Time To Go Nuclear
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: NBA | Tags: Arena, Ballmer, chris, downtown, Gavin, Hansen, joe, Kevin Johnson, Kings, KJ, maloofs, mayor, NBA, Nordstrom, railyards, relocation committee, Sacramento, seattle, sonics, Sonics Arena, sports Leave a comment »
Ok – so the relocation committee is going to recommend against the Hansen/Ballmer/Nordstrom (HBN) group moving the Kings upon them purchasing the team?
It’s now time for the good guy to become the bad guy. If he wants to play the NBA way, I am going to lay out the steps below and possible outcomes from the chain of events.
- Immediately raise purchase price of controlling interest of the Kings another $120 million dollars.
- There are theories floating out there that while the HBN offer was more than Sacramento’s in terms of straight up dollars for dollars (then accounting for debts held by the Maloofs that needed to be paid back to the city or something to that effect brought the two offers to basically dead even), it’s now time for Steve Ballmer to open the checkbook again and make the offer basically too good for the Maloofs to refuse. This would immediately make the offers not even in the same territory. Other owners will see this and basically can’t refuse someone who wants to pay that much for a franchise. (Not even 100% of a franchise, I might add)
- Drop the relocation bid, but keep purchase in play.
- This sounds counter-intuitive, but it is time for some dirty poker. Keep the land use permit application going, but change it to a large outdoor mall in the footprint of the purchased land. Draw up the sketches and put them in the press. It is going to take time to knock down these buildings anyways to clear room, so “work” can technically start.
- Immediately draw up plans for a $600+ million dollar publicly funded arena in the Railyards location in Sacramento.
- This is an immediate flash-bang (COD style) right in the middle of Sacramento. The city is debating the location of the arena in their plan (still) and there are supporters for the downtown Sac site, as well as the railyards which has come up a few times.
- The dollar amount immediately launches this into the “can’t or won’t” get done territory. It doesn’t matter, HBN is going through the motions anyways and can recant all of the Sonics arena talk that they have had going so far. The leaked OKC emails didn’t stop this from happening so a flagrant website and movement for 2+ years can be easily forgotten in the eyes on the owners.
- 100% publicly funded – that’s what the owners like, right?
- Appeal to the state of California for this arena funding, and try to get a state tax to pay for the Sacramento arena.
- This is such an insane non-starter, but it takes a page out of the Bennett playbook, who went to Olympia with Stern and wonder why they got shot down. Plus, I am sure LA voters and SF voters would love paying for a stadium for an opposing team. But hey, they are trying, right?
- This plays into the first, but since larger investments were made in team acquisition, no private funds from HBN can be used.
- HBN is already tied up in several real estate deals in the Pacific Northwest, and with the large purchase price of the team, this is the only way that they can stay competitive in the market is to get a publicly funded stadium only.
- Immediately not honor any progress made by the former competing ownership group with regards to the Sacramento Downtown Arena
- HBN wants to enter their own agreements, and “explore” other taxable revenue streams that they think are more sustainable than a parking tax.
- This isn’t true, but it again puts the public at odds with regards to financing and tax revenues to be used.
- HBN wants to enter their own agreements, and “explore” other taxable revenue streams that they think are more sustainable than a parking tax.
- Wait
I think the above is tenable for probably a year. The Kings will be playing a known lame-duck season in Sactown (at least in the eyes of the fans, but HBN is “trying”) in which attendance drops, team support withers which makes all of the above that much harder to get anything done. Soon, HBN won’t be able to run their franchise the way they would like and relocation will have to be done to save the franchise.
If you haven’t noticed, this blueprint was used in Seattle in 2008. Is it fair? No. Does Sacramento take it in the ass? Yeah. Does Seattle/HBN do what they said they wouldn’t? Yes.
Pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?
Stern, if your meddling is going to block this move, approve expansion. Now. Your legacy means so much to you, this is how you save it.
Opening Day: Seattle at Oakland at Safeco?
