FanHouse Seattle

It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

Why isn't this competition on TV again?

The Charleston Battery obliterated FC Dallas, 3-1, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, scoring before an after an hour-long lightning delay in the first half and shutting down all but one meaningless strike in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders fought the Kansas City Wizards to a 0-0 draw and advanced 6-5 on penalties, thanks in part to a 12-save performance by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, who also saved two PKs to help Seattle advance.

Meanwhile, USL Second Division club Crystal Palace Baltimore pushed the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution to penalties, but lost the shootout, 5-3. In Boyds, MD, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Mark Burch were shown red cards in extra time, while Bryan Namoff scored the winner in the 99th minute to push D.C. United past the Chicago Fire, 2-1.

D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, one month after their testy match in Toyota Park in which three red cards were given and Luciano Emilio got a surprise goal in stoppage time to lift 9-man D.C. to a 2-1 win.

If you want to watch this rematch, though, you'll have to go to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds and buy a ticket. By all accounts, this match will not air on TV or online. Neither will tonight's New England Revolution v. Crystal Palace Baltimore match, providing further proof that the U.S. Open Cup -- a competition in which the winner receives a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, no less -- is truly the most disrespected competition in American soccer.

The other two quarterfinal matches at least have online video feeds. FC Dallas v. Charleston Battery will be shown on MLSLive at 8:30 PM ET, while Seattle fans log on to USLLive get a free glimpse of their future MLS club's home when the USL-1 Seattle Sounders face the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field at 10:00 PM ET. Let's hope the groundskeepers actually try to cover up the gridiron lines this year.

There's a long history of position players coming in to pitch during major league games. It's often seen during total routs when a comeback is beyond reach and the actual pitchers are better off getting rest than work. Yesterday in Seattle, though, backup catcher Jamie Burke came into pitch during the 15th inning of a tie game between the Mariners and Tigers.

Burke didn't embarrass himself but still picked up the loss when Marcus Thames hit a sacrifice fly to win the game. He got Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Renteria to close out the inning and didn't look bad doing it. Still, how does Burke end up on the mound in that spot? Jim Riggleman didn't have many options after exhausting his bullpen.

Reliever Arthur Rhodes woke up with a sore arm and couldn't get loose. Brandon Morrow had pitched four of the previous five days and Riggleman wanted to give him a day off. Tuesday's scheduled starter, Carlos Silva, had thrown on the side earlier Sunday. Saturday's starter, R.A. Dickey, volunteered to throw, but had tossed more than 100 pitches in his start.

You don't use someone who's hurting and Morrow is probably too valuable to the franchise's future to throw out in those circumstances. Why not use Dickey, though? He throws a knuckleball, which would surely be harder for the Tigers to master than the slider of a catcher. I realize the Mariners season is going nowhere fast but just giving away games hardly seems like the best solution.

Former Seattle Seahawks linebacker (and, ahem, "actor") Brian Bosworth is being hailed as a hero in Winnipeg, Canada after he came upon a car that crashed into a ditch and helped bring a woman trapped inside to safety.



The Winnipeg Free Press reports:

"It looked like she rolled at least two or three times because the car ended up facing the opposite direction of oncoming traffic, upside down in the ditch," Bosworth said. ...

"She was in shock and in pain and we couldn't really move her. Her legs were pinned. We had to cut the steering wheel off. She was screaming every time we moved her," Bosworth said. "It took five or six guys to get her into the ambulance. "

"I see that a lot in the area, the highways aren't the greatest. They are not very forgiving highways. She's lucky. She just missed the guardrail to the river. This could have been really bad," [RCMP Sgt. Line] Karpish said

Bosworth was in the area because he and his son had gone on a fishing trip. The woman and her passenger were treated at a local hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

Hint: it's the same as the old challenge to Seattle arena plans! Niki Sullivan of the Tacoma News Tribune reports on early sentiments out of the Washington State Legislature regarding the only hope to get the funds necessary to renovate Seattle's KeyArena in hopes of being ready to receive the next relocating NBA franchise.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Margarita Prentice were all mum Thursday about the odds of agreeing on an arena renovation deal next year.

"I'm not saying we won't act, but I think we need to be deliberative," said Sen. Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat who is on the task force created by the Legislature to assess King County taxes, some of which are being used to pay off debt on Safeco Field, Qwest Field and the old Kingdome.

While Clay Bennett proved himself to be a lying snake, the Legislature had obvious culpability in its repeated rejections of any former branch-offering from old owner Howard Schultz, commish David Stern, and Bennett. Even if the old arena plans (which often included $500-million new buildings in the 'burbs) were bad, the Leg didn't have to be so hostile to the NBA. Stern often cites the Legislature's rhetoric and grandstanding in his assertions Bennett's obligated to leave Seattle.

The day after your city loses its longest-standing professional sports franchise, you should probably show at least a modicum of reconciliation if you have any hopes of getting the NBA back. It almost seems like (shock) these politicians don't want a team here ... which is really unfortunate for the fans, considering the new renovation plan seems to call for public funding (a tax on hotel stays -- not exactly pillaging the working-class of Washington) makes up only 25% of the total funding needed. The Legislature is either overly cautious with respects to anti-tax forces, or seriously uncommitted to getting the NBA back.

There's a potential for a real organizational shake-up as the Un-Sonics move to Oklahoma City. It seems Clay Bennett fully understands if some employees don't want to give up the community they've built their career in, and the franchise has offered bonuses for sticking with the team that past two seasons regardless of whether the employees move to OKC, according to Percy Allen of the Seattle Times.

