Seattle (1917-)
The Curse of Chief Sealth is known to exist and affect all high-profile Seattle sports teams in painful, heartbreaking ways. The city's only three major sports championships are the Metropolitans' Stanley Cup win in 1917 (the first U.S.-based Cup championship), the SuperSonics' NBA title in 1979, and the Storm's WNBA championship in 2004. The Mariners have never played in a World Series (despite tying a major league record with 116 wins in 2001) and the Seahawks lost the only Super Bowl in which they played.
In 2008, which became gradually known as "Misery Road", the curse affected all Seattle teams:
- The Sonics, who compiled a 20-62 record in the 2007–08 NBA season, relocated to Oklahoma City because of Clay Bennett's wishes to have a team in his hometown. This move came a year after the team drafted Kevin Durant.
- The Seahawks, after winning four consecutive NFC West titles and one NFC Championship, suffered through a season in which they won only four games.
- The Mariners, expected to be in contention for the AL West title, lost 101 games to finish with the worst record in the American League, becoming the first team to spend an $100 million payroll and lose 100 games in a season.
- The WNBA's Storm was the only team in Seattle to finish with a winning record in 2008 (a franchise-best 22-10), but lost in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
- The University of Washington Huskies football team lost all twelve of its games and coach Tyrone Willingham was relieved of his duties.
Sports-related curses. (2009, January 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:35, January 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sports-related_curses&oldid=264598455
