When I was in sixth grade or so (back when “Baby Got Back” was just an inkling in Mix-a-Lot’s loins and Swass was the hottest shit around), my friend Matt and I used to call Mix-a-Lot’s agent’s office and pretend to be Matt’s older brother, Scott, who had played on the same 3-on-3 basketball team as Mix. Perhaps our pubescent voices gave us away, or perhaps the star had no interest in reconnecting with his fellow weekend warriors, but for whatever reason, we were never able to get him on the phone.

First, Robert Jamieson details how drunken/disruptive/occasionally violent late night customers and loiterers have led the SODO Denny’s (Seattle’s last) to close it’s doors on late Saturday nights. It’s a bummer of a story, but kudos to Jamieson for using the word “numskulls”; I’d been hoping for “hooligans”, personally, but as always, the piece was boosted by a foray into archaic lexicon.

Also in the P-I, the Landmark Preservation Board is at it again. This time, they’ve held a preliminary vote to designate the 15th and Market Denny’s a landmark, potentially thwarting a big condo development deal. Anybody else detect a whiff of underhanded downzoning—especially given other recent landmarking news (such as Peter Steinbrueck’s sweeping and seemingly rushed list of downtown buildings to preserve)?

PS–Denny’s, if you’re reading this, bring back the Veggie Cheese Melt. I loved that sandwich. So did my mom.

Another day, another loss. It’s an old story: the Sonics scrapped and kept it close–with Kevin Durant’s 12 4th quarter points providing some hope–before, well, losing. (This time it was to Phoenix, 104-98). Apparently, the Sonics started quite hot (pushing a 1st quarter lead up to 20), but we didn’t get to see it because the Bulls/Trailblazers game went into double overtime—giving this Sonics fan another opportunity to wish the Blazers were our team.

The good news? Jeff Green led the team in minutes, suggesting that Carlesimo is serious about developing the rookie. The bad news (besides the inability to close out games, run a half-court offense, and rotate defensively)? Kevin Durant didn’t lead the team in minutes. Granted, 37 minutes is a good number and he is recovering from an injury, but it gets frustrating watching the team founder offensively and fall behind at the beginning of the fourth quarter while Durant sits on the bench, forcing him to go into hero mode as soon as he gets in. Tonight, Carlesimo had him on the bench for over 5 minutes from the end of the 3rd quarter to the beginning of the 4th.

In other news around the league, if I were a Chicago fan, I’d be starting a fire Jim Boylan campaign ASAP, regardless of the team’s record in their statistically insignificant start with him. The dude’s playing Ben Wallace Emeritus 40+ minutes a game while handing out DNPs to his young guys (Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, etc.) like party favors. It’s like he’s auditioning for some honorary Larry Brown award. Note to John Paxson: If you don’t want your energetic young big guys (I always wanted Tyson Chandler!), we’ll take ‘em. How about we give you Kurt Thomas for Ty Thomas. It’ll look the same to you in the box score, and Boylan’ll get to play another past-his-prime, right-way veteran.

Oklahoma City is now set to vote on a sales tax to improve their Ford Arena in hopes of luring an NBA team. The sales tax would replace an expiring tax, MAPS for Kids, that has been used to fund public school improvements. (Prior to that there was simply MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects), which funded parks, trolleys, cultural centers, and sports facilities).

With MAPS for Kids set to expire at the end of ‘08, the city spent the first half of ‘07 taking online feedback from the public regarding what they’d like to see in the MAPS 3 proposal. While far from a scientific poll, the results suggest a gap between the desires of the public and the priorities of the city council. Of the 2,747 suggestions, 1,096 were for street, sidewalk, transit, and trail improvements (with another 117 for beautification of streetscapes); 251 were for parks, amusement parks/fairgrounds, community/youth centers, or amphitheaters; and 81 were for an NBA practice facility or improvements to the Ford Arena. (To be fair, there were 65 votes for a soccer or football stadium, bumping the (presumably) pro sports count up to 146.)

Perhaps sympathy to Chris Van Dyk’s anti-subsidy movement isn’t unique to Seattle. Perhaps it’s not the result of effete coastal urban snobbery, as some have argued.

Sure, maybe the tax will pass in Oklahoma–after all, Bennett & co. have certainly treated their hometown with more respect than they have Seattle. And maybe the city’s unscientific survey is grossly distorted. Maybe those who really want a team didn’t know about it, or don’t have computers. But my guess is that, given the choice, most voters would prefer to see their tax dollars used as something other than seed money for a billionaire’s latest project.