Posted: April 1, 2013 Filed under: MLB | Tags: 1080p, a's, athletics, baseball, day, field, giant, Mariners, oakland, opening, safeco, screen, season, seattle 1 Comment »
The headline seems a little confusing doesn’t it? Well, let me clear it up for you. Today is the first game of the 2013 Mariners baseball season. They are playing against the Athletics in Oakland at 7:05p to start the season (weird). The good news is the game will be played on the brand new giant 1080p HD video display above the center field bleachers.
The screen is 201.5 feet long and 56.7 feet tall. That is 2,182 42-inch television screens. You will be able to see pitch, hit, chew spit, cup adjustment, and blade of grass as clear as day.
There is free parking down by Safeco Field starting at 4:00p and doors open at 6:00p. Edgar’s Cantina and other concessions will be open. Oh hey! The fences were moved in! Homers galore! It’s like a whole new Safeco and No Fair Weather Fans will be down there. Come down, have a few beers and talk some sports with us. BYOB to the conversations.
The Contest
We will also are having a contest. Guess the number of games the Mariners will win this season. The tie-breaker is give us the total number of dongs they hit. The tie-breaker of the tie-breaker is to tell us tonight, in person at the game and you have an extra leg up. The prize will be a free pitcher of beer at your choice of any Seattle bar and you get to spit hot fire on our podcast.
Look forward to seeing you down there. Happy Felix Day!
#22 No Fair Weather Fans Podcast – NCAA Tourney, Mariners and More
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: Podcasts | Tags: azteca, brandon, Bulldogs, chris, coast, costa rica, fgcu, Florida, Gonzaga, gulf, Hansen, heat, hitting, Ibanez, Kings, Mariners, maurer, mexico, miami, michael, morse, NCAA, pitching, raul, Sacramento, seattle, snow, soccer, sonics, tournament, tourney, university, usa, zags Leave a comment »
All these upsets are making this tournament fun! Relax, everyone’s brackets are wrecked. Dunk U. (FGCU) has won everyone’s heart, not Hart. Mike Hart and the Zags are out, much to the pleasure of Ben. The Mariners made a few moves and we are torn on whether they are good or not. Watch out of all the innuendos!
Other topics touched on:
- Hansen swoops another 7% on the Kings.
- Heat streak is stopped at 27.
- USA soccer win in the snow and “win” a point in Mexico.
On Backtracking – Bring on Percy
Posted: March 20, 2013 Filed under: NFL | Tags: 49ers, AZ, Boldin, Cardinals, carroll, Football, Harvin, Long, NFL, percy harvin, rams, san francisco, Schenider, seahawks, seattle, St. Louis Leave a comment »
Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a little article here on the blog about taking a pass on Percy Harvin to the Hawks. I didn’t know what the trade package was going to be, kinda didn’t care – I just wasn’t interested in having him on the team. I thought there were other places to address on the team first before picking up a wide receiver, and also the corresponding cap hit the Hawks would take by resigning him.
This is my official eating crow post, which I am noticing is becoming a trend.
The facts (and some of my opinions) are what they are, and the more I learn about ol’ John Schneider and Pete Carroll, the more I like them.
- In my mind, the whole cap thing was a little overblown. The way this contract is structured & how the Hawks didn’t spend $13.2M last year (which now gets to carry over), I like how the balance sheet looks.
- Plus, the outlook for the next few years is setting up quite nicely, and guess what – the whole team isn’t going to fall apart AND they can clearly still add players. Check out this post by Davis Hsu over at Field Gulls. I am not going to lie, I am not a total cap expert (and by this I mean I am not at all), but this guy is and the next few years look just fine.
- If the Hawks line up in a 4 receiver set, it’s going to be nasty. Imagine Rice, Harvin, Tate & Baldwin all on the field at one time. Pretty much everyone’s nickel DB is going to either get shredded, or it’s a bunch of 1-on-1 coverage all over the field. I like that with DangerRuss either rolling out or sitting back in the pocket.
- Did I mention in the above scenario, you could also have Beast just chillin’ in the backfield. That’s a nice stretched out defense. Run wild Beast, run wild.
- The injury issues? Oh yeah, those are overblown. It’s been two years since his last migraine and he has been treated for them at the Mayo Clinic. I should have searched that one out on Bing.
- The NFC West is making moves. The Hawks clearly aren’t going to stand pat. If the Hawks didn’t make this move – the additions in the NFC West like Mr. Boldin & Long would have made this irrational fan a little more nervous about the rest of the division catching up. Now, I don’t worry about that as much on my irrational fan pillow at night.
In retrospect – I look at my month-ago self and laugh at him. Welcome to Seattle Percy, this is going to get cray.
#20 No Fair Weather Fans Podcast – Felix, Mariners, Kings Trade and Gonzaga
Posted: February 22, 2013 Filed under: Podcasts | Tags: Bulldogs, Felix, Gonzaga, Hernandez, Kings, Sacramento, seattle, sonics, Supersonics, zags Leave a comment »Big deals were being made all over the place. Felix got signed to a seven year deal worth $175M, the Kings are making trades to dump salary, and Gonzaga is making themselves a big deal in college basketball. The guys get down on more randomness and plant the seed for an event for all you listeners to get down on a prize. Find out what it is, as well as enjoying the randomness that is No Fair Weather Fans.
The Mascot Games – NFC West Edition
Posted: February 20, 2013 Filed under: General Sports, NFL, Uncategorized | Tags: arizona, Bighorn Sheep, Cardinals, NFL, Osprey, rams, san francisco, seahawks, seattle, SF, Sourdough Sam, St. Louis Leave a comment »The season of free agency and combines are upon us. The constant rosterbation has hit a fever pitch with trades, free agents and draft picks. However, since none of this is based in a shred of reality (maybe some educated guesses), I have decided to come up with the 2013 NFL Mascot games.
The rules are simple, each NFL team must have their own mascot on the field at all times. One is the minimum, the entire team is the maximum. All animals will be trained/trainable, but the bounds of reality of that animal still applies (I.E, a Bear can’t be trained to be a perfect read option QB, but would be a beast DE or something to that effect). I will preview each division over the next few weeks, then ultimately pick one team that rises to the top.
With that being said, here is how I would configure each NFL team – where I would put their mascot, and if this ultimately hurts or helps the team.
Let’s start with the NFC West (but of course)
Seattle Seahawks – Osprey (the actual name for a Seahawk) – Position: FS
What I am thinking here is, that the L.O.B. here has plenty of physicality between Sherman, Browner, Kam and soon to be nickel corner Charles Woodson. Now, this is NO KNOCK on Earl, but I got to get the mascot on the field. Since a Seahawk/Osprey is a fast, nimble bird of prey able to intercept targets from sea or air, I fancy the animal to be quite the impact player in the backfield. Hitting skills would be weak at best, but the ability to swoop down at 40 to 50 MPH (ok, slight Peregrine Falcon but work with me here) to intercept/pop balls would be valuable. Team improvement? Negligible.
San Francisco 49′ers – Gold Miner (complete with pick & gold pan) – Position: Leo Pass Rusher (OLB)
This was a little bit of a struggle. Since the mascot itself isn’t a huge, imposing figure but merely a 40′s to 50′s year old man with a plaid shirt on and deadly tool – I didn’t think offense made sense. Defense though is SF’s strength and I really don’t want to take a guy like a Navarro Bowman, Aldon Smith or Pat Willis off the field – so unfortunately a guy like Ahmad Brooks has to sit for the man wielding a pick. I don’t picture the 49′er to be a formidable, imposing physical figure – but the pick axe along with an insatiable need to use it could make him just unstable enough to join this defense. Team improvement? Neutral.
Nice Tat. Just what I was looking for.
St. Louis Rams – Bighorn Sheep (yes, that is what they are going for) – Position: Full Back
I think this one is the most obvious. Line up in the I formation, give it to Stephen Jackson (if this didn’t get him to re-sign, nothing will) and let this guy lead the way. This mascot with a running start is going to find one player in the hole and probably maim/kill that player. That causes matchup problems, tests a team’s depth chart and also makes a guy like Bobby Wagner or Pat Willis think twice. Out of all the mascots in the NFC West, I think this has the biggest impact for a team. Team Improvement? Leaps and Bounds!
