A Perfect Storm

With the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory parade set for today, most Sonic fans of a certain age are spending the day cheering on their new heroes while simultaneously playing back the memories of their old heroes, the 1979 Seattle Sonics.

One group left out in that reminiscence are the members of the Seattle Storm, and some of them are, well, less than enthusiastic about their neglected place in Seattle's sports history. Both Lauren Jackson and Karen Bryant took to social media to decry their removal from the city's championship pedigree. After all, they argue, the WNBA has been around for more than a decade, the Storm won two titles, and they are professionals - do they not count as much as the Sonics and the Seahawks?

It's a difficult debate to deal with, simply because both sides have persuasive arguments.

On the one hand, the WNBA checks many of the boxes that indicate that it is a "major" sport. It is televised nationally, players are paid enough money that they don't have to work in the offseason in other lines of work, and the top stars - while not celebrities like LeBron or A-Rod - are at least somewhat in the cultural sports lexicon.

On the other, the WNBA is continually surrounded by "how long will it be able to exist financially" articles, the extent to which the NBA is propping up the league is always in the background, and, quite frankly, the ratings for the WNBA are not in the same universe as the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL.

The biggest problem is that, by definition, "major" is an ambiguous term. To a WNBA fan, the WNBA is a major professional sport, and much more important than the NHL. To a non-WNBA fan, the WNBA is like pro bowling or NASCAR or anything else he or she is uninterested in.

Is it sexist? Perhaps, although it is also true that many of the same people who ignore the WNBA also ignore the MLS. And, to be honest, the MLS' TV ratings are even worse than the WNBA's, meaning that anyone who claims the MLS is a "major" sport had sure better include the WNBA on that same list.

Thankfully, the decision as to whether the WNBA and the Storm have the right to place their championship trophy alongside those of the Sonics and Seahawks won't be decided today, or even next year. It will come if and when the WNBA continues to exist for another decade. If, in 2030, Lauren Jackson is part of a trophy presentation at Starbucks Arena to the Microsoft 17.XL Storm, I don't think anyone would begrudge her argument that her former team is a member of Seattle's proud professional sporting history.

San Diego '67 and the Curse of the Green and Gold

In 1967, the NBA welcomed two new teams to the league. They both wore green and gold, they both had aerospace industry mascots and they both no longer exist.

Whenever Seattle Supersonics fans lament the loss of their team, they should think of the poor people of San Diego, a city that lost three pro basketball franchises in just over a decade. Despite making the playoffs in only their second year behind the star power of Elvin Hayes, who won the scoring title in his rookie  season, the Rockets were sold to a trio of Texans in 1971 and blasted off to Houston. Only a year after hosting the All-Star Game, San Diego was out of the NBA.

Two other teams, the Conquistadors of the ABA and the relocated Buffalo Braves (renamed the Clippers), made brief stops in San Diego but the city hasn't hosted a pro basketball team since 1984, making 41 years and a world championship seem like a pretty good run. As terrible as it was to lose the Sonics, things could always be worse: we could be San Diego.

Who likes short-shorts?

Who likes short-shorts? Apparently Seattle Supersonics legend Lenny Wilkens did, and you can have your very own pair if you win this Ebay auction.