Seattle pro teams disappoint year after year

Being a Seattle sports fan sucks. Whether it's baseball, basketball or football, it's all the same. We go out every year rooting for the teams, wondering if this might be the season, but it never is. In fact, it's always the same excruciating cycle of high hopes leading into utter disappointment and crushed expectations. It's been 25 years since the Sonics won the one and only championship for the city, and the new generation of sports fans -- one that includes myself -- has never witnessed the excitement and glory of seeing our hometown team crowned the best in the world. For once, I'd like to see a championship parade take place in downtown Seattle, instead of Boston or Chicago or New York. But here we seem to have settled into an attitude that it's a successful season just to make the playoff. It is that attitude that lets the owners and the teams off the hook. Red Sox fans never took solace in simply making the playoffs, Yankees fans would rebel if they didn't get out of the first round, and Eagles fans have never been happy as runners up. So why are we? When the Mariners were at their peak earlier this decade, there was no World Series in sight. In the four straight years in which the team won more than 90 games, they were unable to go the extra mile. There were no big trades at the deadline and other than Ichiro, there were almost no big-time free agents added in the off-season. Even a team that won 116 games in the regular season during 2001 predictably flamed out and lost to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Now the Mariners suck. Finally fans have noticed and attendance has dropped. With attendance and money drying up, Bill Bavasi, general manger for the Mariners is pledging to turn the team around. Meanwhile, the Seahawks, while being the most successful of the big three sports over the last few years, have been the most depressing of the three franchises in Seattle. Not only have they not won a playoff game since 1984, it was a fluke when they made the AFC divisional playoffs in 1999. That year they finished 9-7 in the regular season and shocked a good Miami Dolphins team in a wild card playoff game. The past few years have been decent for the Hawks, and we have gone into them as fans thinking each time that this may be the year. Just last year, many critics had them in the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, we only ended up being disappointed yet again. Even this year, wins over Atlanta and Arizona led to a healthy dose of optimism in the Seattle area, but Josh Brown's missed field goal last weekend was a dose of reality. The Sonics are the only one of the three professional sports teams in Seattle to have hoisted a championship trophy, and compared to the plights of the Seahawks and the Mariners they have been extremely successful historically. However, the last time the Sonics made the NBA Finals was when Michael Jordan was at his best. Of course, we lost and haven't made it back since. With Nate McMillan gone, the Sonics might do worse this season. At least they kept Ray Allen, but that might not be enough. I don't know if we will see a championship in Seattle anytime soon, but I do know that we can't let the teams off the hook. We need to wake up and realize that making the playoffs isn't the only goal, winning the title is. Lesser known teams have done their share. Both the Storm and the Sounders have shown that winning a championship here is possible, but sadly no one cares here or around the nation. It's time for the big three teams to step up and show they can do it too. For the fans' sake.

Seattle pro teams disappoint year after year

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