The 60th Anniversary of the Sound of Music was last week. Mary Jo Seber loaded up the Seber siblings into the Chrysler Travel wagon and took us to Graumann’s Chinese Theater to see it. The Oscar winning story is the musical narrative about the Von Trapp Family singers rise to fame under Mary Poppins’ tutelage. The movie is an all-time classic. Several news outlets went to Salzburg, Austria where their story originated. Many Austrians were unfamiliar with the story and its global impact. It could be because there were many Austrians dressed in Nazi uniforms throughout the film. With Uncle Adolph running the show from the Reichstag in Berlin, Austria’s future looked bright in 1944. Passive acquiescence to the Fuhrer was prudent and with a potential Prussian land grab upside. The Rise before the Fall of the Third Reich was still in the rising phase. Austria was betting on the come. Unfathomable stories of paramilitary groups dragging “undesirables” off the streets without rights or due process and throwing them in detention centers occurred daily. Austrians probably don’t want to properly recall their role as the dark undercurrent in this family classic. What lighthearted movie will morph out of the ICE family singers?
When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, the New Orleans arena where the then New Orleans Hornets played was severely damaged. The Hornets were forced to relocate their home games from 2005-2007. The Hornets went 77-87 during this period and averaged over 18,000 fans per home game. Having the NBA in OKC, was enlightening for the NBA and local businessman Clay Bennett’s ownership team.
In 2001, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz led The Basketball Club of Seattle and their 58 partners to acquire the Seattle NBA team and keep them in the Seattle. Schultz and his minions could not right the ship. The Supersonics lost millions during Howie’s reign of Macchiato mediocrity. Starbucks stock roared but the one-time NBA Champion Supersonics were dismal. In 1979, Dennis Johnson, Jack Sikma and Gus Williams beat the Washington Bullets 4-1 for the City of Seattle’s first professional championship. Lenny Wilkens was the head coach. By 2005, the Sonics were a Dungeness dumpster. The Puget Sound Penises could not lift the basketball prospects for the Seattle Supersonics. Schultz agreed to sell the team to Bennett’s management team with the good faith understanding of keeping the team in Seattle. The Supersonics drafted Kevin Durant with the 2nd pick in the draft and the future was a Keyless arena away. Key Arena had to stay, and Seattle would not pay for a new facility, Bennett gleefully paid the penalty and moved the team to OKC. It was not a happy day in the PNW when OKC won the NBA title in 2025. There were watch parties for OKC haters all over Seattle. There was not as much vitriol in 2005 when they left.
Seattle has become a WNBA town. Sue Bird is a hero and icon to many and deservedly so. Key Arena finally got redone at a cost of $1.1 billion in 2021. The only tenant at that time was the Storm. We have our summer AI team computing how that equates in 2006 dollars, but the rejected budget was $350 million. We have another team working on the 2025 value of an NBA team in the Seattle market. Schultz sold the Sonics for $350 million. The Lakers just sold part of the Lakers for $4 billion. Statues honoring basketball stars at NBA arenas have become a thing. The Lakers have a HOF starting lineup of bronze figures with Chick Hearn at the microphone encircling Crypto. Key Arena with no NBA team unfurled the statute of Lenny Wilkens when he was a player for Seattle. The WNBA Seattle Storm are the little engine that could, and they have kept the basketball dream alive locally. Sue Bird will get her statue in August. Clippers have a new stadium and are waiting patiently to honor someone, anyone in their 55-year history. No one ever plays for the Clippers long enough to matter.
Bottom of the 9th: The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers are having some moments, and they are not shining ones. The team has been horrific since a torrid Max Muncy went down with a frightening knee injury three weeks ago. Muncy was the MLB player of June, and the Dodgers have been in a funk since his injury. Funkmaster General is Mookie Betts. He was 1 for 38 at one point and Roberts benched him for a game. He is playing shortstop this season for the first time since Little League or something. He might never be a Gold Glove SS, but he is serviceable and gets another outfielder batter in the lineup. His batting struggles might be related to this position change. Betts came up with two outs in the bottom of the 9th yesterday with the Dodgers down a run. We quickly dug an 0-2 hole and somehow squibbed a ball towards third and beat the throw. The Twins then walked the bases loaded for Freddie Freeman’s winning hit; We hope this moment gets the team and Mookie off the snide.
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