Sonics in Renton?

Honorable Readers,

As most of you know, the Sonics have been considering Renton as a possible new home for a few months now, and it is my understanding that they remain interested in our city. Meanwhile, I’ve received a great deal of input on both sides of the question of whether we consider hosting a new Arena in our city. Recent news about the Sonics sale has only confounded this debate, pitting the higher stakes of the Sonics possibly leaving our region altogether on the one hand, with it being even more risky that Renton could end up with an empty arena on the other. Plus we still face the existing tradeoff of the positive entertainment and economic drawing power of the Sonics on the positive side, against the traffic on game days on the negative side. And I feel it goes without saying that we could never do more than provide a site with access….the State Legislature will have to decide if and how any entertainment related taxes or other mechanisms are used to assist the Sonics in funding the constuction and maintenance of the arena…Renton could simply never afford to go there.

Here is a letter from a gentleman named Jordan Zetty on the topic. As always, I invite your comments on the topic of a new Sonics Arena in Renton. My only request is that since this is such an emotional topic lately, please work at keeping your comments focussed on the issues, not on the other commenters. Thanks!
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Hi Jordan-

Thanks for your letter. I’ve been doing what I can. May I post your letter on my blog for others to read? I would prefer to post it with your name, but I could remove that if you like.

I met with a reporter from an Oklahoma newspaper last week, and said I remained serious about trying to keep the Sonics in our area…whether that meant Renton or elsewhere. This article can be found BY CLICKING HERE or by doing a google news search on Renton Sonics.

I’ll try to keep you up to date. Thanks again for writing.

Randy

—–Original Message—–
From: Jordan Zetty [mailto:jzetty@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:16 PM
To: rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us
Subject: The SEATTLE Supersonics belong in Renton!

Dear Randy Corman,

My name is Jordan Zetty. I am 24 years old and have lived in the Seattle area my entire life. I was born in Renton, grew up in Bellevue, and now currently live in Ballard. I have always felt that this is one of the greatest areas in the entire country. And you can’t have a great region without having smart leadership. I am not ready as a member of this community for us to foolishly make this great town less amazing and wonderful!

This past week’s developments with the Sonics have deeply deeply affected me. As a life long sports fan I’ve ever since I can remember rooted for the Sonics, Mariners, Seahawks, and Huskies. Some of my most memorable memories from my childhood involve spending time with my dad and friends rooting on my beloved teams. The impending exile of the Sonics from the area is devastating to me and many many like me. I almost cried the other day when thinking back to all my childhood memories of the Sonics and thinking that I would never get to give those memories to my children.
Sports are EXTREMELY valuable to a city and have a large cultural impact, regardless what those who oppose them say.

You can argue til your blue in the teeth about the financial issues. Opponents of sports will harp on certain numbers. But they go far beyond just gate attendance. You have money spent outside the areas, tourism dollars from visiting fans. You have the money of the millionaire athletes who move to our city that is pumped into the community. But still you will have those who argue about it. You can’t however argue with the cultural aspect. The only people who think they can, are people who hate them and are severely biased.
I myself am not a huge lover of the arts, but I don’t tell those who do enjoy them that their passions are worthless and not important. This makes me sick as a life long resident of the region. How can we call ourselves a major city and destination when we limit our options and disrespect an entire portion of our cities citizens? Sports have a huge cultural impact on the region. And if you can’t see that, I don’t know what to say.

This is bigger than basketball or even sports. This is about being a region where people have options and all treated fairly. We pride ourselves on being culturally diverse. But how can we do that when our cities have council members who spit in the face of a good portion of their constituents? If the Sonics leave town, we are one step closer to being an area such as Portland or San Antonio. Nice cities, nothing against them, but they don’t offer as much as a metropolitan area. At least no where near bigger cities like Chicago, New York, and LA. The Seattle region is a great area and deserves to be taken seriously like NY and LA. We aren’t a small town who can’t afford to offer our citizens a wide spectrum of entertainment and activities.

I have traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East. Basketball regardless of America has become the 2nd most popular sport in the World behind Soccer which has ruled forever. Basketball is the fastest growing sport around the world and the NBA is growing in popularity all the time on a global scale.
Why is this important to us? I’ll tell you why. On more than a few occasions when traveling in countries where the locals spoke very little English I told people that I was from Seattle. I got two main responses. Do you want to know what they were? One was, “Nirvana?” and the other was, “Ahh! Seattle Supersonics!” I am being dead serious when I tell you that the Sonics put Seattle on the map globally more than anything currently.

Sports aren’t just about dollar signs and gate numbers. They are about fathers and sons spending time together. They are about civic and community pride.
Just look at what the Seahawks Super Bowl run did to the town! I was at the NFC Championship game last year hugging random strangers. Running down the city streets high fiving all my fellow Seattlites and Washingtonians. How many other things are able to bring a town together in this way? You may scoff at this and what it means to our community, but in a time where there is so much hate and animosity in the world, this type of community togetherness shouldn’t be ignored.

Like I have said before, as a community and region, we need options to be a successful and progressive community. One of those options for many are following pro sports. Be it attending games or watching them on the tv or radio and reading about them in the newspaper. It’s not only about those who can afford to go to the games. There are 10 year old kids out there, who like me when I was that age, stay up past their bedtime or sneak a radio into their bed to listen to the end of a game. Maybe they don’t go to the games, but these teams are just as important to them as the guy sitting in the front row. Who are any of us to tell kids that they can’t enjoy their favorite teams?

Just think about the urban and minority population in Seattle and around the area. Basketball is very popular for many inner city kids and provides a positive outlet that helps many stay out of trouble.
The thing that is very important in this issue is that many of the people who this is important to don’t have much of a voice in the media or politics. These are people who aren’t wealthy and can’t campaign and spend a ton of time fighting the activist groups who have ulterior motives and hidden agendas and who have something largely against those who don’t think the same as they do.

This area loves sports. Just look at the Seahawks last year. It can be a bit of a bandwagon town due to it’s transient nature, but when one of our teams gets on a roll this area loves it! If the Sonics were where they were 10 years ago, there would be rioting in the streets. Much as if the Seahawks of today or Mariners of a few years ago were in danger of being taken away.
It’s sad that many can’t see it just because the team hasn’t been at the forefront of many more casual sports fan’s minds, but the SEATTLE Supersonics are just as valuable a part of this city as the Mariners, Seahawks, or Seattle Art Museum is. There’s the saying, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” And that will truly be the case if the Sonics leave town.

Now you as a government official may not like sports in the least. That is fine and dandy. But I beg of you to please justly and fairly look at the members of our community that this is affecting. It’s a much larger portion than many on the other side will lead you to believe. And even if you don’t enjoy sports, please look at those who do and what kind of impact it has on their lives. And please represent them the way you should as an elected official.

I beg and plead with you to do what is in your power to work with your fellow politicians and government officials to do what it takes to ensure this team stays in this area. Also to work diligently with the new ownership group and local private investment groups. Many may be cynical and say that the team is as good as gone and that the new owners don’t want to stay here. They may if left up to them wish to move to Oklahoma City, but if we as a community show that we really value are team and are able to make progress over the next few crucial months, they will have a hard time doing so. They are business men after all.
And as business men they can’t honestly rip a team from the 12th largest market in the country to go to the 45th when our fans and community leaders have stepped up and shown that we support and value the team’s effect and importance to our region.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. I realize that it isn’t very short and that you might not have read it all. I hope it shows you just how important an issue this is to many in the region. I ensure you that there are many more like me who feel the same. In today’s busy world, it’s very easy to feel passionately about something and not be able to make your voice heard. Trust me on this. There is much support for doing what it takes to keep OUR team. Many in our city feel betrayed, let down, and helpless. There may seem to be a bit of apathy. This is not true. People just don’t have much of a reason for hope with recent examples of the cities leadership. You lead the way and we will follow and support you.

What better town than Renton, a town booming economically, to bring the Sonics to their city and save it for the entire region! With the Seahawks moving their hq there it’s a sign that Renton is on the up. I lived in Renton for 10 years and know what a great city it is. I have many friends who I speak to who live there still. There would be such support it is almost a no brainer. And to think of the money it would bring in to have a great multi purpose arena in the city. Renton to me is the best option for the Sonics. With leaders and a government that values community and growth, it almost seems too good to be true. Your efforts will not be in vain. I thank you in advance for anything you are able to do.

I leave you with an email from a 10 year old boy who sent this in to the saveoursonics.org website. When I read this, being only 15 years removed from where this young boy is and thinking back to going to Sonics games with my dad and hiding a radio in my bed when games went late, I started to cry. We are a better town than this. Our children deserve better.

———–

“I HAVE 41 SIGNATURES FOR THE PETITION

I AM 10 YEARS OLD, HOW CAN I GET THEM TO YOU? PLEASE LET US KNOW..MY FRIEND AND I ARE TAKING OUR

HOMEMADE PETITION AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

Jake B”

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Yours truly,

Jordan Zetty
Proud resident of Renton, Bellevue, and Seattle, WA