Why the Sonics should go away

Brave is the mortal who takes on Art Thiel, the Post-Intelligencer's ace sports columnist. Advocates for a Legislative fix for Husky stadium still think Thiel's withering column about that request sank the idea in a day. (Thiel dislikes the commercialization of college sports and has become the scourge of Huskies.) And now, he's arguing to defy the Oklahoma Sonics group until the last lawsuit dies. "Just say no," contends Big Art. I say, Just say yes to the Okies. Settle the lawsuit and let the Sonics move away. Tell Steve Ballmer how much you appreciate his offer and advise him to do something more constructive, such as closing the Yahoo deal. Stop the blame game with Gov. Gregoire and Speaker Chopp, and quietly congratulate them for their political courage in recognizing that the era of public financing of stadiums is over, here and all around the country. Thiel's scenario of bold litigation, driving the NBA and the Okies to their knees and eventually keeping the Sonics in an all-private, entertainment-extravaganza arena (along the lines of the Fred Brown proposal), would be a fascinating melodrama of municipal pride, with lots of material for future sports columns. The town simply loves these long-drawn-out, can't-win battles (like the Viaduct). We're the city that can't say yes — whether to the Ballmer offer or to whatever deeply flawed proposal that would come after five years of war with the NBA. Little old me has a think-small proposal. Make Seattle a good basketball town with a humanely sized, affordable-tickets venue built around the Storm, the soon-to-be Division 1 Seattle University team, and maybe SPU. Crosstown, the Huskies might also start winning again. Make the major league Sounders soccer team into our consolation prize, our new passion. (Works better with families, by the way, since every teenager in the region is playing soccer.) And make KeyArena into a smaller, friendlier, unglitzy place to watch a game. Why not? Two political reasons come to mind. Downscaling KeyArena risks the bottom line for the red-ink zone known as Seattle Center, and it may mean fewer jobs for the union-dominated facilities at the Center. Secondly, Mayor Nickels would lose his current starring role as the savior of the Sonics and the scourge of Olympia (most helpful for his re-election campaign next year); and he avoids ticking off the diehard Sonics fans. So it's better for selling papers and keeping politicians happy to egg on the lawyers, up the ante, and keep the civic melodrama going for years and years. Why make a hard decision when indecision reaps such rewards?