“Parting is such a pleasant sadness that I say goodnight until tomorrow.”
– Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
A friend of mine who is based in Seattle is part of a sports-based group chat that I'm a part of, and he's pretty active in the group chat about all things Seattle sports. Sometimes, even when Seattle wasn't the first topic of conversation. But no wonder he always gets pretty quiet when we start talking about the NBA. The other day when we were chatting he gave me some love. I said the world would be a much paler place without the Seattle SuperSonics.
I'm not a Seattle guy, and to be honest, my fondest memory of the Sonics is Dikembe Mutombo lying on the basketball court. But the world, at least the basketball world, believes that the Sonics team has lost a little bit of their heart. Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were wiped off the map. Detlef Schrempf. Rashard Lewis. Nate McMillan. Jack Sikma. Heck, KD has never looked as cool in a uniform as he did in that badass green of the Sonics.
Maybe one day the world will get back on its feet and bring NBA basketball back to Seattle.
Sadly, it may be a little longer before hockey returns to Phoenix.
My heart breaks for the fan base and everyone involved in the Arizona Coyotes machine, especially PHNX and the killer team that covers the Yotes in All-City. To be honest, I watched Arizona hockey as much as I watched Seattle basketball. And the buzz around the DNVR folks was so strong that he still made time for the PHNX Hockey crew, going out every once in a while.
And the local Phoenix fan base surrounding the team was small but strong, and the conversations the team and ownership have had with Phoenix and the city for far too long have matured only intermittently. was decreasing. When visiting Phoenix and chatting with people about local sports, the Coyotes were often the subject of annoyance before the conversation actually started, but the Coyotes were often the subject of annoyance before the conversation actually started, but the Coyotes were the focus of the community to contribute and make them stronger. And that was always a bad sign for something local that relied on their wallets.
But it's still hard to imagine losing a Denver team, even the hapless Rockies, and how much damage that would do to the heart and foundation of this city. Imagine that your local hockey team's relevance has drastically declined and suddenly it's no longer part of anything locally.
In fact, if you're a hockey fan of a certain age in Denver, you can easily imagine a scenario when another unfortunate Rocky, the NHL's Colorado Rockies, suddenly became the far more popular New Jersey Devils. For those of us who had just learned the finer points of the game, we had no idea what was going on in New Jersey, but suddenly hockey lost its luster and there were long rumors that it would never be possible again when it came to these parts. It was rumored for a while.
in. In terms of emotion and heartbreak, Phoenix was actually the second stop in this series as well. Until the mid-90s, they were the Winnipeg Jets. The City of Winnipeg also gushed about their loss and cursed the new desert dogs. They were also active, grieving, and vocal enough to get the team back in 2012, but the Jets' old records still remain in Phoenix. Well…I'm in Utah now. The new Jets used to be Atlanta, so the Thrashers' record is the Jets, and the Jets' record is Utah…bees? I think you understand. Everything gets a little confusing.
Surprisingly, another Canadian team based in Quebec, the Nordiques, eventually withdrew from Quebec completely and was a team looking for a new home. They ultimately made hockey even more popular in these regions by winning an Avalanche-style Stanley Cup. And I hope that someday hockey will come back, if Quebec wants and supports hockey, but I want to keep these records. Some of them have just been broken this season. So I think you can probably understand. Sometimes the return of a sad breakup can bring something sweeter in the end.
So… NBA basketball in Seattle, and now more emotionally, let's enjoy NHL hockey in Phoenix one day like we did back in Winnipeg and Colorado. We certainly feel the sadness of all Coyotes fans. I hope that someday the sadness will end sweetly.
