Sports
Related: About this forumCongratulations, Seahawks.
What's a minute to go when you've got a 35-point lead?
fishwax
(29,150 posts)Broken_Hero
(59,305 posts)Fucking pinch me, still can't fucking believe it....
I was expecting a close hard fought game and in no way did I expect such a lopsided loss.
I'm like the only Seahawk fan in Missouri(transplant from AK), usually when I tell folks I like the Hawks I get a "what, who the fuck are they?"
My dad and I have waited a long time for this....at last, the Hawks pulled it off.
DinahMoeHum
(21,829 posts)I've felt for them ever since they lost their NBA Super Sonics team to those 3 lying sleazebag/blackmailers Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon and Dave Stern. Just because the people there refused to pony up their hard-earned $$$ for another public-tax-subsidized sports arena (they already had a fine house called the Key Arena)
Congrats, Seattle. Enjoy.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)The thing about the Key Arena is it is one of the lowest revenue generating in the NBA even if they sell out every game. It is like the Metrodome for the Vikings. Minnesota is now looking forward to 30 years of annual bills -- http://blogs.mprnews.org/stadium-watch/2014/01/28/vikings-stadium-bonds-have-been-sold-deal-is-done/
I'm a big opponent of subsidizing sports teams and studied the issue well and it won't end any time soon since there is a high demand from cities to host professional sports franchises and a limited suppy of teams that restrict entry(a city just can't start their own team) with credible threats to move. I'm rusty with my facts but I can't remember the economic term for this sort of leverage but it would violate anti-trust laws in ordinary transactions but based on precedents, taxpayers can not be considered consumers so it would probably take an act of Congress to change it which will never happen.
You may hear owners cry poor but the reason why they ask for public funding is because they don't have to pay for the stadiums/renovations themselves. Not only do they get subsidies, they get sweet heart deals that the city ends up paying for, for a long time while the owner pockets the vast majority of the revenue and cities/counties/states dealing with deficits end up making cuts on jobs, infrastructure, etc.
More on KeyArena, teams will say they need a stadium to compete with the teams that have high generating revenue stadiums but they wouldn't need high revenue generating stadiums then every new one is better than the next one that eventually an owner will claim their stadium is now obsolete while the city is still paying for it.
I could go on and on but politicians for both sides will say we need to make cuts here, we need to make cuts there, they are typically counted on to transfer public funds into private interests and it is baffling when you think of it that way.
Seattle did the right thing, the only problem is Oklahoma City didn't stand with them and tell them no as well. If all of us collectively said no then they lose the leverage.