Ok, it's time for me to weigh in on the issue that seems to be on the mind of everyone I talk to these days. It makes sense that this topic has become so ubiquitous - who could ignore such an historic crash? It makes sense that I get sucked into the bad news and lose sleep over it regularly. I mean, just a few years ago, things were looking pretty good. Numbers were up and there was a reason to be optimistic about the future. Now, on this side of the crash, it's hard to see how things will ever improve. I find myself worried that things will take a long time to improve, or (shudder): they will get worse. I'm talking, of course, about the state of my favorite sports teams. As can be seen in this picture of a man forced to watch a Carlos Silva start after learning how much he was paid this season, the sports year in Seattle has been vomit-inducing. The brilliantly insightful and humorous Bill Simmons (AKA, "The Sports Guy") recently called this "the single most depressing season for a city in the history of professional sports." Oh, the agony it is to admit that he's right! Unfortunately, though, he's only scratching the surface. Throw Division 1 NCAA teams in there - at least the ones people will pay money to see - and we're talking devastation of epic proportions for this city.
Let's face the facts: it couldn't possibly get much worse than this.
Over on Mountlake, the Huskies' basketball team underachieved when it failed to play in any postseason tournament at all. The football team's recruiting class was getting rave reviews which made me a believer. Certainly they would contend for a bowl this year, right? My optimism was quickly squashed. Now I don't even get to watch Jake.
My beloved Mariners had the 9th highest payroll in Major League Baseball this year. What did that earn them? The second worst record in the game. To top it off, they mortgaged their future with the Bedard trade last winter, so "there's always next year" never rang so hollowly.
The Seahawks depressed us with a drubbing at the hands of Green Bay in the playoffs last January. Now they look like they may make the meteoric fall from 5 straight division titles to a 1-15 record. Looking at their schedule (and their injury report), I'm predicting a 6-9 finish at best and a windfall for local sports medicine doctors. The one team we've been able to count on lately is letting us down.
I don't even know what to say about the Team Formerly Known as the Seattle Supersonics. This is the team that won the National Championship - the only significant national championship in Seattle (sorry Storm fans) - two months after I was born. Memories of watching Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Nate McMillan, "Big Smooth" Sam Perkins, and Gary Payton definitely gave me an emotional bond with the green & gold. (We're ignoring their brief flirtation with red right now). Not only did this team suck this year, but they were stolen from us! If I ever meet David Stern or Clay Bennett at a 4-way stop, I am NOT letting them go first. They are bad people.
Poor Seattle. Clearly we have much more important crises to worry about. But sports are supposed to be our diversion and the place we can turn to be cheered while the world going you-know-where in a you-know-what. That might be the case in many parts of the country (curse you, Boston!) where hope abounds, but not in the otherwise glorious city in which I live.
Do you think we could convince the federal government to consider a bailout of professional sports in Seattle?
How depressing.
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