I began my work day like I always do: update the Northwest's fastest growing website, KSTW.com, and take a look at the morning papers. Invariably, I always take a gander at the sports section (its called research! I'm really not goofing off at work!). After wading through the latest Husky scandal, Mariners trade rumor, and yet another 'oh-my-goodness WSU is actually good at basketball' write up, I see the advertisement staring back at me.

Sonics-Spurs. Tonight. Great seats still available.

The defending world champions coming to town, one of the best teams the NBA since the demise of the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, and there are "great seats still available" in this kind of a sports town?

The week before, it was Yao Ming's Houston Rockets. Before that, the Mavericks and Lakers.

How did we get to this point?

For years now, the rest of the nation has heard the constant criticism of the Seattle situation, mainly from the point of view of the NBA and the Sonics:

 "KeyArena is awful"

 "We have no fan support"

 "The people of Seattle wouldn't care if we left."

 "Hey, they've still got the Blazers up in that neck of the woods."

 "Moving to Oklahoma is a great business decision for the team and the league."

It's about time we put all of this silliness to rest. The star-crossed tale of the Seattle SuperSonics and the Bekins vans is about one of the most ridiculous franchise relocations in the history of American professional sports.

It doesn't make any sense, whatsoever. So, right here, I'm going to de-construct all of these arguments.

"KeyArena is awful"
No. It really isn't. Is it up to par with new buildings in Dallas and Miami? Probably not. It's simply the way of the world. Will Safeco Field be up to par to the New Yankee Stadium that's opening in 2009? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't make Safeco a bad ballpark, it's just the way it goes. It's unfair to compare facilities built decades apart.

The real question here is, "Do the Sonics (and/or the City of Seattle) do everything they possibly can to get the most out of KeyArena?"
I have many doubts about that subject. After hearing for so long about how terrible the building is, the nightmare of parking and getting around, the cramped concourses, I finally got a chance to pay a few visits this year (after all, the tickets were available).

I don't think the folks that operate the Key are really doing enough to keep people coming back. The lukewarm hot dogs and quite warm beer might be contributing to that.

The building is charming in a few ways, but not the house of horrors the Clay Bennett's spin machine would like you to believe. The 'cramped' concourses were much wider than Oracle Arena in Oakland, home of the Golden State Warriors, who have no complaints about their building. (By the way, Oracle's upper deck seats are so high, they're practically on Neptune).

San Francisco had the same problem with the Giants baseball team in 1992. They were playing at Candlestick Park, by far the worst place I've ever seen a sporting event, and Giants' ownership was determined to highlight the dreariness of the park in order to shame the fan base into voting for a huge, publicly financed stadium. They served cold 'hot chocolate' and warm sodas, and kept the concessions as bland as possible. When that didn't work, they sold the team to a bunch of businessmen from Tampa, who would move the team there.

Of course, it didn't work- and a new local ownership group was able to wrestle the team away. The first thing they did? Improve the fan's experience to keep them coming back. Hot dogs became hot again. The trash actually got picked up on a regular basis. And they teamed with a local restaurant to introduce something that changed the American  ballpark forever: Garlic Fries.

Attendance went up, fan loyalty was palpable, and the team opened a new stadium by the end of the decade. 

Going through the Key these days, I can't help but feel the same thing happening again. It's almost as if they're trying to repel fans from this team, nearly going out of their way to provide bland customer service. Do you have that same vibe walking through Safeco or Qwest Fields?

It has nothing to do with how old the stadium is. It has everything to do with how the team (and the arena's operators) treat their paying customers.

Will KeyArena need to be replaced in the next 10 years? Absolutely. Are they making the best of it now? I don't think so.

What of the other ridiculous excuses put forth by Bennett and rubber-stamped by NBA brass? We'll get to that in part 2 of this series, coming up in our next Northwest SportsScene column. 



Joe Gura writes for KSTW-TV in Seattle. He has previously covered the NFL and college football for Fox Sports Northwest, CBS Sports, and ABC Television. All opinions expressed in this column are strictly his.