Post-Sonics Watch
Feeling lost without your Seattle SuperSonics? Seattle-area NBA fans face their first season without an NBA team in 41 years. Primarily, our coverage here will focus on the City of Seattle’s attempt to bring the NBA back to Seattle. But we also will provide updates on the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and area players plying their trade for other teams in the NBA.

Eric Williams covered the Sonics' last season in Seattle. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound.

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Hoopshype.com

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Keeping an eye on the NBA and Seattle's efforts to get back into the game
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 08:14:36 am

Oklahoma City has started its campaign push to pass a public initiative approving a penny sales tax that would raise $122 million for improvement to the Ford Center to make it NBA ready, according to The Daily Oklahoman.

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamger of Commerce is funding the campaign effort, called Citizens for a Big League City.

"We are closer to being a major league city than we've ever been before," Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett told The Oklahoman. You can see clips of the press conference here.

Opposition to the proposal also emerged Tuesday.
City activist Steve Hunt opposes the Ford Center plan and is organizing a grass-roots opposition effort.

Hunt and others opposed to the project have named it "MAPS for Millionaires."

"I am going to try to get a local group of people that I know to get together and hand out literature," Hunt told The Oklahoman.

Categories: NBA 1 comment

COMMENTS:

blonde007 @ 07:31 - Friday, January 18th, 2008
At first glance, this plan does look like a wonderful one for we who live in Oklahoma City. It would be great to have a professional team, "jazzed up" downtown...

But that is not the whole story - not at all. This plan taxes everyone, while only a few businesses and individuals will truly benefit from it. Restaurants and hotels in my town will do better with more people attending basketball games, undeniably. But most of us don't own a restaurant or hotel. Furthermore, The Ford Center, which our Mayor is wanting to pour more money into (to make it fit for an NBA team), is not a place that all Oklahoma City residents can attend, because it is _extremely_ cost-prohibitive for the majority of us.

The reason this plan is being called "Maps For Millionaires" by many who oppose it is because it's just that - taxing everyone so the rich can get richer. If ticket prices were affordable to all - if this plan really would affect my entire, beautiful city? I could vote "Yes". But the reality is that it just doesn't, so I cannot in good conscience support it.

I would love to have the NBA here. I'm just not sure that we can get them here without taxing those who just cannot afford it. The poor (and heck, even most of the middle class!) in this town need to be heard on this issue, and I am very proud of Steve Hunt for doing so. I encourage people to listen to what he has to say.

Thank you.



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