Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, November 2, 2008

Nothing to cheer about for local fans

Are you a Seattle sports fan? Been feeling a bit sad lately? Well don't worry you're not alone -- at least in the Pacific Northwest. With the Huskies, Seahawks, Cougars and Mariners all struggling at the bottom of the standings and the Sonics in Oklaho

By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer

 The city of Philadelphia finally got its long-craved championship last week, after a quarter-century -- cue the tears of frustration here -- of suffering. The World Series victory gave that city a long-overdue title and sent the Philly fanatics into a frenzy.

As Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said during a conference call last week: "This city is buzzing right now."

The same can be said for Nashville, Tenn., where the unbeaten Titans are the NFL's most pleasant surprise. And the state of Minnesota, where 10,000 lakes are about to become 10,000 hockey rinks, was all aglow with the Wild being the last of the NHL unbeatens.

Then there's the NBA, where the best feel-good story of the last week might have been in Oklahoma City because of that town's new franchise.

Sports cities are "buzzing" all over the country these days. In Seattle, the hum sounds more like a flatline.

This could be the worst year in the history of Seattle sports, and there are numbers to prove it.

New York is bummed because the Yankees didn't make the playoffs? Try losing 101 games after trading away the future for a left-hander who's on a four-week rotation.

The Portland Trail Blazers have to play without Greg Oden? At least they've got a team.

And when it comes to football, no state has suffered like the great state of Washington. The Seattle Seahawks, Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars have almost as many total wins (three) as they do lame-duck coaches (two). The state's combined record of 3-19 among NFL and Division I-A football teams is the worst in the entire country.

"It's tough to be a fan in Seattle right now," said Mike Seely, a longtime Seattle resident and sports fan who writes for Seattle Weekly's sports blog, Buzzer Beater.

The 34-year-old Seely attended high school (Blanchet) and college (UW) in Seattle and has never seen anything quite this bad. But he hasn't noticed a lot of moping from the city's sports faithful.

"In Seattle, there's so much to do that unless you sleep and breathe sports, which not a lot of people do in this city, you'll find something else to do with your time," he said. "That's a good thing, but that's also how you get a team hijacked to Oklahoma City. Down there, there's nothing to do but drink beer and watch sports."

Even when Seattle had an NBA team, it was hardly worth keeping. The Sonics went 20-62 last season to finish with one of the worst records in the league. Their record since the start of the calendar year (11-40) gives the city a combined record of 74-146 and a .336 winning percentage in the three major professional sports during 2008.

The losing is bad, but the void is even worse. The lack of an NBA team has turned a three-sport metropolis into a two-sport town, and the abyss might be difficult for some sports fans to fill.

"I don't think it will really sink in until football season's over," said Seely, who plans to attend a few extra UW basketball games, an occasional high school event and take in more live music this winter.

Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant, a native of nearby Tacoma, typically attended a dozen or so Sonics games per year. So he's got more time on his hands as well.

"It's kind of weird," he said. "There's no team, so I don't have anybody to root for. I guess it's something you have to live with, and hopefully we'll get another team out here."

The void hasn't necessarily sapped this area of hot sports topics.

Local radio personality Jeff Aaron, who hosts an afternoon show on Everett's North Sound 1380, said that the lack of positive stories has by no means put an end to sports talk.

"When a team just loses, there's still plenty to talk about," Aaron said. "People love when coaches get fired. I call it chaos and mayhem. That's what people are interested in. People aren't interested in apathy.

"The (Washington State) Cougars are apathy. Husky fans are coming out of the woodwork because they want to give an opinion on the next coach. (A story about) coaches getting fired is probably the No. 1 driver of sports radio."

Aaron moved to the Puget Sound in 1992, a somewhat infamous year in Seattle sports because the Seahawks went 2-14 while the Mariners and SuperSonics fired their coaches. Aaron called it the "worst year" in the history of Seattle sports.

"I think this is worse," Aaron said last week. "We've all evolved as sports fans now. There's more coverage now. There's the Internet. It's so much more scrutinized."

One of Aaron's listeners recently did a study that focused on the state's most high-profile football teams, giving statistical proof that this is one of the worst years in the history of football in this state.

According to the study, the only year during which the Seahawks, Huskies and Cougars all finished below .500 was in 1976, when the trio won a combined 10 games. The teams have won just three games this year, and it's difficult to imagine another seven wins down the stretch.

The state's combined winning percentage of .136 between its three football teams wouldn't even be a decent baseball average.

Unless, of course, you're batting cleanup for the Mariners.

Ba-dum-bum.

In the end, the joke has been on the city of Seattle this year.

And, with almost two months left in 2008, the punch line has yet to be told.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA