include all city matters so sounds like nothing. Like I said if they were announcing whales it would be leaked. Probably will say what he has been about them existing and that they are hammering out the details. You know status quo

  203. Bob Condotta‏@bcondotta
    Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson will address media tomorrow at 11 a.m. But a spokesperson says this is merely his usual weekly press. …

    Bob Condotta‏@bcondotta
    … conference and that there is nothing new at the moment with the Kings. Obviously, that could change. But this is apparently. …

    Bob Condotta‏@bcondotta
    … simply the resumption of his weekly press conferences on all matters pertaining to the city. Kings, though, could be a topic.

  209. I doubt he’d say it, even if the NBA told KJ to back off.

    That’s something he might do if the owners vote for the sale and he’s told that it’s a done deal.

    BTW: Reading those tweets it seems like they still won’t be able to announce their “whales” and arena plans.
    That’s not a good sign, if the press conference really does not reveal anything new.

  216. Im not saying we should or shouldnt do it. But if someone offered the a ton of money to do it then I would consider it.

    Its really not that much different than having a Nike swoosh or an adidas logo.

  221. RE Graswich 1/9/12 from Cowbell Nation “Well you hate to say give up and Kevin Johnson in the same sentence. And even though I don’t work for him anymore, I still hate to say that, so I won’t say that. I don’t believe that he will give up. Unfortunately, it’s out of his hands. You’ve got a basketball team, which is a business and that business has really the ability to control its own destiny. So no matter what the mayor does, no matter what the city does, no matter what the governor or anybody else does, the decisions are going to be made by the Maloof family.”
    http://www.cowbellkingdom.com/2013/01/09/virginia-beach-sacrament-kings-kevin-johnson/

  222. Other methods Graswich is considering to show how much better prepared Sac is than Seattle:

    -Touting Sacramento’s much more impressive coastline

    -Discussing the educational prestige of Sacramento State compared to the University of Washington

    -Harshly critiquing Detlef Schrempf’s recurring role on Parks and Rec

  223. So, he’s a former journalist, who became a former mayoral aide- so, now he’s… just a guy?

  224. RE GRASWICH from Chicago Tribune Kings write up couple years ago “Right now the mood is good riddance, although I’m not sure it has sunk in,” said R.E. Graswich, a top aide to Mayor Johnson and a former Sacramento Bee journalist who covered the Kings for seven years.

    “We’ve grown up as a sports town,” Graswich said. “We’re not going to back any crummy product they put on the floor. We’ve got bigger problems —12.5 percent unemployment, people being laid off or furloughed, their homes in foreclosure. The Kings would be a nice distraction if they were any good, but they’re not.”
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/27cncsports.html?_r=0

  225. RE GRASWICH from Chicago Tribune Kings write up couple years ago “Right now the mood is good riddance, although I’m not sure it has sunk in,” said R.E. Graswich, a top aide to Mayor Johnson and a former Sacramento Bee journalist who covered the Kings for seven years.

    “We’ve grown up as a sports town,” Graswich said. “We’re not going to back any crummy product they put on the floor. We’ve got bigger problems —12.5 percent unemployment, people being laid off or furloughed, their homes in foreclosure. The Kings would be a nice distraction if they were any good, but they’re not.”

  226. two years ago in a Chicago Tribune article he was basically saying, “good riddance.”

  227. As a graduate of Sacramento State, even I can see through these methods.

    But just barely.

  229. Maybe Burkle won’t commit because he doesn’t want to be sued for interference, and is starting the process of getting an replacement team now. Him waiting coupled with his meeting with Stern about “Sac’s future position as an NBA city” is good circumstantial evidence.

  230. I’m under the impression these whales are not as committed as we were intended to believe.

  231. Detlef is awesome on Parks and Rec! So random when you consider he only played in Indiana for 4 years.

  233. NO WAY this arena should be named after that douchenozzle who sold our original team!

    Tully’s? Fine… but put a clause into the naming rights contract that if they ever sell to that putz or his company, they lose all naming privileges!

  234. Good Faith Best Effort,
    Just testing HTML options and rules… had to find an old thread that accepted comments.

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