What is the deal with sports teams from the Northwest.  I was looking up all the scores today from college football and I saw this little link on espn.com that said “Don’t forget #6 USC…”  So because I have a west coast bias, I clicked on it only to see one of the most shocking scores this year thus far.  The USC Trojans beat the Washington State Cougars 69 -0.  Yes, you are reading that right, and here is the link to prove it: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282920265

Outside of The Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball team and in the last two years the Washington State Basketball Team, sports in the Northwest has been really depressing.  Those two teams have also had their share of “Are you kidding me moments”, like the Zags letting UCLA get back into that sweet 16 game a couple years back.  Then there was the hatchet job they called Superbowl XL where the Steelers were the recipients of a gift wrapped Superbowl trophy.  It seems that nothing goes right with sports in the Northwest anymore.  I have not even mentioned the craziness that happened with the Seattle Sonics last year.  I won’t say anymore about that, enough said!

Being a sports fan in the Northwest has become very painful.  The Mariners were the worst team in baseball this year, when many picked them to win their division.  The Sonics are a thing of the past, oh yeah, I forgot I want not mentioning them again; The Huskies have become door mats to other teams in the PAC 10 in both football and basketball; The Cougs have not won a meaningful football game in many moons; The Zags are arguably one of America’s favorite college basketball teams and year after year they choke in the tournament; And the Seahawks lose players each week like there is some sort of virus in their facility.

The one and only bright spot has been the Portland Trail Blazers.  They have a young and exciting team.  The team is loaded with talent and I hope they make some noise in the NBA this year  They used to be known as the “Jail Blazers” at one point, and they have turned around that culture over there and started something really good.  The Zags will probably start the year in the top 25 yet again, returning most of the players from last year.  They will win some big games against big name schools during the regular season as usual and climb in the polls.  Then they will do what they usually do; choke in the tournament.  Let’s just hope I am wrong about the Zags, and hope that the new basketball players at WSU are better than I think they will be, because we could sure use something to cheer about in the Northwest!

For those in my family who all went to Idaho, and see no mention of the Vandals in here, be glad as there is not much one can say about the Vandals without using lots of sarcasm ☺.