It’s official.

The Seattle Supersonics are no more.

I’d like to say this loss is affecting me less than when I heard of Tim Russert’s passing, but I can’t.

That’d be a lie.

Not to belittle the memory of Russert, he was a great man and an idol to a coulda-woulda-shoulda journalist like myself. But his passing was more of an intellectual loss. I know I should feel bad in my head, but I didn’t feel the loss in my heart.

As I read the headline in today’s Seattle P-I “Hoopless” I definitely felt the loss in my heart.

Along with the Sonics goes my a bit of my childhood; watching the Sonics play in the Kingdome, trying to perfect the X-Man’s fade-away jumper (I never did, BTW) and coming of age during a golden age in the NBA and watching legends like Gary Payton feed the Rain-Man into the NBA finals.

When I think of the Sonics, I think of happy times.

Maybe it’s a good thing the team has moved away. Even if they were “forced” to play the next 2 years at the Key Arena I am sure those happy memories would be further tarnished as the less-than-hospitable relationship between the City of Seattle and Clay Bennett had two more years to make the low-light reel.

Basketball is a business, my head knows this. The Sonics are a good, which can be bought and sold…and moved, at the discretion of the owner. As a firm believer in free market economics and the right of private property I support the move.

As a fan and someone the Sonics/NBA have profited from, I feel disregarded. I feel cheated. I feel insignificant.

For something that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, sports seem to be a big part of American life. Sure enough, Seattleites took the luxury of having an NBA team for granted and we lost it.

But on the flip-side, where is the sense of social responsibility on the part of the Sonics?

Even if you take the fact that they are a sports franchise out of the equation, doesn’t any business, owe the community it has thrived in (especially for 40+ years) some semblance of respect? The Sonics apparently thought not.

I agree that sports bring an intangible benefit to the cities lucky enough to host them. A civic pride, a sense of unity, a rallying point. Which is now gone.

I agree with civic officials who stood their ground with regards to using public funds to refurbish/build a new arena so that the NBA/Sonics owners could make more money. I find it ridiculous that Clay Bennett and David Stern would claim the Key Arena was not up to “NBA Standards.” It’s childish to hold the team hostage and threaten to move anytime the NBA doesn’t get it’s way.

If the venue was is so bad, why doesn’t the uber-profitable NBA put-up some money to build venues that are indeed “up to their standards?”

As an avid basketball player and fan, I am now at a crossroads.

Do I turn my back and boycott based on the blatant disregard shown to the City of Seattle by the NBA?

Or do I keep watching a league I no longer have a vested interest in?

Luckily I have a few months to ponder such a deep issue.

I think it’ll take a few beers and bar conversations to get my mind right.

But for the here and now, I am in mourning.

So long Seattle Supersonics, thanks for the memories.