One of my most memorable moments of 2001 came when I traveled to New York City to cover the exchange of the Seattle SuperSonics from the Ackerleys to the Basketball Club of Seattle.

Before I got to meet individually with majority owner Howard Schultz, he and CEO-to-be Wally Walker had a teleconference call with the media back in Seattle to discuss the takeover.

I sat in on it - which, in itself, is bizarre, to be sitting on the other side of a door listening in on a conference call that is being conducted both three feet and 3,000 miles away.

In any case, the call turned to ownership of the team, and who exactly was going to be calling the shots.

After all, there were more than

50 people now considered "owners" of the Sonics, and each most certainly had his and her own ideas about running the team.

Eventually, the conversation turned salty. Schultz took issue with a local writer's assertion that having too many people involved in the decision-making could only be a negative.

Insults were exchanged and it became a rather uncomfortable situation that ended quickly only because the conference call came to an end.

Schultz was not to be deterred, though. He escorted me to his room, where we conducted a one-on-one interview.

His energy is boundless. His enthusiasm is inspirational. I remember thinking that a team that had been so unlikable for the past three or four seasons finally had some direction, and I genuinely wished that Schultz could at that very moment implement all his ideas, turn around the organization and find the success that he so desperately sought.

In my mind, that half-hour was the perfect microcosm of 2001 for the Seattle SuperSonics.

An idealistic coffee magnate energetically trying to turn around a bumbling franchise in the face of cynicism.

Has he been successful? A little.

Has he failed? A little.

The first half of the 2001-02 season has been the most positive since I've arrived in the Northwest. Gary Payton is, by comparison, a dream to work with. There are no more incidents in which I find myself wondering what world athletes are living in, and why do they think they can treat people the way they do.

This year's crop of Sonics are, for the most part, respectful, professional, cooperative and appreciative of their jobs, every attitude and attribute that Schultz said he wanted to instill in his players.

But they also lack talent - at least the talent needed to return them to the NBA elite - and despite Schultz's subjective assertions to the contrary, it remains true.

I felt as if I had been deceived after the Sonics said for so long that they were making their roster moves so they could eventually sign a big free agent, and that free agent turned out to be Calvin Booth, a jump-shooting remake of Jim McIlvaine.

I realize that transformations take a long time, and that we live in an instant-gratification world.

But the Mariners have taught me one thing: Winning big is fun and magical for everybody involved.

I just hope this ride ends like that day in New York, with a feeling of contagious enthusiasm, rather than the skepticism that attaches itself so easily.