Can we really be surprised that Gary Bettman, NHL Commish, is as horrible at his job as he is given that he is a student of David Stern? In Bettman we have a commish who strives to keep a franchise in the South just because he is afraid to admit defeat in the Nashville market. Here we have a team that could move to Toronto, Winnipeg, or Quebec and be guaranteed MONEY and as a result increase the franchise values for all owner as a result of revenue sharing, etc. I mean even moving the team to Seattle, Portland, or Kansas City would probably be a major improvement fan and attendance wise. And while you’re at it, move the Panthers and possibly the Caps (if they can’t sellout with Ovechkin there is no hope in this market). I’m not saying this because I condone teams moving out of established markets, but moving them to stronger hockey markets benefits the sport financially and builds bigger fan bases.

Proving that I do not support franchise movement when it is illogical though brings us to David Stern. The Seattle Sonics are a well supported, well established franchise in a very affluent market. But Stern is on board with letting the team move to Oklahoma City. REALLY!? OKC!? Pure genius! Move a team in a market with a lot of businesses and strong economy to a city with neither of these things. Now I am fully on board with moving the Hornets here as New Orleans is not able to support 2 sports teams especially one that has 41 home games. Plus, they have an established fan base in the OKC area post-Katrina. The problem with letting the Sonics move is that it will be the 2nd team to leave the Pacific Northwest. Is this a market you really want to abandon?

The people in Seattle shouldn’t HAVE to spend their hard-earned money so a cheap owner can make more money. It should be a equal partnership at the very most. I’m tired of owners holding cities hostage to get new arenas and Stern and other owners shouldn’t allow this either. Established markets and teams are something you should encourage as your fans will want to see teams they are familiar with and remember from years ago (rivalries that exist too). Charlotte is a prime example of the short-sighted thinking. You move a team because a crappy owner wants ANOTHER new arena after they just built one 13 years ago. Then the Bobcats come into existence and you have to rebuild interest and a fan base (at the very least do the Browns strategy, have the moving team leave the team history and nickname with the city for a new expansion team to renew).

Here’s a good idea for you Stern have the owners of the Hornets and Sonics switch team ownership. It’s win-win. Bennet can have his team in OKC and Shinn can use his weasel, I mean con-man, skills to get a new arena built in Seattle.

Or how about you make a call to Bill Gates. I’m sure he can pull out some pocket change to build a new arena without any public funding. Convince him that he can use the arena to showcase his ‘awesome’ Microsoft products and make it the most state-of-the-art facility in the league. Just hope it doesn’t upset Trailblazers owner/ex-Microsoft alum Paul Allen.

I am IcemanSabre and I approved this message to make me commissioner of either the NBA or, preferably the NHL (the soon to be #1 sport in North America)