No love for Bighorn Sheep
*note – googling “RAM” gets you all sorts of results, none really having to do with the animal. Ram really is a male sheep, and they really mean the Bighorn Sheep, male version.
Arizona Cardinals – Northern Cardinal – Position: TE
Tight End for a Cardinal? Yeah – at the surface, this doesn’t make any sense. However, this is about damage control, as the Cardinals have to put a “mid-sized songbird with a length of 8.3 inches” somewhere on the field. This bird is not like the Osprey. This bird sings, eats nuts and berries and also has an affinity for baseball. Would I want something like that on defense? No. On offense, I can’t have this thing at RB, FB, anywhere on the line, QB or lining up at WR. The other team would just quadruple cover Fitzgerald, and he gets enough of that already with humans on the other side of the formation. TE was the only position that I could think of that would cause the least amount of damage. There would be a slight degradation in line blocking & protections, but I think you could try your best to scheme around it. Long story short, this hurts. Team Improvement? NO. Detrimental to winning.
Winner from this division? As much as it pains me to say it – I think I have to give the slight nod to the Rams. The 49ers would be next (as the mascot is a human with a weapon), the Hawks a close 2nd and the Cardinals still sucking.
No Thanks to Percy
Posted: February 11, 2013 Filed under: NFL | Tags: DT, Free Agent, Harvin, Minnesota, Percy, seahawks, seattle, Trade, Vikings, WR 7 Comments »I have never had a migraine to my knowledge. I have had some wicked headaches, usually drinking induced, but none where just the mention of light and noise sends me to the porcelain throne. For those that have them, they speak of them very similarly to how 17th century peasants may have spoke of the plague.
Now imagine your “first round” draft pick (I will refer to him this way because that seems to be the asking price of this player) this year having a history of these that have kept him out of multiple games out of the blue. Imagine that in a game where head injuries are all anyone wants to talk about, this guy’s head could explode on its very own, say during a good session of Black Ops 2.
NFL Moneyball – Is the Tight End the Position to Exploit?
Posted: January 24, 2013 Filed under: Editorial, NFL | Tags: Anthony, athletics, baldwin, Barret, baseball fan, beane, billy, Buffalo, chargers, construction, defensive scheme, draft, Florida, Gates, Georgia, Graham, Gronkowski, hot team, Joker, mccoy, miller, MLB, MMA, moneyball, moore, NFL, NFL Draft, Oregon, patriots, rice, roster, Ruud, saints, seahawks, seattle, Sefarian-Jenkins, Southern Miss, sports, stanford, successful franchises, Tate, TE, Tight End, TJack, USC, Washington, WSU, Yankees, youtube, Zach 2 Comments »Note – this was written by Josh Deceuster, a friend of the blog, a friend of ours and all-around good guy. You can find him on Twitter @joshmtd (give him a big follow) along with his work here on YouTube. After I read his fanpost on The Daily Norsemen, I asked if he would want to do a version for the Hawks.
_____
The biggest misconception I had about “Moneyball” was that I thought it was all about
money. I am not a baseball fan and hearing about it from friends and media always seemed like
a nice little story, but not something that would apply to football. The salary cap and spending
floor/ceiling would be enough to keep teams from trying a similar system in the NFL. Of
course, that was when I only saw Moneyball as a formula for spending money on your roster.
Moneyball is really about exploiting the market.
Everyone wanted to copy the Yankees, so the A’s exploited the player market to find
guys other teams were missing in their quest to duplicate successful franchises. The NFL also
has its fair share of copycats. Often many teams adjust their rosters trying to be like the most
recent Super Bowl winner or the hot team for the last few seasons. This creates similar market
conditions that Moneyball used to help the A’s, so now it is about finding where to exploit
said markets. Instead of thinking of the market solely as acquiring talent, let’s take a look at
exploiting how the roster to put together.
