Seattle: The New West Coast

What exactly does California have to offer when it comes to sports?

One problem that we who fight the fight against East Coast bias face today is the emergence of new markets on the west coast. The power is shifting away from local powerhouse California and shifting north, way north. Yes, California has more to offer in sense of quantity (3 NFL, 4 NBA, 5 MLB, 6 legitimate NCAA football teams and countless NCAA basketball teams) however the quality in comparison to other major sports markets like NY, Boston and Chicago is lacking. Currently, USC is the only championship contender of the bunch (OK Angels fans I hear you) while Washington has three (UW B-Ball, Gonzaga, and, of course, the Hawks). What's going on here?

The answer is simple, Seattle, one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the U.S., is commited to sports and team play more than California. How does one exactly gauge that? California as a state is divided when it comes to their sports teams. I don't care how large the population is, rivalry should not lie within the boundaries of one city. Laker fans are switching to the Clippers. The Bay area is surrounding the San Diego Chargers, only to leave them in hopes for the next season. Marketing has taken over the concept of professional sports rather than team play. Why are the Lakers so bad? The rapest, I mean Kobe, takes a million shots a game and their coach has an ego larger than the entire team combined. The Raiders sign Randy Moss for ticket sales without addressing their linebacking corp or their O-line inefficiences. Even the Kings get in on this action with a terrible showing pregame in their opener of the slums of Detroit (their oppenant that evening) and making a laughing stock of an entire community.

Seattle, meanwhile, depends on winning as an approach to gethering interest. The Hawks have stuck with Holmgren, through thick and thin and it's paying off. Rather than UW getting a coach committing to win at all costs NOW, Willingham was signed in order to build a TEAM, not ticket sales. I don't even need to mention Lordmar and UW B-Ball (currently 10th in the nation) or Mark Few who repeatedly turns down other offers to stay home. The Mariners have depended on their farm system for all of their great players (Griffy, A-Rod, Hernandez and many others in recent years) rather than cheating (ahem, NY and Boston). Nate Mac was homegrown and traveled a little bit down the road, but look at what he accomplished, getting a team to the playoffs ranked 27th in the NBA coming into the season last year.

The athletes created locally are remarkebly better as well, and are staying home. Jake Locker is the future of UW football and look at what all the Seattle talent has done for UW B-ball. I'm not saying Seattle is the best sports town in the country, but based on our population numbers and the quality of play, there is little to complain about (Mariners fans: it was only 4 years ago we won 116 games).

In other news:
The 49ers O-line protected Alex Smith as much as a broken condom on Sunday and the Hawks rolled 41-3. Thats 83-3 in our last two games kiddies...

UW B-Ball looked like crap on Sat. but that's OK, we still won. Lordmar did a great job in biting his toungue postgame, I know it was unleashed like a sorority girl on a pizza in the locker room. Another great outing by one of my new favorite players, Hans Gasser in clutch time.

Gonzaga and ultra hippie (read the ESPN magazine article and you'll understand) Adam Morrison got lucky, a la Duke over VT, and won on a three pointer as time expired. Because of that, Gonzaga fell out of the top ten and UW is the new king in the state, beyatch!!!!

Meanwhile, I just recieved a quote from OU coach Belotti regarding their snub from a BCS bowl in favor for Ohio State and Notre Dame, "Quack qua quack quack quack. Quack, quack quack; quack qua quack quack quack quack."

Knight also gave his input, complaining about all he spent on OU and they don't get a BCS bowl, "Quack quack quack, sweatshops quack quack millions. Quack qua quack qua qua qua quack quack explotation of third world countries quack."

QUACK!
Herm