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Seattle's only championship sports franchise, the Sonics, are headed to Oaklahoma City, much to the dismay of longtime fans now stuck rooting for the hated Portland Trailblazers, owned by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Bilious billionaire and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, with his friends, pledged $150 million toward renovations of Seattle's coliseum and the cost of an NBA basketball team, but there was a catch. The state and the city had to come up with $75 million each for the venue upgrade.

The state assembly refused to consider the matter by Ballmer's April 10 deadline, and now Seattle mayor Greg Nickles has turned out the city's pockets and come up with nothing but lint. Meanwhile, Ballmer's moved on, issuing ultimatums to Yahoo instead — at least he isn't asking taxpayers to help him cover that deal.(Photo by Andrew Hitchcock)