Chris Hansen: Don’t congratulate me yet

Hundreds of people packed an outdoor beer garden in Pioneer Square Thursday night as billionaire investor Chris Hansen treated Sonics fans to a free beer to thank them for pushing city and county leaders for a vote on his SoDo arena proposal.

The beer started flowing 30 minutes ahead of schedule, as the green and yellow streamed into the Occidental Park beer garden FX McRory’s threw together with a last minute request to the city.

They were all here for a free beer from the most popular man in town, Chris Hansen, the pied piper of the new arena and a potential return of the Sonics.

For some fans though it was more than just a beer.

“I can get a beer anywhere, but I’m here for the Sonics,” said fan Ricky Oliver.

Oliver can’t wait for the day that he can take his son to his first Sonics game like his dad did for him.
Strip away the free beer and that’s what this was really all about, especially for Hansen.

“I just want a team back. Seattle is a great city. My first passion was the Sonics and I’d just love to see the team back in this community.”

Hansen barely had time to enjoy his IPA. He was posing for pictures, shaking hands and thanking the politicians who joined the celebration.

Then he emerged from inside, almost like the pope at the Vatican, to address those outside.

“Cheers everybody,” Hansen said, “You guys made this happen, so thank you.”

Hansen knows the people he was addressing want a team so bad they can taste it, but he warns them to be patient.

“Getting a team back is going to be very difficult,” said Hansen. “While I do think it’s inevitable, I do worry a little bit that people think it’s just going to magically happen in the near term. There’s very few opportunities that are going to come up. We’ll put our best foot forward for every one, but I think it’s also going to require a little bit of patience from people.”

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn even managed to get in a toast with Hansen.

“Us politicians, we’ll get a little bit of credit, but we don’t deserve any. We have Chris Hansen who is prepared to really make a serious investment. When a billionaire comes to your town and says, ‘I want to invest in getting the Sonics back’ you need to sit down and talk and see what you can do. But the next piece of the puzzle was the fans,” said McGinn.

Even as the crowd cheered his name, Hansen reminded them there’s still a long way to go.

“Don’t congratulate me yet. Don’t buy me a beer yet. When there’s an NBA player that steps off a plane in Seattle with a Sonics shirt on his back, that will be the day that you guys can all buy me a beer,” said Hansen.