Other sports

NBA arena

No new taxes should be added

As much help as we need in Seattle with schools, roads, the homeless and much more, not one penny of our taxpayers' money or any added new tax should go to an NBA arena.

The popularity of NBA is not close to what it once was; attendance and ratings have been going down for years. Of the 30 NBA teams, less than 10 make money.

— David Lyle, Greenbank

City shouldn't be gullible again

When the Sonics wanted Seattle to pay for improvements to KeyArena, they claimed the franchise made substantial contributions to the local economy. When the city sued the Sonics for breaching their lease, the Sonics admitted they had lied and claimed athletic franchises do not help local economies.

Will the city be gullible and again accept NBA lies? Fool me once ...

— Jon Noll, Seattle

League needs Seattle more

Yesterday I read Steve Kelley's column ("It's time to forgive David Stern," Feb. 12) for the first time in 20 years. My curiosity of why Seattle should forgive David Stern got the best of me. Kelley thinks we should forget the insults hurled at Seattle, the motive of which was to reward Stern's good friend from Oklahoma City, Clayton Bennett. Now we are supposed to court Stern and plead for an NBA franchise.

I have news for Steve Kelley: The NBA needs Seattle far more than Seattle needs the NBA. Perhaps the number of NBA teams looking to relocate escaped his notice. Seattle was one of the NBA's best markets, yet the Sonics were taken away from us under the guise of an inferior arena that was praised by Stern a few years earlier.

I have been a huge sports fan my entire life, but I don't miss the NBA. I will never attend another NBA game, and it will probably be another 20 years before I read Steve Kelley's column again.

— Leo Joinette, Edmonds

Not time to forgive

Nope, Steve. Not time to forgive and forget.

Time to remember how David Stern and the NBA play the game.

— Bob Sheffels, Seattle

Jeremy Lin

Doubt experts, not the player

Is Jeremy Lin, the Chinese-American who plays for the New York Knicks, a fluke or a flash in the pan? Where did he come from, and how long can he keep it going?

When we make a mistake about someone, it's in our nature to doubt that person rather than question ourselves. The real issue, of course, is this: How could all those experts, at every level, have failed to adequately assess this kid's abilities?

There is an elaborate basketball network of coaching and scouting that ensnares everyone and is never wrong. Until it is.

We trust the process so implicitly (not just talking basketball here) that when mistakes are made, we fall back on the same kind of institutional thinking that screwed up in the first place.

In a logical world, the behavior of the "experts" would come under review. Instead, we wait for the other sneaker to drop.

Where will the (Lin)sanity end?

— Rhett Gambol, Seattle

Hockey

Giving up on Thunderbirds

My 6-year-old son said something recently that I thought he would never say. Halfway through the third period of a Thunderbirds WHL hockey game my son said, "I am rooting for the other team to win."

I had to ask why. It seems that it is no fun to continue to watch the Thunderbirds. I blame the team for this sudden change of heart. It's time for the Thunderbirds organization to consider some major changes. A new coach is in place, but the team suffers from the same problems as previous years. The blame lies with owner and general manager Russ Farwell. It's time for Farwell to hire a new GM. It's time for the Thunderbirds to compete!

— Dean Schmitz, Lacey

UW basketball

Zags, Huskies need to resume rivalry

I find it absolutely ridiculous that the Huskies and Gonzaga do not play a game against each other every year. The fans of college basketball in this state are being robbed of a great rivalry. I am faulting both schools for not making this a reality. I hope some kind of public outcry occurs because this is something that the state of Washington and its sports culture desperately need.

— Jeff Swanson, Everett

NFL

Why are inferior teams winning?

Something seems wrong with NFL football. Since the New York Giants' first Super Bowl victory over New England (and maybe even before), the inferior teams have been faring better than the No. 1 seeds in the playoffs. A developing trend seems to be that the team with the best record in the league often gets knocked out of the playoffs in its first playoff game and an inferior team wins the Super Bowl.

Are some people being paid for poor performance? Maybe gambling or other interests are having an influence on the league. I am suspicious.

— Mike Marley, Seattle