A new week and other news, rumors, etc.

[TyFreak Evans]

Apologies if this has been posted already. But I just went to Sacbee.com and, on the front page, I found the following article about the release of the new arena drawings.

I think it looks pretty sweet, I am liking how the inside is being envisioned..

Here is the link.....

http://blogs.sacbee.com/city-beat/2013/04/new-kings-arena-drawings-released.html

 

[Hallama]

Apologies if this has been posted already. But I just went to Sacbee.com and, on the front page, I found the following article about the release of the new arena drawings.

I think it looks pretty sweet, I am liking how the inside is being envisioned..

Here is the link.....

http://blogs.sacbee.com/city-beat/2013/04/new-kings-arena-drawings-released.html

Looks great, really like the rendering of the interior with the natural light coming through.

If they made the top of the building transparent the inmates at the county jail building could watch the games from their cells.

 

[whozit]

With much due respect to both The Funk and Kingston, I have o disagree. I have no idea what his motives are but I can criticize Hansen for his tactics and even his mindset. As a hedge fund Pirate he has treated this like a hostile take over, and does NOT seemed to have gone to the NBA for advice on getting a team or moving them. Instead he scoured the sewers for the slimiest owners in the league and while the rebuffed local offers and claimed they had no intention to sell the team, he worked a out a deal to pay them off, get hem to help move the team. He loaded the deal with neat little legal traps like the non-refundable deposit, and low-baling the minority owners so he can NOT overpay for the 100% Worse yet he set up a film flam privily funded arena deal the hinges on 2 things he may well suspect he cant get. An NHL team and a pass on Washington States I-90 law. So if you are looking for praise for Hansen, don't look to me for it.

But I too hope this rumor has truth to it. It really is a the simplest and BEST solution to the problem.

FYI: In response to the questions about my distaste for Hedge Fund Pirates. These are NOT just successful businessmen. If you don't know how a HF operates it is an very sortied tale, and those who play in that cesspool by choice and necessity are some of the most vicious in the business world, blurring he lines between business and crime completely. The Harvard Business Journal has a nice article on he problem here:http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/how_hedge_funds_create_crimina.html

It would be poetic justice if this rumor was true and as a result he was "forced" to pay the full team value $525 million. Maybe that's why he is fighting getting an expansion team rather than the Kings at the"discounted" rate (low balling the minority owners)?

 

[TyFreak Evans]

Looks great, really like the rendering of the interior with the natural light coming through.

If they made the top of the building transparent the inmates at the county jail building could watch the games from their cells.

I really like the natural light touch as well.

I also really like the rendering of the interior/concourse (the first picture in the slideshow). It's an interesting, and unique, design...

 

[HndsmCelt]

It would be poetic justice if this rumor was true and as a result he was "forced" to pay the full team value $525 million. Maybe that's why he is fighting getting an expansion team rather than the Kings at the"discounted" rate (low balling the minority owners)?

Call it poetic justice or Karma... either way it would be sweet.

 

[TyFreak Evans]

Another observation after looking at the images of the proposed arena. If you look at the 1st picture in the slideshow, it kinda looks like there are 3 levels (you see the 2 flights of stairs, and the top one seems to be leading up to some seats, and the one right below it seems to be leading to some. I assume that those are 2 different flights of stairs leading up to 2 different seating areas. And, of course, there would be stairs leading to the lower bowl seating....

However, if you look at the 2nd picture of the rendering of the interior of the arena, it kinda looks like there are only 2 levels of seating. Unless I am missing something, this is rather confusing....I kinda hope we get 3 levels....more seating!!!!

 

[AL/kfan]

Another observation after looking at the images of the proposed arena. If you look at the 1st picture in the slideshow, it kinda looks like there are 3 levels (you see the 2 flights of stairs, and the top one seems to be leading up to some seats, and the one right below it seems to be leading to some. I assume that those are 2 different flights of stairs leading up to 2 different seating areas. And, of course, there would be stairs leading to the lower bowl seating....

However, if you look at the 2nd picture of the rendering of the interior of the arena, it kinda looks like there are only 2 levels of seating. Unless I am missing something, this is rather confusing....I kinda hope we get 3 levels....more seating!!!!

Tis but a giant leap from ARCO 1!

 

[HereWeBoogie]

all of a sudden expansion talk is being thrown around more and more......

 

[Gary]

all of a sudden expansion talk is being thrown around more and more......

