Every single time this issue came up, and this is across years of attempts, they were asked if the arena wasn't done would they move. And their response? They would always say "Our focus is on the positive and trying to get something done here first." Hindsight is 20/20, and some people claim that it might have been a poor decision not to play hardball and give a deadline then. And there is merit to that. However, there is also merit to the PR approach at the time which didn't have KJ in the drivers seat, and had the potential that if they did give an ultimatum publicly, that it would turn really bad really fast against them. We've already seen some people give the "good riddance" comments even with the most support we've ever seen now. Imagine this during a time when everybody is hurting more financially, and the city leaders are entirely against this. Playing hardball could have been the nail in the coffin. So there is merit to their statements about being committed to staying and focusing on the positive, because they were fighting an uphill battle against the city during that time.
I will say this: their avoidance of directly answering that question over the years is as clear of an indication of their motives as if they had directly answered that. And every single person who payed attention knew it. When they say "A new arena is necessary, and soon", it's painfully clear how dire the situation was. And my point stands: the people who needed to be given a deadline are the same people who were in denial and didn't want to accept the fact that this was coming.
