The Oklahoma City team finally has a name.
It's, can you believe it, the Thunder, which eliminates any thought that the people who run the team might have mounted a brilliant campaign of subterfuge, but were instead leaking and delaying like crazy pretty much all summer.
And they actually played the AC/DC song "Thunderstruck" at the news conference as predicted.
Thunder Chairman Clay Bennett made a very low-enthusiasm presentation, saying how enthusiastic he was. There was some talk about how hard it is to keep a secret, and even a line about character. I smirked at this man, whose double-dealing e-mails and bold-faced lies have been well-documented, telling me about character. I felt all that bitterness at how things went down in Seattle.
And for Sonic fans, today was the day that they really lost their team. For much of the summer, to me, it seemed like the Sonics had been stolen, and were out there somewhere, perhaps to somehow be returned.
But now the city has settled. Former Sonics' owner Howard Schultz's lawsuit has run out. And while Kevin Durant, Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook and company will all continue to show up for work, the Seattle SuperSonics are literally no more.
At some point, after the funeral, you stop putting so much energy into being mad that someone died, and start going about the business of making life as good as it can be without them. This is, I guess, that day.
For the people in Seattle, it's a game of stadium funding, thankless politicking and lucky breaks.
In Oklahoma City, meanwhile, Bennett talked about building the brand into one of the NBA's greats. It has been a lousy start, in just about every way imaginable. But I hope he does it. People in Oklahoma City are unbelievably fired up about this team, and I'm thrilled for them.
I guess I better figure out how to rename that "Seattle SuperSonics" category over there on the right.
