SPORT REPORT: My top 5 Seattle sports moments of the past decade
As we head into the next decade, there are bound to be highs and lows fans will have to endure throughout the next ten years. From moments that will surely be cemented into our memories forever to others that we’ll be able to recall the exact place we were when it happened. These moments are why we choose to follow our teams so closely and stick with them through the good times as well as the bad. This is why I wanted to look back at this past decade and make a list of my top five Seattle sports moments that occurred.
5. Edgar finally gets the call
Edgar Martinez is viewed as one of the greatest Mariners and best hitters in the history of Major League Baseball. Martinez is also highly ranked in most statistical categories and while he was well deserving of a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he was primarily a designated hitter. Therefore, some voters felt that since he only played half of the game he was undeserving of a spot.
This finally changed during his final year of eligibility on the HOF ballot, on January 22, 2019. When the reading for the inductees occurred, his name was called. Overwhelmed with emotion, Edgar could not thank the fans and the city of Seattle enough for raising awareness during his HOF campaign.
4. Isaiah Thomas’s buzzer beater versus Arizona
As a kid, I played this shot over and over in my head. It is one of the most iconic moments of my childhood and I still go back and watch this shot when I get the chance. Isaiah Thomas was a local player from Tacoma who decided to stay home and play basketball for the University of Washington. From the start, it was obvious that IT was a special player and this was the moment that cemented it.
Tied at 75 with 19 seconds left in the 2011 Pac-10 championship game, it was then that Thomas took the game into his own hands and decided he was going to end it. As the clock expired, Thomas hit a mid-range jumper to win the game and send the Huskies to the NCAA tournament. After the season, he decided to take his talents to the NBA where he is in the middle of his ninth season currently playing for the Washington Wizards.
3. Marshawn Lynch beast quake run
It was the 2010 NFL Wild Card round, the Seahawks were underdogs at home playing the defending champions, the New Orleans Saints. The Seahawks held a 34–30 lead with three and a half minutes left and were just trying to run out the clock in order to advance to the next round of the playoffs. However, Marshawn Lynch had other plans. Lynch would find the endzone with a 68 yard run in which he broke multiple tackles along the way and generated what is now considered one of the greatest runs in NFL history.
The run officially came to be known as the “beast quake” through the combination of Lynch’s nickname, beast mode, and the rumor that the crowd’s roaring volume during the run registered on a nearby Richter scale — a tool utilized to measure earthquakes. It is almost a given that the run will be shown during any Seahawk playoff game on television. Since the “beast quake,” Lynch has been a favorite of Seahawks fans and recently returned during the Seahawks 2020 postseason run.
2. Felix Hernandez perfect game
The Mariners were a very mediocre franchise for most of the 2010s. However, there was one bright day in August 2012 when Felix Hernandez pitched the first perfect game in Mariners history — meaning that an opponent failed to reach base the entire game.
Although he was never able to showcase his talent in the postseason, Felix was one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB throughout the decade and gave his all to his team and city. Since then he has gone on to sign a one year contract with the Atlanta Braves, but Mariners fans will never forget that day in August when Felix pitched the final strike, pointed both hands in the air, to which his teammates mobbed him on the mound.
1. Seahawks win the Super Bow
Finally, my top moment of the decade. The Seahawks winning their first Super Bowl in franchise history. The 2013 season was a magical one for the Hawks, led by Russell Wilson and one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history. While they entered the game as underdogs versus Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, they defied predictions and dominated the field with a final score of 43–8 in favor of the Hawks.
This was Seattle’s first major sports championship since 1979 — when the SuperSonics won the NBA Finals. As the Vince Lombardi trophy was raised in the air and fans were shown with tears running down their faces, it became apparent how much this win meant to supporters and the city of Seattle. This win was also very special to me as a fan because it was the first one I was ever able to experience and hope there will be many more to come.
