The Worst Sports Year Ever

Well, I was waiting for this weekend to make it official.

I could have written this even a week ago. But I guess I was just lazy.

There is something in the water in Seattle. At least in 2008.

Because this has been the worst sports year ever. And it's not even that we're lovable losers anymore. It's that we now have actually had some semblance of competitiveness in each sport we play, and yet for some reason absolutely nothing has gone right for any of our teams. It's like a plague that has spread from franchise to franchise.

Looking back on it now I can't believe that before I left for Charleston in April that I told my dad that if we made a run for the pennant I'd never forgive myself for missing it. There were actually people out there that were predicting how well we were going to do. I told him that I would fly home just to catch a world series game. It's a once in a lifetime sort of deal and he said he would do everything in his power to get me a ticket if we did make it that far.

Uhhh, I guess I just jinxed us then?

But before I go down that road, let's break it down to see how this was actually the worst year ever in all of the Seattle sports I follow. And as a heads up, those sports are the NFL, NBA, MLB college basketball and football.

January/February 2008: Hawks make the Divisional playoff and lose to Greenbay. I think this is where the downturn started. Writing about this now makes it seem like it was years ago. But really, it was the beginning of this year.

However, I don't count us losing in the playoffs as 2008 though. Because we made the playoffs based off of what the team did in 2007. And the NFC west is the worst division in the league. So for us to make the playoffs...is almost like taking candy from a machine which dispenses candy for free. More on this later.

March/April (2008): There is no big dance to speak of. Even the NIT snubs us (although IMO we were definitely more deserving than at least 3 of the schools that got the invite).

Husky basketball goes 17-17 during the entire season and even loses at home in a tournament for the real suckers (W...T...F is "College Basketball Invitational"?) it was seriously an embarrassment. Which I think you'll find is a reoccurring theme throughout this past year. Husky basketball I still have the most love for. The new season started last month and we are looking better than last year, but it's still not enough. Maybe if we can somehow squeeze in to the big dance in 2009 it might make the pain from this year a little bit easier to bear.

May/June/July: There is no NBA playoffs to speak of. I go to a few games earlier in the year (so this is actually filed under the wrong section, I just wanted to mention that the Sonics weren't even CLOSE to being in contention for a playoff run), which will now go down as my last games in Key arena. I get drunk and yell profanities at Earl Watson for being the worst point guard in the history of the NBA. He really isn't but on the nights I was there he was. The sonics put up an absolutely horrendous 20 and 62 season. In fact, it was so bad that I wish they got honorable mention on this list. But alas they don't.

Oh, and did I mention the whole time that the season was occuring that there was a "battle" happening over whether or not the team would be moved to Oklahoma City? And we all know how that ended up turning out. Key Arena was such a depressing place to be this past year. I even think the storm got better turn out than the Sonics did. The only time people actually came to see the Sonics? Was when they were playing other teams that fans were interested in seeing more than the home team. Which I was definitely guilty of.

But now, they're gone. And all I have left are the memories of the 1995 NBA finals. Kemp, Payton, Dale Ellis, Schrempf, Hersey Hawkins. Heck, even the run we made in 2005. I'll throw it in there. Now, I feel like the 3 sports of city of Seattle has now become a little bit more gray. Nothing to look forward to to bring us out of winter in to these perfect Seattle summers. No more Callabro. I just kind of have to sigh and laugh about how the Oklahoma City BLUNDER are doing. They are currently 2-19 and I think trying to beat out last year's Sonic team. I hope you're happy Bennett.

August/September: The worst season in NCAA Pac-10 Football history starts. Who knew it would get this bad? I mean, I guess I could kind of see it coming...I wanted Ty out last year but everyone was telling me that he needed another year. Why? The guy is a terrible coach, terrible recruiter, and actually lost games for us just because he doesn't understand basic coaching strategy. I caught a few games on TV down in Charleston (amazed that they showed them!) and the supposed "home team" announcers questioned his decisions at least twice a game. The guy lacked everything. A winning resume. Charisma. Coaching knowledge. Good riddance.

But look where it got us? ZERO WINS. Not one. Big goose egg and a number 12 after it. There is not one other team across all 119 NCAA Division 1 football teams that lost all of their games. Except for us. Embarassment, shame, anger. Have I been a victim of some crime? No, only the association to my once proud alma mater. And this is exactly what I was waiting for. I was waiting for Cal to destroy us on Saturday. And I watched most of it. Heck, I caught more than half the season for being gone for most of it.

And I'll still remember Jake Locker running in to the end zone versus BYU and tossing that ball up. I'll remember Willingham giving up on a first half with a minute and 40 seconds to go, timeouts and the ball. I'll remember our defense which couldn't stop a 4th grade class of peewee footballers. I'll remember that heart breaking loss to Wazzu in overtime. But most of all, I will remember the worst season in PAC-10 history. Not even in UW history only. But in the PAC-10. Which is saying a lot seeing as how many of the schools have been around since the early 1800s.

October: Wasn't I supposed to be flying home at this time? To catch at least one of the World Series games? Remember dad? Remember how you said we would get tickets to my first World Series game ever?

The pitching was laughable. The hitting was nonexistant. The coaches were asleep. Fans used Safeco field more as a beer garden then an actual sporting venue. If we could've just lost a few more games we could've been part of history by joining this list. I mean we were only 15 games away from getting on that loserboard at a ridiculous 61 and 101 this year. What must it feel like to lose 100 times? I mean, I'm sure over my life time I've lost that many times given the number of things I compete in. But in one season? I think I was already calculating our "magic number" to not make the playoffs by May.

Just another pathetic excuse for a professional sports team based out of the good ole Northwest.

November-Present day: The one thing I've been able to hang my hat on the past few years is gone. At least when all else was lost I could point to the Seahawks and say: There's a team that is representing us properly. Let's beat up on all of the other weak teams in our division and make the playoffs! We've been a shoe-in since 2004. It was almost like we good just be on cruise control throughout the entire season because we knew that Arizona, San Fran and Saint Louis were just that bad. And of course we were on cruise control seeing as how often we've lost in the past 5 years any time we've gone on the road.

That was fine with me though. Because an above .500 team in the worst division in the league would be able to sleep it's way in to the playoffs. Well, I think that's what happened this year. The team just got the feeling that I had. That we could just saunter in to the playoffs like we have done in previous years.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Hasselbeck's been hurt. We've had walk-ons for wide receiver, offensive line and our secondary. And Arizona's finally made something out of that high powered offense. So now what? So now, we are the worst team in one of the worst divisions in the NFL. This one probably hurts the most because at least in the MLB we're in a ridiculous division where 90 wins guarantees you nothing. In the NBA our conference has been strong (or at the least respectable) for a decade. But the NFC west? It's been a joke as long as I can remember. And for us to be the cellar dwellers right now at 2-11 after another gut wrenching loss to New England today...it's too much.

This had to be written.

On the bright side - although it doesn't seem like there is much of one - there is change coming. New coaches. New managers. High picks in the draft due to a terrible previous season. New recruits. As I've mentioned in regards to other things that are going on right now - I mean really, can it get any worse that what I've endured regarding sports in 2008? I wasn't even here for half the year!

But to all of you true hometown fans out there (like myself), the more we continue to hold on through these tough times, the sweeter it will taste when we finally get that championship. Hopefully you'll see me in the crowd years down the road at the World Series/NBA Finals (go Portland)/Superbowl/Final Four/NCAA National Championship. And when we finally take one down you won't be able to wipe the smile off my face.