Seattle's 10 Greatest Teams
Honorable Mention to the University of Washington Huskies. Their football team were awarded shares of the National Championship in 1960 and 1991, and has won the league now known as the Pacific-12 16 times, most recently in 2016. They've won 7 Rose Bowls, most recently in 2000.
Their basketball team has won the league 15 times in the regular season, and 3 times in the postseason tournament, and reached the NCAA Final Four in 1953.
Washington State University is all the way across the State, in Pullman, just a 10-minute drive from the Idaho State Line, so I won't count them here.
Honorable Mention to the 1983-88 Seattle Seahawks. The 'Hawks began play in 1976, and first reached the Playoffs in 1983, stunning the Denver Broncos at the Kingdome and the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl, before falling to the Los Angeles Raiders at the Coliseum in the AFC Championship Game.
They won another Wild Card berth in 1984, beating the Raiders at the Kingdome, before the Dolphins got revenge. After missing the Playoffs the next 2 seasons, despite a 10-6 record in 1986, they reached the Wild Card in 1987, losing a Playoff game in overtime to the Houston Oilers. In 1988, they won their 1st Division title, then in the AFC West, but lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Playoffs. They made the Playoffs only once in the next 14 years
Honorable Mention to the 1999 Seattle Seahawks. The last team to play a home game in the Kingdome, they were only 9-7, but, as in 1988, it was enough to win the AFC West. But they lost the Dome's last sporting event, a Divisional Playoff to the Dolphins.
10. 1976-82 Seattle Sounders. One of the leading teams of the old North American Soccer League, they reached the Western Division Final in 1976, then won it in 1977, to reach the Soccer Bowl. But their luck was bad: Not only did they have to face the mighty New York Cosmos, but they had to do so at a neutral site -- Civic Stadium (now Providence Park), home of their own arch-rivals, the Portland Timbers. They lost.
They won regular-season Division titles in 1980 and 1982, and reached the Soccer Bowl again in 1982, but, again, smacked into the Cosmos. They missed the Playoffs in 1983, and then folded, but the team's name would be revived in later leagues.
9. 1995-97 Seattle Mariners. The Mariners, founded in 1977, never had a winning record until 1991, and didn't reach their 1st Playoff berth until 1995. Famously, they came from well behind the California Angels in the American League Western Division, beat the Angels in a 1-game Playoff for the Division title, and then came from 2-0 down to beat the Yankees in a raucous 5-game AL Division Series that convinced fans to approve the bond issue that would build Safeco Field, and thus saved Major League Baseball in the Pacific Northwest.
But the M's were beaten in the AL Championship Series by the Cleveland Indians. After a close 2nd place in 1996, they won the West again in 1997, but were defeated in the ALDS by the Baltimore Orioles. By the time they got back to the Playoffs in 2000, it was a very different team: No more Ken Griffey Jr., no more Randy Johnson, no more Tino Martinez... but also no more Kingdome, into a real ballpark.
8. 2000-01 Seattle Mariners. After 2 years of mediocrity, the M's bounced back, winning 91 games and taking the AL Wild Card in 2000. They beat the Chicago White Sox in the ALDS, and then took the Yankees to 6 games in the ALCS.
In 2001, they dominated the AL, putting together a season that reminded many of the 1986 Mets. Even in June, people were signing on to Internet chat rooms with the screen name "Seattle Mariners 2001 World Champs." And they did tie the all-time single-season MLB record, set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs, of 116 wins in a season, breaking the AL record of 114 set by the Yankees 3 years before.
But the best-laid plans of mice and Mariners went astray. They nearly got torpedoed by the Indians in the ALDS. As with the Yankees 6 years earlier, the M's had to come from 2-0 back to win the series. But the Yankees humiliated them in 5 games in the ALCS. The most-hyped team in Seattle sports history was a spectacular failure.
Despite winning 93 games in each of the next 2 seasons, the Mariners haven't been back to the postseason since -- now the longest postseason drought of any team in the "Big Four" sports (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL).
7. 2003-07 Seattle Seahawks. Mike Holmgren tried to replicate his success with the Green Bay Packers at the stadium now named CenturyLink Field. He got the 'Hawks to the Playoffs in 2003, but lost in the 1st round in overtime -- ironically, to the Packers.
He led the 'Hawks to the next 4 NFC Western Division titles. In the 2005 season, he got them all the way to their 1st Conference Championship, beating the Washington Redskins and the Carolina Panthers along the way. But they lost Super Bowl XL to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was followed by Playoff losses to the Chicago Bears in overtime and again to the Packers, and then it was over.
6. 1992-98 Seattle SuperSonics. The last great Sonics team (really, only the 2nd) won 7 Playoff series in 8 seasons, and won the 1996 Western Conference Championship. Unfortunately, this team is best known for 2 series they lost: The 1994 1st Round series, in which the Denver Nuggets became the 1st 8th seed to beat a 1st seed; and the 1996 NBA Finals, in which the 72-10 Chicago Bulls completed their destiny.
After winning a series in each of the next 2 seasons, the team began to break up, as egos and salary demands got out of control, especially considering they hadn't won a title. After 1998, the Sonics won only 1 more Playoff series, in 2005, and were sold, and were moved out of town after the 2007-08 season.
Will they ever return? It's not impossible, but after teases the last few years with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Sacramento Kings, it might not be within the next 5 years.
5. 2004-10 Seattle Storm. One of the leading teams of the WNBA, they won the Championship in 2004, coached by Anne Donovan, who died last week. They beat the Connecticut Sun in the Finals. They then made the Western Conference Semifinals every year through 2009, but couldn't get over the hump until 2010, under coach Brian Agler, going 7-0 in the Playoffs against the Los Angeles Sparks, the Phoenix Mercury, and finally 3-0 against the Atlanta Dream to take the title.
They have usually been a Playoff team since, but have yet to return to the WNBA Finals.
4. 2014-17 Seattle Sounders. Reborn in Major League Soccer, the Sounders won the U.S. Open Cup, the American equivalent of England's FA Cup, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. But they came into their own in 2014, winning the Cup again, and also taking the Supporters' Shield, the regular-season MLS title. They reached the MLS Cup Final in 2016 and 2017, facing Toronto FC each time, winning the 1st and losing the 2nd.
3. 1915-24 Seattle Metropolitans. Seattle's 1st professional hockey team lasted 9 seasons, making the Pacific Coast Hockey Association playoffs 7 times. In 1917, they won the title, then beat the National Hockey Association Champions, the Montreal Canadiens, to become the 1st American-based team to win the Stanley Cup. And the 1st Seattle-based team that could legitimately be called "World Champions."
They lost the PCHA Final to the Vancouver Millionaires in 1918, then beat them in 1919, setting up a rematch with the Canadiens. But the Spanish Flu epidemic cut the series short, and the Cup was not awarded. They were PCHA Champions again in 1920, but lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the Ottawa Senators. They then lost the PCHA Final to Vancouver in 1921, 1922 and 1924, before folding.
2. 1974-84 Seattle SuperSonics. The 1st Seattle-based team in major league sports in the modern era, the Sonics were founded in 1967, and struggled for 4 seasons, before going 47-35 in their 5th season, 1971-72. But that wasn't enough to make the NBA Playoffs that season.
In 1975, they reached and won a Playoff series for the 1st time. In 1978, they got all the way to the NBA Finals, before losing Game 7 to the Washington Bullets. In 1978-79, they took no prisoners, and avenged their loss to the Bullets to take their 1st NBA Championship.
There would not be a 2nd. They made the Playoffs 3 of the next 4 years, but didn't make the NBA Finals, and tailed off.
1. 2010-17 Seattle Seahawks. Pete Carroll has a problem with the 'Hawks that he didn't have at USC: The NFL has a salary cap.
Okay, bad joke. But in 2010, his 1st season in charge, he made the 'Hawks the 1st team ever to make the NFL Playoffs with a losing record, as their 7-9, with a tiebreaker, made them NFC West Champions. And then they justified their place in the Playoffs by beating the New Orleans Saints.
They missed the Playoffs in 2011, but made it in 2012, beating the Redskins before losing to the Atlanta Falcons. In the 2013 season, the Seahawks finally fulfilled their destiny. They went 13-3, won the West, beat the Saints, won the NFC Championship by beating their alleged new arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, and then came to the Meadowlands for Super Bowl XLVIII, and demolished the Denver Broncos.
They won the West again in 2014, beating the Panthers and the Packers to reach Super Bowl XLIX. But Carroll called a pass play on the 1-yard line, and you know the rest. The 'Hawks won Playoff games again in 2015 and 2016, but missed in 2017. They have since seen some of their best players leave, and it remains to be seen if Carroll can add to the legacy of Seattle's most successful sports run.
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