But if you do go with Bennett to OKC, your next pay stub might include an unwelcome surprise.

Anyone who leaves can negotiate a relocation package; however, employees were told to expect a decrease in salary because the cost of living is lower in Oklahoma City.

"The cost of living is lower in Oklahoma City" is quite an understatement. As an example: according to HousingTracker, the median home price in OKC is $159,900. In Seattle, it's $425,000. Chris Wilcox can buy that dude ranch he's always wanted! Yeah!

While Bennett can negotiate his middle-managers' salaries down, he'll have no such luck with his own players. It'll be interesting to see, though, if in the free agent market "low cost-of-living!" becomes the Un-Sonics' equivalent of Orlando's "no state income tax!" and New York's "we have stuff to do after 8 p.m.!"

We didn't set out to have a Roundtable discussion on the Sonics settlement. Things just sort of ... unfolded in an email thread. As such, it's a bit less formal in style than usual. This is the (edited) result.

Brett Edwards: [after several grousing emails and posts about the settlement from yours truly] Ziller's a closet Sonics fan.

Tom Ziller: I'm a Kings fan who fears the next Clay Bennett!

Matt Moore: Just fear Sacramento deciding to try and bully an owner they KNOW is looking for a way out, playing a game of chicken that they know they can't win after giving both their baseball and football teams (that they don't have) brand new state of the art stadiums, and then refusing to fund measures that would save the team.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Bennett's a jackass, but they KNEW he was a jackass and they decided to try and play hardball regardless.

So the Sonics will play home games in Oklahoma City next year. Actually, this collection of players employed by the Sonics will be playing home games in Oklahoma City next year, but with a different mascot and a different moniker. The 'Sonics' brand is the only thing staying in Seattle, besides $45 million of Clay Bennett's money. (The other $30 million will only pay out if the city has no NBA team by 2013.)

In his press conference (webcast by KING5.com), Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels confirmed the worst fears of fans: the city caved at the last minute. There is no guarantee of a replacement team in Seattle. There are no plans for NBA expansion on the table, nor any assurance from the league that Seattle will take priority should expansion be considered.

In fact, there are no freaking new plans! Nickels said the city would go back to the Legislature to ask for permission to collect taxes for a KeyArena renovation. This would be the same Legislature that has told everyone involved -- Bennett, David Stern, previous owner and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, prospective owner and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Nickels himself -- the Legislature has told all of them "no no no." The plan, as Nickels communicated it tonight, is to do the same, toothless maneuvering that has already failed repeatedly.

Even if that works -- there's no guarantee from the NBA they'll give Seattle a team! Stern released a statement, telling Seattle it needs to secure its funding plan for a $300 million renovation by the end of 2009 in order to have a shot at a potential, hypothetical team before 2013. His statement is replete with 'ifs.'

What exactly did the city get from this settlement? To me, it looks like a whole lot of nothing.

The Seattle Times reports U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman has announced there will be no decision in the Sonics-Seattle lawsuit because a settlement has been reached. The Times quotes sources saying the settlement includes a $75 million buy-out from Clay Bennett, but apparently no NBA promises of a new team in Seattle. And oh yeah, the Sonics are gone.

Greg Johns of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer cites a source who says Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, the former local owner of the Sonics, is not withdrawing his recent suit against Bennett as a part of the settlement. Schultz is suing to force either to rescinding of the 2006 sale of the team or a sale to a local group, based on the argument Bennett violated a specific clause in the purchase agreement which required the new owners to make good faith efforts to get an arena deal done in Seattle.

No words on whether Seattle plans to use the pay-out on KeyArena renovations or a new building or none of the above. Just before Pechman's decision had been expected, fans at SonicsCentral reported assistants with the mayor's office had asked callers whether an expansion or relocated team would be an acceptable resolution. We'll know more once both Bennett and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels hold 8 p.m. Eastern press conferences.

Two reports coming out now -- less than two hours before a federal judge is set to decide the fate of the Seattle SuperSonics -- indicate the city and the NBA team might have reached a settlement agreement. The mayor of Seattle, Greg Nickels, has a press conference set for 5 p.m. Pacific, just 60 minutes after U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is set to deliver her decision on the court's website.

Just after 2 p.m. Pacific, the Seattle Times got a city councilwoman to say "it looks like" there will be a settlement. This jives with comments from another member of the council, Richard McIver, who told The Oklahoman the sides had worked on reaching a deal while trying to work around former owner/Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's suit against Clay Bennett.

Why would the sides attempt to settle at this late stage? The Sonics obviously want assurance they can leave Seattle ASAP regardless of Pechman's ruling. Seattle might be looking for extra cash beyond the owed lease payments for 2008-09 and 2009-10, and possibly ownership of the 'SuperSonics' moniker and some concession from the league on exploring an expansion team. Both sides want to hedge their bets in case they lose.

UPDATE from FanHouse's Sean Hawkins in Seattle:

KJR AM is now saying they have confirmed it's a settlement. They are speculating that it's a big cash settlement, per an NBA western conference exec. Also, rumors are that no replacement team has been promised, but there could be a "wink-wink" situation brewing that there could be a replacement team in a year or two. [...] Both the mayor and Clay Bennett will have 5 p.m. Pacific new conferences happening at the same time.

UPDATE #2: The Seattle Times reports a settlement has been reached, and will be detailed at the mayor's 5 p.m. press conference.