Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder Rants About Sacramento During Oklahoma City Show

Eddie Vedder, center, and Pearl Jam perform in 2005. Photo by Alexander O’Neill via Flickr.com. (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder took a shot at Sacramento during a recent show in Oklahoma City, venting his frustration about the  NBA denying a bid by a Seattle-based group to acquire the Sacramento Kings and move them to the Pacific Northwest.

According to the Sacramento Bee, a fan’s video from the concert shows Vedder saying:

"“The people that really f***ed us over is Sacramento. When you think about it and if you’ve ever been to Sacramento, they’re already kind of f***ed.”"

Hey, stay classy, Eddie.

Of course, it’s likely the anti-Sacramento rant in Oklahoma City was an effort to mitigate an anti-Oklahoma City rant he went on in Charlotte.

The Seattle SuperSonics, of course, moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.

I get being mad at Oklahoma City, that’s where the team went. I get being mad at Clay Bennett, the owner who promised to keep the team in Seattle right up until the point when he moved it away.

But was Sacramento just supposed to shrug its shoulders, shove its hands in its pockets and say, “MMMM-kay,” when Chris Hansen’s group wanted to take the Kings to Seattle by buying it from the Maloof family?

I mean, the Maloofs would have sold their own mother’s organs in exchange for a little fiscal liquidity after their Las Vegas real estate investments imploded the way the Kingdome did in Seattle in 2000.

Sacramento, behind Mayor Kevin Johnson, rallied at the 11th hour and saved its team. The way Seattle couldn’t in 2008 because Bennett and NBA commissioner David Stern already had a deal done to go to Oklahoma.

How is any of that Sacramento’s fault?

Here’s an idea, Eddie. You stick to the music thing. Leave the critical thinking to those who seem to be more equipped for it.