Schultz Sues to Keep Sonics in Seattle

Ok, so this isn’t exactly coffee news, however, it’s important to note when Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz does something right, and it looks like he’s in the midst of doing just that according to this story from the Seattle Times.

Of course, it would have been better if he hadn’t screwed up in the first place. But hey, bygones, or something, right? See just two years ago multi-billionaire Schultz said he was losing money on Seattle’s historic NBA franchise, the SuperSonics, (and natural rival to Portland’s much better team, your Trail Blazers) even though the value of the franchise had risen something like $70 million in the time Schultz had owned them. Insisting that the citizens of Seattle build the team a new arena, even though the very same populace was still paying for the recent remodel of Key Arena, the Sonics’ home, Schultz said he would have to sell the team if the citizens wouldn’t pay. So he sold them to Clay Bennett and partners from Oklahoma City, who desperately wanted a team to move to their town. Now, at the time, they said they had no intention of moving the Sonics, however, that was obviously untrue, and just this week emails surfaced showing that Bennett and Co. indeed planned on stripping the city of Seattle of its storied franchise from the very first moments they bought the club. It’s these emails that have Schultz all up in arms now saying he was misled and that the deal was brokered in bad faith. Therefore he’s suing to regain ownership of the team, and will keep them in the Emerald City where they can continue to be beaten by the mighty Portland Trail Blazers as they should.

In other NBA news, tonight is the Blazers’ final home game of the season and the last regular season game at the soon-to-be-known-as Barista Magazine’s Rose Garden before our naming-rights bid of nearly $100 plus a free subscription is accepted and the new name becomes official. Go Blazers!