Yah The more I read the more I see Seattle's direction heading in the way of expansion. I am sure they will all be singing the "we didn't want your team anyway" tune after this is said and done. Like we have always said here, the Kings are staying in Sacramento.

 

[nebs]

 

[Darth Divac]

Wow. That just looked so...so....Oh, what's the word? Beautiful? Amazing? Not Maloof?

 

[Darth Divac]

Some of these pro-Seattle people make me want to spray paint KeyArena purple.

 

[kupman]

Don't tease me like that Nebs.

 

[kupman]

all of a sudden expansion talk is being thrown around more and more......

Until there is solid evidence from solid sources I will put this in the "bigfoot sighting" category.

 

[Schmoe]

Until there is solid evidence from solid sources I will put this in the "bigfoot sighting" category.

Monty is pretty adamant about the veracity of the expansion talk. He claimed a source and two other confirmations, if I read his Twitter feed correctly.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

why did whoever made those renderings put T-Rob up on the big screen LOL

and there is a giant gap in the bleachers leading out to the concorse? i dont see that actually happening for multiple reasons.

 

[ninjabiscuit]

Monty is pretty adamant about the veracity of the expansion talk. He claimed a source and two other confirmations, if I read his Twitter feed correctly.

I can't even tell you how much I want this to be true.

 

[Glenn]

Until there is solid evidence from solid sources I will put this in the "bigfoot sighting" category.

Same here. I don't remember how it started but the idea of expansion has taken on a life of its own.

 

[JB_kings]

why did whoever made those renderings put T-Rob up on the big screen LOL

and there is a giant gap in the bleachers leading out to the concorse? i dont see that actually happening for multiple reasons.

Actually that open space is planned. When the AECOM guy talked about the arena the night of the term sheet vote, he mentioned the concourse opening to the arena bowl. And if you look at the recent AECOM arena like Barclay's Center, they have that gap there as well. This one does seem to extend to the upper deck. Which is different from Barclays.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/newsgraphics/2012/0928-barclays/barclays-7-web.jpg

 

[Kingster]

Same here. I don't remember how it started but the idea of expansion has taken on a life of its own.

As a psychiatrist, you owe it to this forum to have a post on how deal with the anxiety and distress of waiting, waiting, waiting. Maybe you could do a virtual group therapy over the next week and half or so?

 

[nebs]

T-Rob will be back on the team by the time the new Arena is built. DUH.

And yeah that opening near the floor is on purpose.

 

[HereWeStay]

Carmichael Dave ‏@CarmichaelDave 18h

“@TheDrunkWaiter: @CarmichaelDave so we have one week left to find out right? next week we should know?” This Friday methinks

please delete my other post in the commercial thread thanks

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Actually that open space is planned. When the AECOM guy talked about the arena the night of the term sheet vote, he mentioned the concourse opening to the arena bowl. And if you look at the recent AECOM arena like Barclay's Center, they have that gap there as well. This one does seem to extend to the upper deck. Which is different from Barclays.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/newsgraphics/2012/0928-barclays/barclays-7-web.jpg

interesting. it seems like it would make for some weird lighting coming in onto the court. also seems like it would make it not as loud in the arena when fans are going crazy. but i could be wrong lol

 

[menziebr]

Unless you believe news cycles are totally random, these are the kinds of things you would expect to be hearing in a week leading up to a positive decision for Sac. We're getting arena concept art. We're hearing, not just that Stern is clearing pushing Sac, but that he's putting a plan on the table that helps both while also playing hardball with Seattle (take it or the NBA will not help you in the future). And we're hearing this business from Steinberg (a total CA politics power broker - relatively much more influential than anyone involved in the Seattle process) about new legislation to make sure the arena goes up quickly - not only that, but explicitly singling out the Sac arena as precisely the kind of project his legislation is aimed at. What better signal could Sac be sending in the closing period that the city is dead serious about the arena and about the NBA?

