When worlds collide: Sports vs. politics

OUR region is watching the collision of two cultures, each very distinct and governed by their own very different rules. The two fit like a boxing glove on a duck.

The issue is how does a state legislature, built of committees, four leadership posts and two other branches of government watching over its shoulder, make rapid, clear-cut decisions. The answer is, it can't. In sports, which is really the world of sports entrepreneurship rather than what happens on the field, the rules are different. The four moneyed men who decided to put up half the cost to retrofit KeyArena live in a far more fast-paced environment. My bet is that they would say it is better to make a wrong decision and quickly fix it rather than wait three years to make a right decision. State government prefers the latter approach.

While the Legislature in its final week is gorging on bills by the plateful, the action-takers in the Seattle metro core are frustrated by the grinding policy mill that shifts and sorts through preambles and precedents.

I believe both the Legislature and the four point guards ready to fund the new Sonics misread the advantages and the faults of the other side.

Here's why:

Sports radio and fandom in general are hot on the trail of House Speaker Frank Chopp for lollygagging his way through what everyone else sees as a crucial decision for the state to make in favor of KeyArena.

But one does not become speaker without political acumen, consummately making deals and, in Chopp's case, being a man of principle. The speaker is leery of public-private partnerships because he believes taxpayers eventually pay more than they should, and on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge project that he insisted would be state-funded, he was proven right.

For the entrepreneurs, led by Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and spokesman/developer Matt Griffin, the rule they live by is invest today and get something back tomorrow — but don't delay or someone else will beat you. In a tug-of-war in Olympia between the process of deliberation and the run-and-shoot tactics that are necessary in the fields of high-tech and land speculation, the two cultures can never coalesce on the need for speed. It's asymmetrical warfare.

I met Ballmer for the first time two weeks ago at a brief meeting to learn about Microsoft's dismay over the endless negotiations over the Highway 520 Bridge. The talk turned shortly to high-school basketball and it is clear Ballmer has a basketball jones. He is restless, larger than life and his cup runneth over in optimism.

Chopp is the contrary. He is steady eddy inside a political bubble of compromise, an endless line of special interests (of which sports franchises are just another one) and the rush of legislation that comes with a short session very other year.

To say the Legislature cannot pass enabling law that would extend the current tax for baseball to basketball because time is too short is in error. Members put so many emergency clauses in everyday bills, they should be able to handle one more in an afternoon's debate.

Yet, the investors are making their own mistake. For the Sonics' group to think that the Legislature is just another bank to get development money, wired for deposit inside 10 days, is also wrong. Mayor Greg Nickels' office told Times columnist Joni Balter they have been working the deal since December, and now the clock is ticking. When pushed, the Legislature will not be rushed.

The entrepreneurs who brought to Seattle the innovations of wireless communication, Costco, Pacific Place and Microsoft are people who see the world by what's happening in India, Ireland and California.

But Seattle, a world-rated city on the edge of this century's path to progress, is resistant to change and is constantly trying to restore itself to a previous Seattle. It is a city of great landscapes still scratching its head about what to do with Seattle Center, one of the best pieces of urban landscape in the country. Culturally, Seattle may treasure a boarded-up Denny's over a $300 million arena.

Seattle likes things slow and easy, like a bike ride, and Ballmer rides a motorcycle.

James F. Vesely's column appears Sunday on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is: jvesely@seattletimes.com