Clay Bennet is an ass. He is a no good scoundrel. I am glad the sonic names and colors will stay here in Seattle. At least we get one set of banners, but as far as I am concerned, no banner should go to Oklahoma. A team might be going there, but it is truly not the Sonics. Many people besides the two towns could care less about the team leaving, but it is a pride thing for Seattle. It is our one team that has actually accomplished something cool. Yes, it was the late 70’s, but it is the best Seattle has been able to ever produce. My mother even has a picture of me as a baby being held by Jack Sikma. I wonder how she was able to get that!
People blame Schultz and people blame Bennet. They are at fault yes… BUT people are forgetting the Evil Barry Ackerley. I can say Evil on many accounts and not just because of the Seattle Coliseum and the Sonics. I have had other associations with the Ackerley group on a very small scale in my days at not-for-profits.
So… What did Barry Ackerley do? The Seattle Coliseum was renovated in 1994-1995. And let me tell you. The stadium needed it. Big time. That is not what the problem was. The problem was Barry Ackerley was so selfish and jealous, he fucked up the renovations. That is what we are arguing about today correct? Bennet says the Key Areana (formerly Seattle Coliseum) is not good enough. 13 years later and it is horribly out dated.
So what was Ackerley’s jealousy? It came down to he did not want to share the Key Arena with any other major sport event. First, the load and unload debacle at the Key… he made it designed that way. Guess what!? In the seating and event area, specific designs were made to make sure that the ice arena was not Olympic size so there could never be a Major NHL team or that any national or world Figure Skating events could be held at the Key. This includes in door soccer and many other world events. Ackerley wanted the Key for himself and his team. And the Key was renovated in a fucked up manner. I use harsh words because it is the only way to describe how a stadium renovated in the mid 90’s could be so awful.
So now there needs to be a law suit against Barry Ackerley. He made the Key arena what it is today and it is a worthless piece of metal and concrete. He is the reason the Sonics name and colors are in Seattle, but no team to play for them.
About the only thing that is left for the key is possibly curling. But even then, there is probably questionable compressors and the Granite Curling Club is still a better rink except for the lack of seating capacity.
Tags: Seattle, SuperSonics, Barry Ackerley
