A Statement of Purpose
October 8th, 2009 by nwsportsguyAs a Northwest Sports Fan, its been a roller coaster ride of emotions over the years. On one hand, I’ve been forced to endure year after year of hardships (e.g. Mariners 1978 -93, 2004 – present), near misses and to think what could have been. Hell, I wasn’t even alive the last time we won an actual championship – The Supersonics of 1978-79.
Why then, do I continue to cheer on teams that always underestimated, overlooked and ruled out? I’ve got five reasons:
- I’m no Bandwagon rider; seeing Red Sox and Yankees fans nearly outnumber home fans at Safeco makes me sick. Being a Northwest Sports Fan takes dedication and patience.
- Qwest Field – The loudest stadium in the NFL provides an awesome atmosphere for professional sports.
- Huskies Football – Have you ever charged the field at Husky Stadium? Maybe you’ve tailgated for 10 hours before a game on Lake Washington? I have and it’s 1) awesome ans 2) an experience you can only find in Seattle.
- The 1995 Seattle Mariners. Probably the most memorable series of events in Seattle sports history, they literally saved baseball in Seattle. The call by Neihaus- “Lined down the left field line for a base hit! Here comes Joey! Here is Junior to third base, they’re going to wave him in! The throw to the plate will be…LATE! The Mariners are going to play for the American League Championship! I don’t believe it! It just continues! My oh My!
- The Seattle Sounders MLS Expansion Team. We’ve taken the MLS by storm, averaging the highest attendance and taking the US Open Cup championship in our first year.
The thrill of victory coupled with the agony of defeat makes Seattle sports what it is: unpredictable. Given this and the fact that we’re a west coast market allows us to be overlooked by east coast networks such as the Conneticut based ESPN. We’ll always be the underdog, and I’ll always be along for the ride.
An insider's take on Seattle sports and other miscellaneous happenings, written by Northwest sports fan Chadrick Ashby.
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