Because Misery Needs Company

Pete Lidell/ Seattle Times

One. In the 43-year history of professional sports in Seattle, we have exactly one championship, stemming from the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics. In that time, the New York Yankees alone have laid claim to seven World Series and the Los Angeles Lakers have won eleven NBA Championships. To be fair, these are, of course, the royal franchises of our nation and to compare our lovable losers to these diamond crusted juggernauts is simply not fair.

However, even when compared with an average city, we in Seattle suffer. Every year we convince ourselves that various off-season moves will finally put our team over the top and bring some pathetic measure of glory to our city. We've always just "one player away". As you've no doubt been subject to by now, Seattle is the ultimate master of bad off-season moves, from Chone Figgins this winter to the Sonics actually going so far as skipping town. Talk about a disappointing season (or lack of). Our teams actually seem to build our hopes up higher and higher, continually building on the heaps of broken hopes past, only to fall further than ever. For example, the 2001 Mariners. 116 regular season victories, tied for the most in the esteemed history of Major League Baseball. Then they lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. Not depressed enough yet? Would you enjoy another punch in the gut? Granted. A brief walk down memory lane leads us to the 2005 Seattle Seahawks, who enjoyed a 13-3 record. As you'll remember, they managed something the Mariners could not: post-season success. The franchise made it to Superbowl XL, only to be defeated by referees. Bill Leavy just apologized, did you hear? Am I still mad about it? Wait...Wait...Wait...Yeah, still pissed.


So why do we find ourselves drawn to these miserable excuses for professional sports franchises? Because misery needs company (there it is). Because we can't help not to pull for these losers in our backyard. Even though the Bill Bavasi's and the Tim Ruskell's of the world continue to haunt us, we persevere. We live in a place where the weather is nearly intolerable nine months of the year. You won't hear Seattle mentioned without some kind of joke about the weather. But those of us who live here know that when the sun does come out, Seattle is one of the most beautiful places around. The same applies for our sports. Yeah, the Mariners suck and they will probably endure another 100 loss season (maybe a few). Yeah, the Seahawks will probably lose ten games or so. And yeah, the Oklahoma City Thunder will probably contend for an NBA Championship. To summarize, we suck. But we won't always suck.....right?


I don't really know what my intentions for this blog are. I'm not even sure if anyone will read it. I'm not, by any means, an expert, just a college kid with a computer. However, if you're looking for a disgruntled fans version of sports news here in Seattle, I'll gladly oblige.