The Seattle Supersonics: Bring Them Back

A few days ago, I wrote a letter through a local Seattle area sports radio station's website to the Seattle City Council and King County Council in regards to investor Chris Hansen's proposed arena in Seattle that would house a revived Seattle SuperSonics franchise, as well as a possible new NHL team, and many other events as well.

For those who are outside of Washington State, or for those who are not aware of the Soncis situation, here's the cliff notes version of what happened:

The Seattle SuperSonics entered the National Basketball Association as an expansion franchise in 1966.

They played at the KingDome, the Seattle Center Coliseum, Hec Edmunson Pavilion on the campus of the University of Washington(now known as Alaska Airlines Arena), the Tacoma Dome and finally Key Arena.

Unfortuntely because of certain things(which I won't get into here) the team was sold in 2005 and in 2007, moved to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The team is now in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, which has made a great number of Seattleites angry, because the team could very well still be in Seattle and this could all be a moot point.

Now though a hedge fund manager in San Francisco, who went to high school in Seattle and was raised in the area has purchased land in the area of Seattle known as SoDo(South Downtown).

So far, Safeco Field(the home of the American League's Seattle Mariners) and CenturyLink Field(the home of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and MLS's Seattle Sounders FC) have been built and have been a great boon to Seattle's economy and sports fans.

Now that someone has come forward that wants to build an arena to bring the NBA and NHL to Seattle, there is push back from Seattle city officials. We as sports fans want the SuperSonics back, and the NHL to bring a franchise in the city as well.

To that point, I(as previously mentioned) wrote an e-mail to the Seattle City Council and the King County Council imploring them gently, but with a lot of passion to approve the building of a new arena in SoDo.

Here now is my letter, mostly word for word(with a few things taken out like my real name) to the Seattle City and King County Councils:

To the members of the Seattle City Council and the King County Council:

I live in the city of Lakewood, Washington(it is a city that is south of Tacoma, Washington; it was once a suburb of Tacoma, but in 1996 it was incorporated and it is now it's own city).

Ever since Chris Hansen's arena proposal, i'm sure you have recieved thousands upon thousands of e-mails in support of the new SoDo arena(in fact I have no doubt that you have).

However, while many people in Seattle and King County are very excited about the arena, I just wanted to take a few minutes to e-mail you and tell you that not only do you have support for this arena from inside Seattle and King County, but you have plenty of support from elsewhere as well.

Not only do you have plenty of Sonics fans from Seattle in support of the SoDo arena, but you also have a lot of support from Tacoma, Pierce County, Lakewood, Everett, Snohomish County, Olympia, Thurston County, and elsewhere in the state of Washington.

Because not only were the Sonics Seattle's team, but they were also Washington's NBA team.

The Sonics were also not just supported by fans from Washington, but fans from Idaho, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia and other parts of the USA as well.

When the SuperSonics were winning, and even when they weren't, fans would pile into Key Arena or the King Dome or the old Coliseum to watch their team.

This is the true measure of a great sports team, building a fan base, building a community, and building a commordery between a sports franchise and a city or community, and giving the residents of a city a chance to go see their favorite players, and great players from other cities 40 some nights a year.

I don't wish to bring up too many painful memories from the past, but unfortuntely in 2007, all or most of what I described was taken away from Seattle and Sonics fans when the team moved.

However, that was the past and this is the present.

You as members of the Seattle City Council and King County Council have the power and the opportunity to approve Chris Hansen's SoDo arena and as a result bring back to Seattle the Supersonics franchise, and the National Hockey League possibly as well.

Not only those sports, but the NCAA tournament in basketball possibly, concerts, conventions, and many more other events that would provide the area with hundreds of millions of dollars in new income.

This arena would not only provide great entertainment for people of all ages, but it would create a great amount of jobs as well.

In a time when the economy is still getting back to fairly normal, and employment is still something that many Americans are still looking for, a new arena would create construction jobs, usher jobs, jobs for vendors, jobs for parking attendants, and so on.

We as sports fans are extremely excited about Chris Hansen's arena, and we know that some elected officials in this area are also sports fans and remember Gus Williams, and Shawn Kemp, and Lenny Wilkins and Gary Payton and Nate McMillan and many others from the Sonics glory days.

We as a community and as a region and as sports fans also know that if an arena in SoDo is approved it could lead to new memories.

A husband could take his wife to see the Sonics or the NHL, a father could take his son to watch a Sonics game, a family of 4 could have a night out and watch the great game of basketball, or the equally great game of hockey.

But these memories can only be created if you at the Seattle City Council and you at the King County Council approve this new arena.

And who knows: if the arena does get approved, the SoDo area could turn from industrious and gloomy to vibrant and a great place to bring families(not that it isn't now, but it could stand to be improved) and go to eat, stay in a hotel or to go to a hockey or basketball game.

And thus ends my e-mail to you.

I would also like to say that I am 27 and have been a Sonics fan for as long as I can remember, and was truly dissapointed when the team moved.

So please, please, I implore you to approve the arena, and then an NBA team and an NHL team will sure to follow and then you can say that you truly made a difference for old and young alike.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you take my e-mail in mind and the e-mails of other sports fans to mind when you vote on the arena in several weeks time.

God bless all of you for the work that you do, and thank you for taking the time to listen to this sports fan's e-mail.

P.S. Go SuperSonics :)

And there you have my e-mail to the Seattle and King County Councils.

I implore you, if you were or still are a Seattle Supersonics fan(even if you don't live in Seattle), please write to the Seattle and King County Councils, telling them why you want a new arena, and that you want the Sonics back.

Make sure you state your case elequantely, and make sure they know that you were and still are a Sonics fan and you want to make new memories at a new Sonics arena, just like you did at the KingDome, Seattle Center Coliseum, Tacoma Dome or Key Arena.

Thank you, and have a great day.

Oh, and make sure to wear Sonics gear(hats, t-shirts, jerseys, etc.) too, especially when you go out somewhere, because that will prove to people that you are serious, and that you want the Seattle SuperSonics back in town.