More importantly - what better signal could we be getting from the zeitgeist of the media cycle (which is NOT random - leaks are ALWAYS calculated) that things are heading our way? If the NBA was preparing to go wheels up out of Sac, we would be hearing bad news about the viability of the Sac bid (one person's assets overstated, term sheet incomplete, credit not guaranteed) or about the arena plan (AB 900 not applicable, Steinberg won't risk his career on the project, key actors already in damage control mode, incomplete concept art). Instead, we're not just hearing silence (which also wouldn't be BAD news), we're hearing GOOD news, on all these fronts. All the key actors still (#)playing to win. Not to mention the maelstrom of negative press coming out re: the Maloofs, between national media taking dumps on their legacy in Sac and the tidbits about their history with Holt and the rest of the league. Meanwhile from the Seattle side...silence. One tweet from Hansen in the last two weeks. Ballmer silent. Seattle government quiet.

I'm a northern California sports fan who remembers the 2002 WCF, 2002 World Series, etc as a key part of my childhood growing up, so always assuming the worst is a key part of my identity. But I do know that if I were to imagine what a good last week of this saga looks like for Sac - this is it. And that's GOOD.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Steinberg's political actions of further easing restrictions on creating this arena speak to the fact that this isn't exactl a done deal for the Sonics

 

[HereWeStay]

every media. message board knows we are staying. the only ones who still dont are the sonic fans. just because you sign a sheet to move us doesnt mean we are leaving. sonic fans dont understand we never had a fair shot to buy the team, now we do and theres no point to move us..

 

[Livinthedream]

Actually that open space is planned. When the AECOM guy talked about the arena the night of the term sheet vote, he mentioned the concourse opening to the arena bowl. And if you look at the recent AECOM arena like Barclay's Center, they have that gap there as well. This one does seem to extend to the upper deck. Which is different from Barclays.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/newsgraphics/2012/0928-barclays/barclays-7-web.jpg

If I'm not mistaken, it's the same architect, Ellerbe Becket, as Barclays Center. The renderings look as though they took the Barclays Center concept and made a few tweaks.

 

[Livinthedream]

Steinberg's political actions of further easing restrictions on creating this arena speak to the fact that this isn't exactl a done deal for the Sonics

More than that. If he is making laws to expedite the arena process and then forwarding the language of the law to the NBA, it is at the request of the NBA. This is extremely late in the game, so it gives me the impression that this is a done deal and the NBA is just filling every hole to make their reasoning for keeping the team in Sac rock solid.

 

[menziebr]

More than that. If he is making laws to expedite the arena process and then forwarding the language of the law to the NBA, it is at the request of the NBA. This is extremely late in the game, so it gives me the impression that this is a done deal and the NBA is just filling every hole to make their reasoning for keeping the team in Sac rock solid.

It also shows that we have an even scarcer resource than money - political influence - on our side, and that that is sustainable. Seattle has McGinn and Constantine, but my understanding is that they have nobody from the state level, and McGinn may not even win his next election. It's no exaggeration to say that Steinberg might be the most influential politician in California. Even more so than Gov Brown, he occupies the sweet spot in politics where he is visible enough to command a lot of authority, but far enough out of the public eye that he isn't subject to the same kind of constant scrutiny that a governor or other executive is - and it means he exercises a lot of power at the level of details, where it really counts.

If what really matters is the arenas, and what really matters on getting the arenas built is governmental cooperation, having Steinberg doing this kind of full court press and tying himself very explicitly to Sac arena project is an absolute ace in the hole that Seattle can't match. If our money is sufficient (and all indications are it is) - it might be the kind of thing that tips the scale because no amount of money can guarantee certainty when it comes to litigation concerns.

 

[Livinthedream]

It also shows that we have an even scarcer resource than money - political influence - on our side, and that that is sustainable. Seattle has McGinn and Constantine, but my understanding is that they have nobody from the state level, and McGinn may not even win his next election. It's no exaggeration to say that Steinberg might be the most influential politician in California. Even more so than Gov Brown, he occupies the sweet spot in politics where he is visible enough to command a lot of authority, but far enough out of the public eye that he isn't subject to the same kind of constant scrutiny that a governor or other executive is - and it means he exercises a lot of power at the level of details, where it really counts.

If what really matters is the arenas, and what really matters on getting the arenas built is governmental cooperation, having Steinberg doing this kind of full court press and tying himself very explicitly to Sac arena project is an absolute ace in the hole that Seattle can't match. If our money is sufficient (and all indications are it is) - it might be the kind of thing that tips the scale because no amount of money can guarantee certainty when it comes to litigation concerns.

Also, you don't turn down an arena in CA when it's been given political support. It's extremely hard to get arenas and stadiums built in CA using any kind of public money. The NBA can't burn those bridges when the politicians are sticking their necks out for you.