You Can Keep Your Congratulations, Chris Hansen

Dec 23, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; General view of the Space Needle and the downtown Seattle skyline before the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

If  you’ve yet to see it, one half of the Hansen-Ballmer group who attempted to purchase and relocate the Sacramento Kings to Seattle spoke today, congratulating Sacramento on their effort to keep the Kings.

From Chris Hansen on his SonicsArena.com website:

"I’d like to start out by congratulating Mayor Johnson and the fans in Sacramento for the tremendous effort they put together to keep their team. Given what our community went through in 2008, if there is any silver lining in this for Seattle it is seeing Sacramento’s dedicated fan base successfully rally to keep the Kings. This was never about Seattle fans versus Sacramento fans, and it goes unsaid that there is a mutual respect given the circumstances we have both been through. This process was instead about our group and our city putting our best foot forward in an honest and transparent way to return basketball to Seattle, and in that regard our efforts remain undeterred.You can read the full piece here"

I’ve been very open about my feelings toward Chris Hansen during this process, continually saying he would (and will) be a wonderful NBA owner at some point and if Sacramento was void of an NBA team, I’d hope to have somebody like him in my corner.

That said, you can keep your congratulations. I certainly don’t want them and I’m pretty sure the vast majority of the purple and black faithful don’t want them either.

You caused this. You, directly, along with the rest of your ownership group, so don’t pretend like you have some sympathy for Sacramento with the “what we’ve both gone through” garbage. We went through that because of you. Did you conveniently overlook that? Now, do I blame you? Not hardly. You saw a weak and injured animal in the open field, just waiting to be attacked. They were prime pickings. If you didn’t do it, somebody else would have. You just didn’t expect for that animal to fight back like it did.

I applaud your efforts for Seattle and I do really hope that the NBA will return there and do so soon because the Seattle fan base deserves a team – a team they never should have lost. But as far as congratulating us on what you attempted to take? Really?

That’s the equivalent of receiving a wedding congratulations from the guy who was boinking your fiancé behind your back.