Sunday, February 17, 2008

David Stern Rant

I'm not one to rant on someone or call them out on their bullshit, but I cannot hold back on this any longer. There is a strong history of sports in the Pacific Northwest whether David Stern can acknowledge that or not. We love our teams up here, but not when they're owned by douchebags like Clay Bennett (you redneck sack of shit). I saw this day coming when the Sonics were sold to Clay Bennett by Mr. Starbucks himself Howard Schultz. We had a decent team back then and now...I can't stand watching them. David Stern seems to have replaced his love of basketball for economics. I understand economics Mr. Stern and I also understand the passion that some people have for certain sports. Admit it Mr. Stern, you've never liked Seattle. In fact, more than half of the sports writers and commentators have a real disliking for Seattle sports. Why is that? Why is it that you toss around lengthy and unnecessary economic terms when a simple answer would suffice? We're not stupid Mr. Stern...we're just a compassionate group of sports fans up here. The Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks almost left Seattle for, ironically, Florida. The Mariners were supposed to be the Florida Marlins and the Seahawks were supposed to be the Jacksonville Jaguars. You say that Mr. Bennett has invested more money and time into getting a new arena built for his team. My response to that is, "So what?" We don't have a problem with the product in which he is promoting, it's his attitude that we have a problem with. That southern, redneck attitude that seems to have a poor reputation for running a sports team. Case in point, the Texas Rangers and George W. Bush. Mr. Bush owned the majority of the Texas Rangers at one point. He traded Sammy Sosa, shortstop Scott Fletcher and pitcher Wilson Alvarez to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique. In hindsight, one of the worst trades in baseball history. Of course this has nothing on what Harry Frazee did. For those of you who don't know Harry Frazee, he was THE MAIN CAUSE of the many years of pain and suffering endured by the Boston Red Sox and their fans. Harry Frazee, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, agreed to sell Babe Ruth (a pitcher with a 89-46 lifetime record and a then-Red Sox home run record of 29 homers) to the New York Yankees for $125,000 plus a $300,000 mortgage on Fenway Park. We all know how that ended up. Say what you will about Ed Barrow (Frazee's right hand man; introduced the sale of Ruth to the Yankees; after that became official, he jumped ship and joined the group of owners in NY...what a douche), but Frazee was the owner. I'll sum up my entire argument right here: Mr. Stern, you are in the wrong line of work. You apparently have something against Seattle. Is it innate or is this a learned response...I don't know. I won't stand by and watch you tirade around and make us Seattle fans feel guilty and look stupid. We want the Sonics here in Seattle. We don't want Clay Bennett and we certainly don't want your useless analogies and sports writer rhetoric. We want results, we want something to be proud of, and we want our Sonics to remain in Seattle. Ask yourself why the city council hasn't approved for the funding for a new arena. Ask us why the taxpayers refuse to fund such an arena (we've seen the blueprints of the proposed arena and it was disgusting). Ask yourself why we don't like dealing with Mr. Bennett. Ask yourself why the seats are empty. We refuse to show up for games not because of their poor play as of late, but for their pig-nosed owner. Mr. Schultz kept the Sonics up here because he noticed the connection between the team, the fans, and the city. He understood that...Mr. Bennett does not. In fact, Mr. Schultz has openly criticized Mr. Bennett and has said that he hopes that basketball isn't doomed in Seattle. To Mr. Stern and Mr. Bennett: look at the history of Seattle sports. We have only ONE world title and that was the 1978-79 championship team. That alone is why we love this team. You two might also look at the evidence that I presented earlier in regards to moving TWO Seattle teams to Florida. The two Seattle teams stayed in Seattle and have had great success since then. Learn from that. Learn that you cannot make friends by acting like an ass and threatening to rip a team with 40 years of history up from its roots and move it to Oklahoma City simply because you didn't get your way. Children act in that manner Mr. Bennett, not full grown men. Mr. Stern was asked whether he was convinced the Sonics would leave Seattle after 40-plus years and one NBA title. This is what he said:

"I see nothing -- I don't know why anyone would expect in the absence of what they've been saying all along, which is funding for a new building of some kind and a plan for it that they would be staying," he said. "I accept that inevitability at this point. There is no miracle here."

Mr. Stern, you know nothing of what a miracle is. Miracles have kept sports in Seattle (Edgar Martinez and "The Double" in the 1995 ALDS vs. the NY Yankees) and have helped them maintain a steady fanbase. Your doubt in miracles leads me to believe that you have no soul. Whatever you say from this point on is null and void and I ask you to listen for the "pop". What "pop" am I referring to? The "pop" is the sound that you'll hear when you pull your head out of your ass. Spiral out.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Chomsky & I- Similar Obama Thoughts

In a recent article written by Noam Chomsky, he had this to say about presidential hopeful Barack Obama. I see a similarity between his assessment and mine.

Noam Chomsky on Obama
"When I was driving home the other day and listening to NPR - my masochist streak - they happened to have a long segment on Barack Obama. It was very favorable, really enthusiastic. Here is a new star rising in the political firmament. I was listening to see if the report would say anything about his position on issues - any issue. Nothing. It was just about his image. I think they may have had a couple words about him being in favor of doing something about the climate. What are his positions? It doesn't matter. You read his articles. It's the same. He gives hope. He looks right into your eyes when you talk to him. That's what's considered significant. Not 'Should we control our own resources? Should we nationalize our resources? Should we have water for people? Should we have health care systems? Should we stop carrying out aggression?' No. That's not mentioned. Because our electoral system, our political system, has been driven to such a low level that issues are completely marginalized. You're not supposed to know the information about the candidates."

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Change

Woke up again this morning, you weren't there,
Dreamt of change, within me, within you,
Subtle yet not, it's you that brings this out in me,
Soft caresses, your skin calls for my touch,
My soul, as vulnerable as a newborn baby,
Guards were down, I let you in,
Mistake it may have been, know not unless you try,
Dreams become desirable, dreams become me,
World without boundaries, a world without pain,
Pain waits for me to awake; it has seemed to replace you,
This pain I do not desire, I long for days without worry,
Words and books postpone my immediate focus,
Faith I do not have, come and gone over the years,
Yearning, this I have, what is it that I yearn for?
Completeness, to feel whole, to embrace a change,
Challenge my core beliefs, world spinning into oblivion,
Dreams of spiraling into nothing, worried I am not,
A glance to chisel the ice, an embrace to warm the soul,
Alone I've been and alone I'll be, this much is true,
Until one day I roll over and I'm peering right at you.