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Follow the Sonics off and on the court with reporters Percy Allen and Jayda Evans.
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January 28, 2008 10:15 AM
The fan boot
Posted by Jayda Evans
The fan boot is apparently the new dance created by the Sonics organization. It's very Seattle to be passive-aggressive, but since when can a team tell a ticket-buying public how to feel? You may have read the last post about a fan being booted from Sunday's Sonics loss to Sacramento and that incident triggered a few others to e-mail me saying they had similar incidences. Only these people weren't vile, just voicing their opinion without the use of curse words.
Well, the aptly named Sam Kidder gave me permission to use his name and e-mail on the blog to detail what happened with him and Sonics chairman Clay Bennett on Sunday. I'll give it to you the way Kidder sent it to me because I found it amusing.
Adding more humor (irony?) to the link of events is that the Sonics' hope of ending their 13-game losing streak were booted by the Kings' Kevin Martin in a buzzer-beating shot. And who has the autographed shoes? Rookie Kevin Durant. He got them fresh off the court from Martin following the game.
Anyway, here's Kidder's e-mail about Bennett:
"Clay Bennett, the beloved owner of the Sonics, had the gall to show up at the Sonics-Kings game tonight. When I shared my opinions with him, he had me kicked out of the building! I heard someone mention on sonicscentral that Bennett would be at the game tonight, so I looked for him in the luxury boxes. I spotted him in the box above section 127, sitting with Presti and Bill Russell. Of course my girlfriend and I moved over to the seats right below him. I looked up at him and started chatting with him. Here's the dialogue that followed...
Sam: Clay, what's up? You're a thief Clay!
Clay: shrugs, smirks and blows me a kiss (I swear to God this is no lie)
Sam: I've been a season ticket holder since age 10. Don't steal my team!!!
Clay: makes a face of mock pity
Sam: Sell the Sonics!!!
Clay: walks to the back of the suite, never to reappear
[Thirty] seconds later, two Key arena police officers and a street-clothed man pulled me and my girlfriend out of our seats. They asked for my ID, confiscated my tickets, and escorted me out of the building. I asked the plain-clothed man if he worked for the police or Bennett, and he said "Both." He then told me I needed to show more respect or else I'd be banned from the arena. I told him I'd be back every game...
In retrospect, I was a little out of control but it is still ludicrous that Bennett would have me kicked out despite the fact that I didn't utter a profane word."
UPDATE: The Sonics said this morning that Bennett was not involved at all in Kidder's removal. It was a decision made by KeyArena security and Seattle Police. "[Mr. Bennett] actually was surprised they did it and didn't think it was necessary," a spokesperson wrote in an e-mail.
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