Sports in Seattle

Seattle's professional sports history began at the start of the 20th century with the PCHA's Seattle Metropolitans, which in 1917 became the first American hockey team to win the Stanley Cup, and continues today with the city's three major professional teams, the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the MLB's Seattle Mariners, and the WNBA's Seattle Storm. Seattle also boasts a strong history in collegiate sports, the NCAA Division I school University of Washington and the NCAA Division II schools Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University.

Major professional teams

The first professional team to play in Seattle was the PCHA Seattle Metropolitans, which played in the Seattle Ice Arena between 1915 and 1924. The NHL has proposed relocating or expanding to Seattle.

In 1967, the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics (more commonly known as the "Sonics") became the first modern-day major professional sports franchise in Seattle. However, in 2008, the Sonics' ownership group moved the team to Oklahoma City. Two years after the Sonics arrived in Seattle, the Major League Baseball Seattle Pilots were established, but only played one year in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Pilots' sole season was immortalized in Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four". It wasn't until 1976 that Seattle got another professional sports team, in the form of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. One year after that and following years of legal wrangling over the move of the Pilots, the MLB awarded Seattle a new baseball franchise, the Seattle Mariners. From 1978 to 1985, all three teams played in the Kingdome, with the Seahawks and Mariners continuing to play in the Kingdome until it was imploded in 2000. The final professional team to arrive in Seattle was the WNBA's Seattle Storm in 2000. The Storm currently play in Key Arena, the Seahawks in Qwest Field, and Mariners in Safeco Field.

Soccer in Seattle has always involved the Seattle Sounders who played in the defunct NASL in the 70s through to its demise in 1983. The name has lived on through the team which currently played in the second level of US soccer. In November 2007 Major League Soccer announced that Seattle will host the league's fifteenth franchise to start in 2009. The team held a vote among its fan for the team's name between March 27 and March 31 and Seattle Sounders FC was chosen.

Championships

The city's first professional sports championship was brought to the city by the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917, when they became the first American team to win the coveted Stanley Cup by beating the Montréal Canadiens three games to one. They returned to the Stanley Cup finals twice more. Their first return, again versus Montreal, was in 1919; that series was cancelled due to an outbreak of influenza with the two teams tied at 2–2–1. The Metropolitans last went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1920, when they lost to the Ottawa Senators.

Led by Lenny Wilkens, the SuperSonics made it to the NBA Finals for two consecutive years in the late 1970s. In 1978 they lost to the Washington Bullets in seven games, but rebounded in 1979 to defeat the Bullets four games to one in to win the NBA Championship. The next time the Sonics made it to Finals was in 1996 when they met Chicago Bulls, to whom they lost in six games.

Another basketball championship trophy arrived in 2004, when the Seattle Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun two games to one to win the WNBA championship.

In 2006, the Seahawks won the NFC Championship, only to be defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL.

The Seattle Mariners have won the American League West Pennant three times, in 1995, 1997, and most recently in 2001, after a record 116 win season. They, however, have not won an American League Championship or a World Championship.

Other professional teams

The Seattle Thunderbirds are a Major Junior league ice hockey team that plays in Key Arena. The Thunderbirds arrived in Seattle in 1977 as the Seattle Breakers before changing to their current name in 1985. They play in the Western Hockey League, one of three components of the Canadian Hockey League, traditionally a major feeder system for the NHL.

Originally arriving in 1974, the men's soccer team Seattle Sounders played in Seattle until 1983 when the North American Soccer League collapsed due to overexpansion. The current Seattle Sounders men's team was founded in 1994 and plays in the USL First Division in Qwest Field. Six years later the men's team was joined by a women's team of the same name (now known as the Seattle Sounder Angels) which actually plays in a nearby suburb, Tukwila.

World renowned kickboxer and MMA fighter Maurice Smith founded and coaches the Seattle Tiger Sharks, who compete in the International Fight League. As of September 2006, the team's score was 9-11.

Championships

The Seattle Sounders won the A-League championship 1995 and 1996 and the US First Division championship in 2005 and 2007.

The Seattle Thunderbirds were the Western Hockey League champions in 1997.

Collegiate sports

In addition to professional sports, the University of Washington, Seattle University, and Seattle Pacific University field teams in a variety of sports, including football, basketball, and rowing. Their teams are known as the Huskies, Redhawks, and Falcons, respectively. The Husky football team has a following that ranks with those of the major professional teams in the city. In 1991, the Huskies shared an NCAA Division I collegiate football championship with the Hurricanes of the University of Miami. In 2005 the Huskies Volleyball team won the NCAA National Championship.

Other sports

Swimmer Helene Madison (1913-1970) of Seattle won three gold medals at the 1932 Olympic Games.

Seattle is home to an all-female flat track roller derby league called the Rat City Rollergirls. [http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com]

The Seattle Dojo [http://www.seattledojo.org/] , which was founded before 1907, is the oldest judo academy in the United States.

Sporting events

Seattle has been host to number of important sporting events, the NFL Pro Bowl in 1977, the MLB All-Star Game in 1979 and 2001, the NBA All-Star Game in 1987, the Goodwill Games in 1990, and the NCAA Final Four in 1984, 1989, and 1995.

In 1998, the Seattle City council failed to pass a resolution that would have allowed Seattle to be considered for the 2012 Olympics.

The Seattle Marathon has taken place annually since 1970.

In football (soccer), the "All Nations Cup" is held every year.

Notes and References

External links

* [http://mariners.mlb.com Seattle Mariners official website]
* [http://www.spu.edu/depts/athletics/athleticdept.htm Seattle Pacific University Athletic Department website]
* [http://www.seahawks.com Seattle Seahawks official website]
* [http://www.seattlesounders.net Seattle Sounders official website]
* [http://www.wnba.com/storm Seattle Storm official website]
* [http://www.nba.com/sonics Seattle SuperSonics official website]
* [http://www.seattle-thunderbirds.com/ Seattle Thunderbirds official website]
* [http://seattleredhawks.cstv.com/ Seattle University Athletics official website]
* [http://gohuskies.cstv.com/ University of Washington Athletics official website]
* [http://www.allnationscup.org/default.aspx/ All Nations Cup official website]
* [http://www.1995mariners.com Website celebrating the 1995 Mariners]