Sports in the Pacific Northwest: A Lifetime of Disappointment

(Disclaimer: This post was inspired by OregonRobot's recent ode.)
So, I now live in a place where sports teams experience success. For example, Austin is home to the University of Texas which regularly win championships and bowl games in football, basketball and probably a few more sports that I don't follow. I also live an hour and a half from the multi-champion San Antonio Spurs, and two hours from the Houston Rockets (who managed to finally give Clyde the Glyde the NBA ring he so deserved.) All of this has made me reflect upon the utter failure of sports teams from the Pacific Northwest to capitalize on superstar teams and talent during my formative years, thereby leaving me with a lifetime worth of buildup followed by massive let-down. In case you think I'm exageratting, let me give some examples:

• 1986 - Portland Trailblazers use #2 draft pick to select Sam Bowie, passing over a rookie Michael Jordan
• 1989 - Gary Payton and OSU appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the #1 team in the country. They stay in the top 10 all year, but fall to Ball State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. (BALL STATE! I don't even know where Ball State is!!!)
• 1990 - Portland Trailblazers lose to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA championship.
• 1992 - Portland Trailblazers lose to the Chicago Bulls in the championship.
• 1994- Seattle Supersonics hold league best regular seaon record with 63-19, but lose in the first round to the Denver Nuggets
• 1996 - Seattle Supersonics set franchise record with 64 wins and advance to the NBA championship series, only to lose to the Chicago Bulls in six games.
• 2000 - Portland Trailblazers up by 15 in the fourth quarter in game 7 of the Western Conference finals fail to score and give the Los Angeles Lakers the series. The Lakers go on to win the championship in 5 games.
• 2001 - Seattle Mariners set single season win record with 116 wins, yet fall to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship, 4 games to 1.
• 2002-2006 - University of Oregon makes five straight bowl games and loses all of them.
• 2003 - University of Oregon men's basketball team wins the Pac-10 championship and enter the NCAA tournament with a #8 seed, only to lose in the first round to Utah.
• 2005 - Seattle Seahawks go 13-3 in the regular season, and appear in Super Bowl XL as heavy favorites. They go on to lose 21-10 to the #6 seed, wildcard Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 2007 - University of Oregon football team is ranked #2 in the nation, but quarterback Dennis Dixon tears his ACL with only 3 games to go ending hopes of a national championship.

I'm sure there are many more Pacific Northwest fantastic failures. These are just the ones burned in my brain because they occurred during my lifetime, on national television. If you still think I'm making something out of nothing, here's another related list. It's a list of the 10 best athletes to never win a championship in the Pacific Northwest:

1. Clyde Drexler (Won a championship after being traded to the Houston Rockets)
2. Steve Largent (Played 13 seasons for Seahawks, held almost every record a receiver could hold, yet still never won a blasted thing)
3. Randy Johnson - (Never won with the Mariners in 10 seasons, but won with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being traded.)
4. Rasheed Wallace (Won championship in Detroit the year after being traded from Portland)
5. Gary Payton (12 seasons with the Supersonics, won championship after being traded to the Miami Heat)
6. Scottie Pippin (Won six championships in Chicago, none in Portland despite making the NBA finals in 2000)
7. Ray Allen (Five seasons with the Sonics. Won championship with Boston Celtics the following year after being traded.)
8. Ken Griffey Jr.
9. Alex Rodriguez
10. Ichiro Suzuki
Honorable Mention: Cortez Kennedy(Seahawks), Patrick Ewing(Sonics), Shawn Kemp(Sonics), Shaun Alexander(Seahawks)