My Take on the Worst Year Ever

Well this year sucked, didn't it? It's been a journey attempting to create and maintain a blog that covers the Seattle sports scene, but somehow we were able to do it. Here is my final take on 2008. I relive, look back, and rant on anything and everything...Enjoy!

It is a longer article than the usual so feel free to bookmark it and return to it after you're done crying about how bad this year was.

Washington Huskies Football:


The year got off to an auspicious start when the Seattle Times released a story about a booster who offered $100,000 to have Tyrone Willingham and Athletic Director at the time, Todd Turner, to be fired. Of course, this money would go to scholarships, but still it showed the state of the fan base and how bad they wanted change in the failing football program.

I was a pro-Willingham supporter going into the season, but as I saw him make the same mistakes as a coach and as I saw the players not live up to their expectations, I realized his firing had to happen. It's unfortunate that it didn't work out for such a great guy. But winners make history, and in Willingham's case he just couldn't do it.

Then, on January 17th the Seattle Times released their newspaper series, "Victory in Ruins". Was this supposed to make fans feel better about Ty Willingham having "cleaned up" the program? Most likely. But it really sucked to see that headline because it truly tarnished that magical season.

It makes one wonder, what the hell is going on in other programs at UW and other colleges. College athletics is a whole different animal full of corruption, scandal, and cheaters. It's scary to know that the casual fan has no idea what goes on behind the scenes.

I should have saw this season going downhill when EJ Savannah injured his arm in the off season and was then subsequently kicked off the team. Before the season even started, the Husky defense probably suffered their biggest blow with Savannah's leave.

I hate to even think about the BYU game, but in a game of what-ifs, it's interesting to see how different this season would be if the Huskies won that BYU game. 0-12. Thank God it is over.

Go Dawgs!


Seattle Mariners:


I hate even thinking about the Bedard trade, it's going to hurt to see Adam Jones turn into an All-Star. Damn. I'm so glad that Bill Bavasi is out as GM. Seriously...Brad Wilkerson? Seriously....Jose Vidro?

You know the season is done when you can start coming up with weird nicknames for interim managers, Rigglemaster, Mr. Riggles, aka Jim Riggleman.

Remember John McLaren's staged blowup? How the hell was he supposed to motivate Richie Sexson to perform at his full potential when he already was? How did he expect his pitchers to excel when Yuni and Lopey grew lazier by the minute in the middle infield?

And then the thing about teammates wanting to "knock-out" Ichiro? What a load of bullshit. It's not as if Ichiro is a terrible teammate. Too many people are acting like he's clubhouse poison. Maybe he's not a leader? Geeze. Not every amazing player has to be a leader vocally. Shit.

Ichiro goes out there everyday and leads by fucking example. It makes me sick when people say he needs to speak English and lead this team. If I was Ichiro I'd tell people to kiss my ass. He's been stuck with a losing team for the good majority of his career and he's never pointed fingers at anyone or threw a fit, he just went out and played.

We are lucky to have Ichiro and if the word "trade" pops in you head, you should think again because we trade away everything if Ichiro goes.

Profanity done.

Jack Zduriencik is engineering a genius of an off-season and if he keeps it up, I might have to devote my life savings to the Mariners (kidding). He is setting up the Mariners for sustainable success and I'm hella psyched!

Go Mariners!


Seattle Seahawks:


I had no idea they were going to suck so bad this year. No idea. But injuries killed us and as the wise people say, "all good things must come to an end". So as Mike Holmgren goes on to coach the 49ers (a joke of course), Seahawks fans need to throw their full support behind Jim Mora to get us back in the playoffs.

It's time for Tim Ruskell to pull some strings and get us a quality quarterback like Sam Bradford in the upcoming draft. The Seahawks aren't as bad as their record indicates, at full strength this team probably could've competed for the division title.

I have no idea how this team will be next year, but with a new coach it is sure to get exciting...

Go Seahawks!


Seattle Sonics:


Looking back, it's hard to believe that it has been nearly six months since the Sonics left Seattle. And it still hurts. We can blame so many different people, but when it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter.

There are bigger things than basketball teams and sports in general. If there is one lesson that I've learned, it's that I should never take good things for granted. The Sonics sucked, but hell, they were still a team to root for, and for the games I went to, I am thankful. When the NBA returns to Seattle, I will relish every moment of it. The Supersonic spirit is still alive in me.

Go Sonics!

Everything Else:


The Olympics were freaking awesome. Michael Phelps is amazing, but Usain Bolt is amazinger. It's only a bummer I missed out on all of Bolt's races. He's young, so I'm looking forward to 2012 where he'll break even more records.

Oh yea, wasn't that a feel good story to see Ray Allen finally get a ring? And wasn't awesome to see Jamie Moyer emerge as a World Series hero? Why does it seem you have to leave Seattle to win......hmmmmm.....

Summing it Up:
This year was bad. But I'm glad it happened. Why? It will be just so much sweeter when things start to turn around for our teams. Dare I say....playoffs? Haha, maybe to early, but hell, YES WE CAN!

I'm out, and here's a toast to a prosperous 2009 for our teams!

-Kevin

photo sources: [seattlepi] [msn] [nflfreaks] [daylife] [seattletimes]




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