Oklahoma City Thunder

tybird

Awful name....sounds like an XFL team.....and the logo looks like another XFL reject....should gone with Bison....I would have ordered something with a Bison logo.

BenInTacoma

oktacoma wrote:

It does suck that Seattle lost its team and that it went down the way it did. That being said, anyone who rips on Oklahoma City is really displacing their anger. Bottom line is the citizens of Seattle did not show the support for the team like OKC is. I know because I lived in Tacoma for the past 3 years and went to several Sonics games. I do think they'll get another NBA team but they're going to have to show as much support for that team as they do for the Seahawks and the Mariners.

Nothing to do with support, everything to do with money (ie a new Arena). Don't confuse support and money. Imagine if every team who did not get what they want relocating during a time when that team is at the bottom of the league. The Key wasn't empty because it was old or run down. It was empty cause the Sonics made poor choices and did not perform well for the last 5 years.

oktacoma

ThrowUrArmsAroundMe wrote:

The logo is even worse.

http://timesunion.com/ASPLib/Enlarge.asp?Location=/Shared/Graphics/NewsDB/AP/Oklahoma+City+Basketball+d23091c3-46c4-48ab-b773-8c1bb4d16f94.jpg&Caption=Damien+Wilkins,+left,+applauds+as+the+name,+logo+and+colors+of+Oklahoma+City%27s+NBA+franchise+are+unveiled+in+Oklahoma+City,+Wednesday,+Sept.+3,+2008.+Wilkins+is+a+player+for+the+Oklahoma+City+Thunder,+which+moved+from+Seattle.&CredString=+(AP)&Alt=Oklahoma+City+Basketball&Height=512&Width=474

I thought the logo was butt-ass ugly too...at first. Then, I looked at all of the other teams' logos and the OKC one actually looked better than most of them. I mean, some of them are just plain boring, like the Pistons':
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Detroit_Pistons_logo.svg/200px-Detroit_Pistons_logo.svg.png
OR the Clippers':
https://www.usshortcodes.com/csc/images/directory/65.jpg
Compared to those, the OKC logo looks pretty sweet.

oktacoma

BenInTacoma wrote:

Nothing to do with support, everything to do with money (ie a new Arena). Don't confuse support and money. Imagine if every team who did not get what they want relocating during a time when that team is at the bottom of the league. The Key wasn't empty because it was old or run down. It was empty cause the Sonics made poor choices and did not perform well for the last 5 years.

I'm not confusing those two, as I saw firsthand that BOTH were lacking for the Sonics. Plus, many times support does equal money because voters often have to approve public funding for arenas. However, I agree that the support was poor because the team sucked, not because of the Key.

Lee M

It may just be me, but if I was going to move a team to a more fruitful area, I really wouldn't be moving it to Oklahoma.

teskeinc

The Key arena did not allow the owners to make the kind of money they wanted. No luxury boxes and what not. The Key once very nice wasnt close in comparison to the other new stadiums. The place rocked in the mid 90s like no other.

Most Seattle voters were burned by the the funding of Qwest and Safeco fields. Over a billion dollars were spent. With no hope of a new stadium , Schultz (former owner) decided he would pawn the team to a red-neck from Oklahoma who claimed he would fight or even throw in some of his own cash for a new building. All lies of course. Bennett half-heartedly tried to get the stadium paid for and if he was successful would have flipped the team to someone else. But his plan worked perfectly and now he has the Thunder in OKC.

If anyone is to blame its Starfucks owner Shultz. He singlehandedly gave the Sonics away. Yeah the team has been terrible lately , but 3-4 years ago in McMillens last season as coach they went to the 2nd round of the playoffs and were playing great. People were coming out. They let Nate go to Portland and that set the events in motion the next 2 years. Losing Rashard Lewis for nothing trading Ray Allen for shit. It was all a plan to justify moving the team to OKC.

They will be successful in OKC short term, but look what happened in Memphis. They play in maybe the nicest building in the NBA. FedEx Forum. Its nearly half empty every night now and the NBA has lost its luster. No one likes to root for a loser. Year after year the same bad moves. Losing 50+ games.

I was/am a Sonics fan all my life. I watched games in the Kingdome where I could barely see the court. I watched games in the old Seattle Center Coliseum. I met Tom Chambers , Dale Ellis, Jack Sikma , Xavier McDaniel to Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, those were the fucking days.

Shultz fucked Seattle , the fans and the city. Don't BS people and say there was no support and its Seattles fault. If he wanted to sell there were plenty of local owners willing to buy the team for fair market price, not top dollar to a billionaire red-neck who planned on moving the team to OKC the whole time.

oktacoma

teskeinc wrote:

If anyone is to blame its Starfucks owner Shultz. He singlehandedly gave the Sonics away.

They will be successful in OKC short term, but look what happened in Memphis.

Shultz fucked Seattle , the fans and the city. Don't BS people and say there was no support and its Seattles fault.

I agree that Shultz fucked over the city and the fans by selling the team to someone he probably knew had intentions of moving the team elsewhere.

