I agree, they all view the Maloofs as a joke. But when we're talking about loyalty to Sac, who has it? No one really cares for that angle but us. Likewise, my non Kings friends are very ho hum about it all. The rhetoric has already been written. Sac/Maloofs were lousy. Seattle wants a team again. If Sac gets shafted here, only Sacramento will care. No one really cared about the Bennett saga until the emails came out. Don't make the mistake of projecting our hopes as the rest of the nation. We aren't clear cut good guys here. If Seattle gets a team, the story won't be about Maloofs running us into the ground then selling to Seattle, it will be how the Kings were horrible for too long and Seattle finally got a team back after getting screwed by Bennett. There will be no outrage or animosity outside of Sacramento. And if you think otherwise, well, I'm glad you think anyone else cares about us. This isn't the Kings going to a new city with no history, this is the Kings turning into the Sonics. A black eye isn't the only spin. Some will herald Stern as bringing basketball back to Seattle as well.
I think your dead wrong on the loyality issue. If you don't think the NBA cares about fan loyality, then your nuts. If fans aren't loyal, they don't go to games. If they don't go to games the owners don't make money. The fans in Sacramento have always supported the team, whereas the fans in Seattle haven't. Now that may not be an issue with you, but it is a consideration to the owners. What I'm really wondering is what is the point of your posts? To destroy any opptimism the fans have here? All your arguements are borderline negative! You say we aren't the clear cut good guys here. Really, then what are we, the bad guys? I believe it was Seattle that told the NBA to go take a flyer, not Sacramento.
Now morality may not play a part in this issue. But if the right thing is done, the team will stay in Sacramento, and I don't doubt for a moment that there are owners that could care less about the feelings of the Sacramento fans. But I also believe that there are owners that are loyal to Stern, and that he has some chips he can call in from favors past. And I believe that Stern wants the Kings to stay right where they are. I also believe that there are owners that appreciate the history of the NBA, and the Kings are a large part of the history, that will be wiped from the books if the team is sold and moved. They go all the way back to the Rochester Royals, one of the orginal teams in the NBA. Oscar Robertson is part of that history.
There is an easy answer to this problem, and its the one that I believe will eventually prevail, despite the denials by the League. I think Seattle will get an expansion team. It makes both cities happy, the NBA gets an immediate influx of money for the expansion team, and bites the bullet on revenue sharing in lieu of the black eye it would get otherwise. Yes, I know all the arguments against it, but I don't believe them. This is a mess, and the best way to clean up this mess is through expansion. The Kings stay put, and a new Sonics team is reborn, with new solid ownership for both franchises. The players association is happy because it means more jobs for potential NBA players. Its the best answer, with the only drawback being, the current owners have to share the pie with one more owner. A small price to pay for the return of sanity to the league.