The Five Stages of Hall & Oates Grief

While the sports world buzzes about Manny in LA and Junior in Chicago, the M's still suck and the Sonics are still dead. Author, poet and former Sonic fan (we're all formers now) Sherman Alexie wrote a funny and touching summary of the Sonics trial called "Sixty-One Things I Learned During the Sonics Trial: A Sonics Love Story." It's not only full of Alexie's irreverant humor, but also his love... love for the game and a team that did little to reciprocate in the final years.

There's a lot of highlights, but for the purposes of this blog, we'll just jump to #15:

In writing, thinking, and talking about the Sonics' possible relocation to Oklahoma City, I shuffle like an iPod through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and Hall & Oates.

Naturally, the blue-eyed Philly soul of Hall & Oates lends itself to the aforementioned 5 stages of grief::

Playlist: 5 Stages of Hall & Oates Grief
1. Denial - "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" - Private Eyes (1981)
2. Anger - "Gotta Lotta Nerve" - Voices (1980)
3. Bargaining - "I Don't Wanna Lose You" - Along the Red Edge (1978)
4. Depression - "(You Know) It Doesn't Matter Anymore" - Daryl Hall & John Oates (1975)
5. Acceptance - "She's Gone" - Abandoned Luncheonette (1973)

Note how as you advance through the stages, you actually go back in time. You know, while we're at it, for Alexie introducing homoeroticism and cucumber sandwiches into the court proceedings, how about a bonus track: "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid," from the unfortunately titled/recorded Big Bam Boom (1984).

Saying goodbye to a childhood hero

NBA great Dennis Johnson died yesterday.

In 6th grade, while most my fellow chums were writing KISS and AC/DC on their Pee-Chees, I had filled mine with an homage to my hero, DJ... Dennis Johnson. I had gotten down the afro, the toothy grin, those marks under his eyes that made him look like a football player, and nearly every freckle (there were a lot,) as well as a 10-year old could capture it anyway. He wasn't the prettiest NBA player, that's for sure, but he was my hero nonetheless.

Playlist: Homage to Dennis "DJ" Johnson

Now... everyone is going to recall his days as a Celtic, passing the ball to Larry Bird, but he'll always be a Sonic first and foremost for this NBA fan... those were the days when he wasn't a role player - he was the man. He led the Sonics to two NBA Finals runs, winning it in 1979 and capturing the MVP. He did it all back then... he scored, passed, rebounded and really played defense at the 2-guard position like nobody in the game.

When they traded him a year later to Phoenix for Paul Westphal, I remember shedding a few tears. How could they trade the soul of the team for this feathered-haired jumpshooter? The Sonics, while still winning more then losing, didn't seem like the team it was with Johnson. Meanwhile, Phoenix flourished, winning the Pacific crown, with Johnson concentrating more on defense. Then Boston came calling, trading for him ultimately to stop 76er Andrew Toney (he only slowed him down, though... it was Toney's own feet that was finally the best defense.)

In Boston he was part of some great teams that led to a couple more rings for DJ, and he received some more acclaim that he truly deserved, but when asked recently where Seattle fits in his amazing career, DJ didn't hesitate. "Absolutely the number one," he said in 2003. "It's where I won the first championship, it's where I was first drafted, everything first happened to me here. It's where I first got married, everything."

Likewise, DJ... likewise.



tags: nba, dennis johnson, obituary, sonics, seattle, seattle supersonics, lee scratch perry