….and his Turn-Offs include same-sex marriage, the city of Seattle and John Kerry.
True Hoop’s Henry Abbott previously linked to a Journal Record profile of Clay Bennett’s Oklahoman buddy Aubrey McClendon (above, described by Bennett as “the all-time undisputed heavyweight champion of tailgating”), in which the Sonics’ co-owner takes a few shots at the club’s current place of residence.
œI™ve now been really caught up in the excitement of the (Sonics) because there is a certain stamp of ˜we™ve arrived,™ and the people of Seattle kind of look down their nose at us and think these guys are trying to climb the civic ladder. They take pride in Seattle not needing a NBA team to be considered a world-class city. That™s probably true, they don™t. But I think for Oklahoma City to distance itself from other midsize cities, I think enthusiastic support of a well-run, successful NBA team says a lot about the spirit of this community. We™ve got a can-do spirit and we™ve got a fan base that™s turned out. This is a sports town; nobody ever knew it was a pro sports town. I think it is.
If only McClendon’s craven plan to move the Sonics to OKC was the worst thing about him. As noted last February, the Stranger’s Josh Feint reported that McClendon and Sonics partner Tom Ward practically bankrolled the entire operation of American’s United To Preserve Marriage (still working on that website — apparently, a million bucks doesn’t go as far as it used to).
Today, Abbott notes that McClendon, in addition to purchasing a number of newspaper advertisements in support of the Duke men’s lacrosse team (y’know, that one), contributed a cool quarter million to Swift Vets and POWs For Truth.
I realize much of this sounds kinda unpleasant, and even the addition of Kevin Durant probably isn’t enough for basketball fans of conscience to consider attending Sonics games this year. But it could be far, far worse. For one thing, no one in the current Seattle ownership group has ever recorded a song called “Shoot That Dog”.