Sonicsgate....

Watching the recent independent film Sonicsgate was not only an interesting watch,but made me think a bit as well.

As a Browns fan,I know the pain of a team leaving their home through the deceit of a despicable owner and I know from the current experience of supporting the Hagerstown Suns and their recent issues involving a potential move that even though things are looking brighter in that area,the entire process can be very stressful for fans of their team,especially when you root for the local franchise.

Watching a team being pulled from a loving city that supported them strongly due to a substandard facility.
It just kills me to see arenas that are state of the art turn into "dumps" in a few years just to put a few bucks in a pocket or to move a team to your hometown like Clay Bennett did to the people of Seattle.
I have no problem with Oklahoma City having a franchise,actually I like small market cities that try to avidly support one major league team.
I think those cities are great to watch games in and can be terrific towns to see on television supporting their teams.
However,there are certain cities that are a notch above and need multiple pro sports franchises and Seattle is one of those.
The SuperSonics were the first pro franchise in Seattle and that always carries a special cache' with the fans hearts.
I vividly remember the 1978 and 79 Finals with the Bullets that they split titles with Washington with Dennis Johnson,Gus Williams and Downtown Freddie Brown.

Sonicsgate shows just how deceitful owners can be when they truly want to move the franchise such as Clay Bennett did with the move to Oklahoma City and shows how the owners and leagues truly do hold most of the cards in these matters.
The move was planned by Clay Bennett and his group the entire time and after a suit that attempted to force the team to honor the remaining two years on their lease in Seattle and had the final verdict on the judge's desk,the city ( as most times happens) sold out for some money and the likely ending of either A) a team does not return or B) you wait so long for the return that you eventually take another towns team.
I have never forgiven Art Modell for taking the Browns to Baltimore,but the true villain was Paul Tagliabue for never giving Baltimore a break in expansion in favor of a true minor league town in Jacksonville.
Despite my hatred of the Ravens,I have tried not to hold it against the fans of Baltimore ,well at least for their part in the move.
They tried to do things right and get an expansion team and as a result got screwed again,which forced their hand to get football back.

Seattle will get NBA basketball back,but it will not be the same.
Even being a Browns fan and keeping the numbers,colors etc was great,but things have not truly been the same.
Once the team starts winning again (snicker),I am sure that it will be special,but not the same...

Anyway,I highly recommend the film,which has been showing on CNBC of all networks.
Look it up,the ending is a downer,but well worth the hour...