Some Sonics fans still bitter News Seattle Supersonics

ON THE ROAD TO AWKWARDVILLE Dressed in a Luke Ridnour No. 8 Sonics jersey, Mike Poukkula recalled the last time he visited the Rose Garden in Portland. "It was for a Garth Brooks concert," Poukkula said. Immediately, his mind connected the oddity behind that memory. "Man, Brooks is from Oklahoma, too!"

he exclaimed. "That's no good." And so it began, this surreal night. Poukkula was one of a handful of Sonics fans that I traveled with to experience the last bit of closure for an abandoned NBA city: Watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Portland Trail Blazers. "Thunder I make a face every time I hear that name," said Poukkula, 37. "It's like eating raw broccoli." The trek from Seattle to Portland lasted about three hours. This was like the Spike Lee movie "Get On The Bus," only instead of chronicling men headed to the Million Man March, we were off to see the $45 Million Mistake. That's how much money Mayor Greg Nickels accepted to release Clay Bennett from his KeyArena lease and complete his fleecing of Seattle's oldest pro team. "What kind of mascot do they have, anyway?" asked Audrey Galaviz, 30, of Federal Way. "A bolt of lightning?" They're planning to have a bison. "How does that even go with Thunder?!?!" Galaviz replied in disgust. Galaviz discovered her love for Basketball after her boyfriend, Nia Nguyen, took Galaviz to her first Sonics game a few years ago. Since then, it had become their winter pastime. They would go to 15 or so games at KeyArena every season. Asked what they've done to fill that void, they declared quickly, "Nothing." Bennett kidnapped their entertainment. "I still hate David Stern," Nguyen said. "I still hate Clay Bennett." Poukkula interrupted: "But we still love the players and the game." SUBHEAD: COMMENTARY