On the three-year anniversary of the final Seattle Sonics home game, SonicsCentral, a haven for NBA fans in Seattle, was hacked. But this wasn't your ordinary hack: It was something more malicious. You see, typically a hack job will result in a defacing or some kind of message from those behind the attack, but SonicsCentral suffered a different fate. Years of history, data and discussion was lost as the server was purged of its contents.
We can call it a coincidence, but SonicsCentral falling victim to a malicious hacking attack on the anniversary of the Sonics final home game feels like something more. NBA fans in Seattle have been in a fight for years now, battling back against the league in hopes of one day securing another franchise. And SonicsCentral was a big part of that, along with SonicsGate and plenty of other Seattle fans and forums.
The fact the site was hacked is disappointing enough. It's one thing to debate intelligently, open lines of discussion and disagree respectfully. It's another to shut down discussion completely while destroying years of history through a malicious intrusion. It's sad, both as a Seattle fan and as a human being, to see hard work destroyed in an instant.
SonicsCentral is back, restored from the latest backup the site had -- all the way back in 2008. Plans are being formulated to come up with the rest of the data, but the work involved is intensive. Many blogs are a hobby and those in charge do it as a labor of love. SonicsCentral was one such blog and to see it destroyed, no matter why, seems so senseless.
Edit: I do want to make it clear the date SonicsCentral was hacked seems to merely be a coincidence. While it does strike me as odd, Kevin Pelton notes it appears to be nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.