Re. Seattle Sonics, the court rules in favor of big money owners over the people. Who would have

[rhett o rick]

thought. Personally I don't care. Pro sports rips off taxpayers. Players and owners make millions and millions at the expense of fans and taxpayers.

My fear is that once the team has gone to Oklahoma, the NBA will try to get Seattle to spend billions on new facilities in order to get a new team. Fuck that. Snake oil.

[pscot]

1. The court ruled?

Do you have a link? If not, you may want to check your facts.

[rhett o rick]

2. I apologize, I was wrong. An agreement was reached just prior to the "court" ruling.

The city caved in and gave away the Sonics. Most likely because they figured that the judge would rule in favor of the rich owner. This is all a con game.

And anyway the games are scripted just like wrestling. Oops, I hope I didn't spoil it for you.

[regnaD kciN]

3. However...

...it is recognized that judges in civil cases go to one side or the other and let them know what the decision will be if they don't settle. The sudden rush to a less-than-evenhanded settlement hours before the decision was due to be released strongly suggests that the judge in this case informed the city that she would rule in the owner's favor, and they'd be out the team with practically no compensation (and heavy legal fees from both sides if they lost).

So, it really comes out to the same thing. The court sided with the new owners, and the city settled to a) save face and b) preserve the slightest chance of getting a new team eventually.

[rhett o rick]

4. Thank you, I agree. nm

[pscot]

5. So even when you're wrong, you're right

What a pleasure it is to have the benefit of your superior insight.

[regnaD kciN]

6. ?????

:wtf:

[rhett o rick]

7. Do you provide meaningful dialog or just pick on people?

My point is that the rich owners and NBA rip off local fans and taxpayers. While they get incredibly rich we get stuck with old stadiums and arenas. We have to build new ones and pay for the old ones to be removed. When we enter into contracts to protect our interests the courts seem to always rule in favor of the rich owners. If the gullibles of a city want a sports team so bad they are willing to pay hundreds of millions, fine let them pay. But don't ask the rest of us to put stadium building before improvement of local infrastructure.

Have a nice 4th (no sarcasm)

[sneakythomas]

8. Back during the NBA lockout

A family friend sent us an editorial that said that most Ameicans regarded the NBA labor dispute as a turf war between rival gangs of millionaires. That pretty much sums up my feelings about this one.

I used to be a fan of lots of sports. I'm tired of getting hosed to provide palaces for these people to play in.

[rhett o rick]

9. I used to be a fan too. But I realized that the games and team moves are orchestrated to

make millions for the rich owners at the fans and taxpayers expense.

George Bush did nothing and got 45 million dollars when he played the sports-ripoff game.