If the market is roster spots, the NFL is primed for a Moneyball-style takeover. Or at
least, prime for experimentation. Most NFL teams carry the same number of quarterbacks,
receivers, pass rushers, cornerbacks, etc. when making up their 52. The biggest shift on most
rosters depends on what your team’s defensive scheme or whether the GM likes having more
of a specific position on the roster. Receivers, however, are pretty uniform across the board.
Every team is looking for the same specific talents to play X, Z, & Y. This is where teams could
exploit the player market to their advantage.
Not So Fast, Seattle. They’re Still the Sacramento Kings.
Posted: January 23, 2013 Filed under: NBA | Tags: 24-hour Fitness, Chris Hansen, Hansen Group, Kevin Johnson, Maloof, Mark Mastrov, NBA, Relocation, Sacarmento Kings, Sacramento, seattle, Seattle Sonics Leave a comment »
Apparently this King’s fan has had enough…
The past few weeks have been exhausting if you’re a fan of the former Seattle Supersonics. Rumors started floating around that the Maloof family was looking to sell the team. Then came rumors of the Hansen Group getting involved. Now, The Maloofs and the Hansen Group have a signed sale of the Sacramento Kings, which would give Hansen the power to move the team. Are you excited yet?
Not so fast, my friend. At least that’s what Kevin Johnson, former NBA player and current Sacramento Mayor, is telling the city of Seattle.
Over the past few years, Sacramento has found a way to keep their only professional sports team. In 2011, Johnson bought the city time to work out a deal with the Maloofs for a new stadium. However, that fell through as Maloofs did not think the deal was a good financial deal for the team.
Now, with the Maloofs selling, Johnson is gathering a large group of investors in an effort to pool enough money to keep the Kings in Sacramento. He says he has 20 people who have pledged at least $1 million each. That includes billionaire, Mark Mastrov, founder of 24-hour Fitness.
The Hansen Group and Maloofs have submitted a purchase agreement to the NBA Board of Governors. But until the sale is approved, the Maloofs can still receive other offers. Johnson intends to submit just that before the relocation deadline of March 1st.
This is where things get interesting. Johnson has proven on many occasions that he is capable of saving the Kings from certain “death” (by relocation). If he continues gathering funds as he has, the future of the Kings may not be in Seattle.
The Maloofs only selling 65 percent of the franchise, meaning they will collect $340 million (of the $525 million that the team is worth to the Hansen Group). That means Johnson must come up with at least that in order to put up a fight against Hansen. Mastrov is almost capable of doing that himself.
Here’s the point. Yes – the Maloofs have agreed to sell to the Hansen Group. That’s a huge step in the right direction. But, DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP, Seattle. There is still a lot of time before this deal is made official.
Johnson added this in an address to the city of Sacramento. He said, “Seattle had some of the best fans in the NBA…Incredible fans. And when they lost their team a couple years ago, it was devastating to me, because those fans fought like crazy and rallied and they cheered on the home team. And I strongly believe they deserve an NBA team at some point. Just not ours.”
I applaud your efforts, KJ, I really do. But I really hope they’re all for naught.
No Fair Weather Fans – January 19th, 2013 – Live on Fox Sports 1380
Posted: January 22, 2013 Filed under: MLS | Tags: Clark, Dave, Dave Clark, Fredy, krko, MLS, Montero, seattle, soccer, Sounder at Heart, sounders, The Locker Room Leave a comment »
In the words of Wesley Willis, the show this past week was a demon-hellride. Power outages in just the one block of downtown Everett rendered havoc on the Windows 2000 machines inside the KRKO studios. Batteries failed, computers didn’t want to reboot and large chunks of the show were lost.
However, under the steady leadership of Maury, and several false stops and starts – we were able to get something together for the masses that huddle together to hear AM radio on Saturday mornings.
In this weeks show, we were lucky to get Dave Clark from the popular SB Nation Blog “Sounder at Heart” to give us a season preview, discuss Montero moving on and what to expect from the boys in Rave Green this summer.
Click to subscribe in the top right hand corner, find us on iTunes, or as usual – you can always
