First the Franchise; Now the Mascot, Too?
Clay Bennett and his business partners, in one fell swoop, snatched up a franchise that had been a Seattle mainstay for four decades. They’re taking the team with them back to Oklahoma City; and along with the players, coaches, jerseys, and basketballs, there’s also this always hard-to-define “legacy” thing they threw in the deal.
Well, it appears as though some in OKC want to get their hands on the Sonics’ famous mascot, Squatch.
Y’know, because Bennett and company apparently didn’t do a good enough job in breaking the hearts of all the hoops fans in Seattle. From NewsOK:
As if Seattle wasn’t mad enough, I say we box up “Squatch” and ship him and his costume to Oklahoma City with the rest of the team gear.
Squatch is short for Sasquatch, and he’s one of the league’s premier mascots. He’s Gorilla good, Coyote good, Super Hugo good. And he’s all ours.
According to my “sources”, next week the OKC Thunder will announce that they’re putting in a bid to buy Seattle’s rain and the Space Needle, too.
***Yes, it is a slow news day (with apologies to Josh Childress), thanks for asking. Painfully so. And the season is STILL over three months away from starting. Gah
30 Responses to “First the Franchise; Now the Mascot, Too?”
Jul.23 at 12:05 pm
Ken says:
That’s just cold.
Jul.23 at 12:38 pm
Moose says:
@ Ken: +1
Jul.23 at 12:43 pm
LA Huey says:
I’m disappointed. Not because I’m from Seattle but because after that poor team nickname they came up with, I wanted to see what kind of lame mascot they would create.
Jul.23 at 12:51 pm
B. Long says:
Damn…
Jul.23 at 1:03 pm
Jukai says:
August 9th, Olympics. Things will pick up very shortly.
Jul.23 at 1:52 pm
Beachd Whale says:
this sucks, move the grizzlies to seattle
Jul.23 at 2:04 pm
tenorca says:
The Warriors already have “Thunder” the mascot. And he blows in every way possible.
Jul.23 at 2:26 pm
Holy Baller says:
Why the hell would OKC want squatch? What the hell does a sasquatch have to do with thunder? WTF?!
Jul.23 at 3:08 pm
Wongtouski says:
why the hell didn’t they take the wnba team as well. It’s a slap in the face to keep them there for Seattle
Jul.23 at 3:11 pm
eyehatedirk says:
Why don’t they just get Thor as their mascot?
Jul.23 at 4:11 pm
Spaceship Jay says:
Eyehatedirk has a great idea. He could dunk his hammer off of the trampoline!
Jul.23 at 4:12 pm
riggs says:
hey dont steal my idea!
Jul.23 at 4:39 pm
Special K says:
OKC Thunder? Come on now, Thunder sounds like a WNBA team name.
Jul.23 at 6:13 pm
GoThunder says:
Bennett and the PBC bought the team and everything they own including the mascot outfit. He should take it with him. If Seattle wants it back, he could sell it to them for say, 30 million or so. And for those Seattlites trashing the name, you gotta be kidding me. This from a city with a team named the Sounders. Come on. You’re killing me. Go Thunder!
Jul.23 at 6:32 pm
mitch says:
heartless selfish appalling discrasfull.
Jul.23 at 6:55 pm
davidR says:
tenorca, thunder the steroid breaker is dope!
Jul.23 at 7:57 pm
Double J says:
So isn’t sasquatch like a northwest related character? how could OKC use our guy?!
Jul.23 at 8:37 pm
canadian says:
If team names had to be relevent to the region there would be no Jazz in Utah and no Grizzlies in Memphis
Jul.23 at 8:56 pm
Brandon says:
Sasquatch and thunder?? yes they go together like french fries and bananas.. Although really there was not a lot they could do to come up with a mascot for the name thunder
Jul.23 at 10:40 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The current Squatch should burn the costume rather than let it fall into enemy hands.
Jul.24 at 1:51 am
The Ghost of Wilt Chamberlain says:
OKC Thunder sounds pretty bad, but it will only join a long list of poor team names. Lakers, Clippers, Caveliers, Pistons, Mavericks, Rockets, Pacers, Heat, Nets, Knicks, Magic… Jeeze, I didn’t realise there were this many when I started typing! How could you find any of these intimidating?
Jul.24 at 2:25 am
Reed Wacker says:
The Thunder sounds like a WNBA name or a bad minor league team. No one cares about OKC. Clayton Bennett’s actions insured a curse will haunt the franchise for the few years the team is in Tornadoville. Then they will go the way of the Hornets or the Grizzlies and end up in some other backwater because OKC fans have no passion for a team that is not theirs and never will be.
Jul.24 at 7:15 am
Moose says:
the best nba team names are the hornets, blazers, timberwolves and raptors. i vote t’wolves as the best name. what do you guys think???
Jul.24 at 11:04 am
AC says:
I like the Griz/Hawks for names too, but yeah, the T-Wolves have the coolest.
Jul.24 at 12:37 pm
NakedGun52 says:
Wow thats just stupid. find your own mascot, get a new one. that was one of the ugliest mascots ever. why would you steal it? OKC has a nice team nickname tho
Jul.24 at 2:55 pm
Ty says:
This really sucks for the city of Seattle; I mean damn; they actually moved from the city after playing there 40 plus seasons besides there have been some good ball players coming out of the Seattle area in recent years.(Brandon Roy)
I understand conflict of intrest and the Ford Center being a great host for an NBA franchise for two years because of the Hurricane Katrina but does the NBA really need five teams in that particular region. I mean Texas already has three teams and New Orleans is on the rise as well, being that the state of Oklahoma is located directly above Texas it probably would been better to look at cities such as Kansas City, St.Louis, or even Las Vegas. I know its all politics with Vegas so I understand and it was a great gesture to lease the Hornets to OK City but I think the NBA and Clay Bennett obviously jumped the gun on this one. Ya’ll couldn’t two years or was it really that damn bad?!.
Jul.24 at 3:46 pm
LA Huey says:
@ GoThunder
“Sounders” is indeed a poor name. But its for basically what is a minor league soccer team.
Jul.25 at 3:43 am
oneshot says:
I hear the Suns have recieved an enquiry about Dan Majerle for the mascot position.
Jul.26 at 2:01 pm
ChicagoBull says:
OKC’s mascot should be an ‘84 Buick sitting up on blocks…
Jul.27 at 2:26 pm
brenden says:
this sucks…