As for being successful in OKC, I think it is unwise to equate OKC with Memphis. For better or worse, Oklahoma has very loyal fans and will support their teams, even in the worst of times (see OU's football in the 90s for an example). Although we don't know if that loyalty will carryover to the Thunder if they suck for a long time, previous behavior would suggest that OKC fans would remain more loyal than Memphis fans. Furthermore, I strongly believe that the Thunder has much more direction and focus under Sam Presti than the Grizzlies do, so I think they have a bright future and the loyalty to a bad team issue is moot anyway.

As for BS-ing people about support, it is absolutely NOT BS that there hasn't been the support for the team lately. Sure, that can be blamed on Shultz or the team's bad decisions, or just the poor play in general, but the support definitely wasn't there for the past 3 years I was attending Sonics games. I loved watching them, but was consistently disappointed in the level of support for them. As for providing public funding for a new arena, it's understandable that a major city with 3 major teams (two of which recently got new venues), would be skeptical about paying even MORE taxes for another arena. I think that is why OKC will support this team so much, because this will be the only major sports team in the state, so fans are really excited and are willing to pay for it.

In the end, I think it is sad the way this went down and that the NBA is no longer in Seattle. I hope they get a new team soon.

sennin

Congrats to OKC!

Clay Bennett (And Schultz) is a huge crapbag....also, keep an eye on the NBA's Napoleon, Stern.

Seattle....with no Sonics? Boooooooo!

appliedlesson

Don't most new cities to the nba do this - to attract the kids and sell the merchandise at the start. I remember when the raptors first started, the logo and colours were awful - really, a purple dinosaur? It'll change in a few years.

Black Diamond

smartass1235 wrote:

Long live the Sonics, Whalers, and Jets ( Winnipeg )

What about Nordiques?

stickboy

Black Diamond wrote:

What about Nordiques?

thank you. you beat me to it

this money hungry corporate bullshit, building new stadiums and new arenas to accomodate the suitcoats with luxury boxes and even expansion is ruining our sports big time and it sucks cause loyal and diehard fans are becoming more and more detached.

and that logo...what'd they do? rip off the Nets logo or the Atlanta Thrashers one? :rolleyes:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png/200px-New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png

http://www.pickuphockey.com/forum/avatars/atlanta_thrashers_logo.jpg

MrsOakley

Do be assured of one thing, there is a highway to hell, which is just as bad as the place itself, and David Stern will spend eternity on it, selling OKC Thunder T-shirts out of the trunk of an AMC Pacer that is stalled on the side of the road.

I remember the grief a friend of mine in Vancouver went through when they moved the Grizzlies, die hard fans signing petitions, writing letters, like banging your head up against a brick wall, no one gave two shits, and they were dying of anger and frustration...

But, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, my Knicks aren't going anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE...of course, we did just get Patrick Ewing, Jr. -- seems like he was just in grammar school, yikes -- as part of a deal that involved, I kid you not, the draft rights to FREDERICK WEIS.

Jeff's right, stick to college and high school, and I don't have to wait for that litter of Barrys to retire to do it, either...

Jearlpam0925

Their logo looks like something that should be in the WNBA.

Black Diamond

stickboy wrote:

thank you. you beat me to it

this money hungry corporate bullshit, building new stadiums and new arenas to accomodate the suitcoats with luxury boxes and even expansion is ruining our sports big time and it sucks cause loyal and diehard fans are becoming more and more detached.

and that logo...what'd they do? rip off the Nets logo or the Atlanta Thrashers one? :rolleyes:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png/200px-New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png

http://www.pickuphockey.com/forum/avatars/atlanta_thrashers_logo.jpg

And playing with the Mets colors always bring such good luck! And I am a die-hard Metsie.

oktacoma

stickboy wrote:

and that logo...what'd they do? rip off the Nets logo or the Atlanta Thrashers one? :rolleyes:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png/200px-New_Jersey_Nets_logo.png

http://www.pickuphockey.com/forum/avatars/atlanta_thrashers_logo.jpg

The only similarity I see with the Nets' and Thrashers' logos is the triangle or shield. If you look at all of the NBA logos, the OKC one actually looks better than most:
http://www.nba.com/teams/

oktacoma

Black Diamond wrote:

And playing with the Mets colors always bring such good luck! And I am a die-hard Metsie.

This is our year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's just hope we don't blow it like last September!

stickboy

oktacoma wrote:

The only similarity I see with the Nets' and Thrashers' logos is the triangle or shield. If you look at all of the NBA logos, the OKC one actually looks better than most:
http://www.nba.com/teams/

yea thats wat I meant, that triangle shield thing..it's like getting played out already

mvluckymike

Man it sucks when your team bails on you.I live close to Vero Beach Florida and we just lost the L.A dodgers to Arizona for spring training .I loved Dodgertown and springtraining baseball.

Hawkshore

Black Diamond wrote:

What about Nordiques?

Viva les Nordiques :mad:

And I voted for the OK Cornholers .........suggested they could cross promote with the Buthead playing the Cornholio character!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFG0SPwxF24

It is a sad time without the Sonics I went down many a time in the early to mid nineties to catch the Sonic regular season and playoff games! ......before the our fine city got fucked over by Mr Stern and shitty ownership! :mad: