Cut Seattle Sports Fans Some Slack

The Seahawks play in Minnesota this weekend, and seeing Steve Hutchinson in a Vikings uniform will once again bring back memories of how the team screwed up in allowing him to leave.

The move has been analyzed from every conceivable angle and the general public is at the point of collectively saying "enough already, Seattle!  It’s been four years!  Let it go!"

I can agree with this sentiment to a certain extent.  However, maybe Seattle sports fans should be forgiven for continually torturing themselves with what they perceive as the first step towards the situation the Seahawks currently find themselves in.

You see, when it comes right down to it, Seattle sports fans have never really had much to cheer about.  This is not a dig at the city, which supports its teams through thick and thin, in any way. 

Seahawks and Sounders games regularly sell out, and Mariners games drew an average of more than 27,000 fans in 2009.  This is very impressive and shows the loyalty of fans in the Washington State area. 

I also can’t discount the fact that there has been a certain amount of regular season success over the years.  However, in the history of professional franchises in Seattle, there have only ever been two championships.

At the risk of edging Seattle fans closer to the cliff ledge by bringing this up again, one of the championships was won by the Sonics, who are no longer in the city.

The other one?  The Seattle Metropolitans hockey team, which folded in 1924.  However, the Metropolitans do hold the distinction of being the first United States team to win the Stanley Cup, in 1917.

Think about this for a minute.  Two championships.  That’s it.  And neither team still resides in the area (or exists).  When you consider that Seattle has a fully deserved reputation as one of the best cities in North America, it just doesn’t seem, well, acceptable.

Is it any wonder that Seattle fans analyze every move ever made, which potentially cost them a chance at more success?  And you thought it was just the weather that contributes to Seattle’s high suicide rate.

While Seahawks fans still curse the departure of Hutchinson, Sonics supporters site the signing of center Jim Mcllvaine as the first step in a catastrophic sequence of events that resulted in the team leaving town.

Turning to the Mariners, people in other cities cannot understand why the Emerald City is so pumped up about re-signing a 40-year old Ken Griffey Jr, who is injury-prone and obviously on his last legs.  Let me put you straight: he is a link to the golden period in Mariners history between 1995-2001.

The team has only qualified for the playoffs four times in its history, and Griffey was there for two of them.  (For the record, the Mariners finally look like they have turned the corner under the direction of Jack Zduriencik.  But there is still work to be done to get back to contender status.)

The Mariners are also an example of how things still go wrong for Seattle sports fans, even when they appear to be going right. 

Look no further than 2001, when the team equalled the MLB record for most wins in a season with 116.  The Mariners seemed destined to finally reach a World Series, but come the playoffs, the Yankees easily disposed of them in the ALCS.

And at the risk of bringing up another subject that just won’t die, the residents of Seattle still can’t forget (or forgive) how they were screwed out of a Vince Lombardi trophy.  On that fateful day in February 2006, the officials’ performance at Super Bowl XL was nothing short of abysmal.

To sum up what Seattle sports fans have to put up with, 2008 was arguably the worst sports year any city has ever had to endure:

• The Seattle Seahawks went 4-12 in a season devastated by injuries.  And to top it off, the most successful coach in team history, Mike Holmgren, left.
• The Seattle Mariners became the first team in MLB history to lose 100 games with a payroll of over $100 million, finishing the year 61-101.
• The Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma.  No further comment needed.

And this doesn’t include college football's Washington Huskies team, which became the first 0-12 team in Pac-10 history.  It finished the 2008 season as the only team in the entire nation without a win.

So the next time you hear any Seattle sports fans bemoaning their teams’ bad luck, cut them some slack.  Wouldn’t you be the same in their position?