Far from the Best Coast

It's time to face a cold, hard truth: There will not be a 2011-12 NBA season, and the West Coast will be hurt the most by its absence.

"There's an East Coast bias when it comes to sports coverage."

It's a common refrain we've heard all of our lives, but it makes more sense this year than ever. Can we really blame the media for ignoring the Best Coast if the Blazers and the Lakers aren't even going to play for at least a year?

But, the West certainly is hurting this year in more than one of the major sports. Let's examine the facts:

The NFC West features four teams that would finish in last place in any other division. The West has been a perennial joke since the Seahawks lost Steve Hutchinson.

The 'Hawks have been beyond terrible this year. (Thank God for DirecTV's Sunday Ticket!) I don't want to say that their pursuit of Andrew Luck has been shameless, but why else would you trade for Tarvaris Jackson and immediately tout him as the starter? Who are they kidding? They might as well put Ryan Leaf under center if they are that desperate to tank for the top pick.

The sad thing is that Seattle isn't the only team in the West that is trying to "Suck for Luck" – as ESPN's DJ Gallo refers to it. The 49ers actually have decent football players surrounding what appears to be a lost, confused and possibly drunk "quarterback," who regularly ignores or bounces passes to his open receivers.  If you watched last weekend's San Fran game, you would've seen Michael Crabtree throw a tantrum in the end zone that would give my 7-year-old cousin some new techniques.

And as we watch the Major League Baseball season conclude we see that baseball is no different: We are in a full-blown Westcession.

The Mariners put up one of the worst stretches in baseball history and are going to finish in last place. They are a team in flux due to Ichiro's career collapsing faster than Michelle Bachmann's presidential hopes and an anemic offense that can't provide any kind of run support for their impressive starting rotation. They are either going to have to remain in the cellar of a below-average division or blow up their entire team structure. And if you go over Seattle's front office moves during our life – they picked Brandon Morrow over hometown talent Tim Lincecum, traded Asdrubal Cabrera for Ben Broussard, Adam Jones for Erik Bedard, and sadly, I could keep going – I don't think they are going to be any good for quite some time.

(Man, it really is exhausting beating this dead horse so thoroughly! What a workout!)

But the Mariners aren't alone as underperforming baseball teams hugging the Pacific.

The Dodgers are more broke than the United States Postal Service, and their play has reflected that.

The Angels have been irrelevant since Jered Weaver got a five-game suspension and his Cy Young stock is dropping faster than Netflix's. (Shame on you for doubling my monthly fee.)

Let's play a game: Imagine how good Brad Pitt is going to look in the "Moneyball" movie. Now imagine the exact opposite of that. You are now getting close to how the Oakland A's have looked as a baseball team all season.

Injuries have destroyed the Giants' title defense worse than Glen Rice has ruined Sarah Palin's reputation among the Tea Party circle.

As you can see, the East Coast bias is real and justified this year. While reports on the above teams are more acceptable than any NASCAR report, it isn't fair to force the rest of this enormous country to care about the rebuilding and seemingly helpless franchises this coast contains. (But, seriously, people who are entertained by NASCAR highlights are the same people that think they are going to see super hot and racy material on GoDaddy.com.)

So, please, NBA, on behalf of the West Coast, we need you to be a presence in our life this winter so we can at least have something to say when our friends from the East Coast say that sports are irrelevant over here. It's going to be a cold winter this year if there is no NBA in Seattle. Wait, maybe that's not the best example.