Hatred for OKC Subsiding

To put it simply, Seattle didn't like us very much. After all, not even close to what one would consider seamless, the long, difficult NBA transition from Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City Thunder inspired a great deal of negative emotion toward our fair city. On several occasions, I wrote about the acrimony expressed by some, noting that as disappointed as I was to see it, I understood the passions that prompted it. But now, with a little time to buffer the bitterness, it is very nice to see that, for some at least, the hatred is subsiding.

In fact, though residents of the Pacific Northwest certainly aren't happy they lost a storied franchise, it seems some are beginning to see OKC in a new light. A few months ago, Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer actually wrote that he learned to "kinda, sorta like" Oklahoma City. And today, I read an article by John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune in which he calls OKC "an agreeably thriving metropolis" and says, "I'm sorry, Oklahoma City. When the SuperSonics relocated to the American Heartland after 40 years in Seattle, I put the place down with all the knee-jerk stereotypes. [...] This is nonsense."

In a lot of ways, it's unfortunate things happened the way they did. Yes, we in Oklahoma desperately wanted a team and many here responded to the Seattle anger with angry comments of their own. But nobody wanted this opportunity to come at the expense of a wonderful city like Seattle, and it's good to see that as we prepare for the tip-off of year number two, the metropolitan tensions are beginning to settle, if only just a bit.

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