Billy Hull: Thinking about my bad beats just worsened the weekened

This weekend hasn’t been fun for any of us dealing with the impacts of Hurricane Lala. Sports always take a backseat to actual real world problems, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those seriously affected by the storm. Nonetheless, I still have a column to write, and as I sit here in my sweat-drenched, bright blue Seahawks T-shirt hoping the power comes back on, I wonder how I could make this boredom … feel not so boring. Here’s an idea. Let’s relive the five worst sports games — or moments – of my life as a sports fanatic from the Pacific Northwest. Maybe that will give me the perspective I need as a phone-addicted sports reporter in my early 40s that there is a lot worse things that can happen than losing electricity. Also, who does’t love a good — or bad — Top 5 list? 5. Monday, Oct. 20, 2025: AL Championship Series, Game 7, Toronto 4, Seattle 3 >> Leading 3-1 and seven outs away from the first World Series in franchise history, the Mariners decide to leave their best pitcher, Andres Munoz, on the bench and allow Eduard Bazardo to instead face M’s nemesis George Springer, who parks a three-run homer into the seats to allow the Blue Jays to advance to the World Series. As Bazardo of a decision as that was, it has only gotten worse this year for the most disappointing team in baseball. What’s another 50 years without a World Series appearance? 4. Feb. 5, 2006: Super Bowl XL, Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10 >> More than 140 million people got to know the name of referee Bill Leavy, who engineered one of the worst officiated football games in the history of football. At one point, Matt Hasselbeck was whistled for illegally tackling a player trying to return an interception. Years later, Leavy admitted he made mistakes that impacted the game, including two calls in the fourth quarter that have caused him to struggle with sleeping. Yeah, same here buddy. Antwaan Randle El threw a TD pass on a trick play to Hines Ward in what was an otherwise boring game, unless you were a Steelers fan. The NFL came up with the perfect script for Jerome Bettis’ retirement after winning the Lombardi in his hometown of Detroit. 3. July 2, 2008: Seattle and team owner Clay Bennett reach a $75 million settlement to allow Bennett to move the franchise to Oklahoma City >> Yeah, that’s right. I’ve also lost a franchise in my lifetime. NBA Commissioner David Stern allows this crooked deal to go through, taking a team from one of the best cities in the country for professional sports, because they wouldn’t get a new arena that was paid for by the city. To make things worse, the Sonics had just finished Kevin Durant’s rookie season and had drafted recently retired Russell Westbrook. A year later, they added James Harden, creating one of the best young trios in NBA history. The trio made one NBA Finals in OKC, losing to Miami, before Harden was traded in large part because of financial decisions. Would they have stayed together if left in Seattle? We will never know. 2. Sept. 30, 2000: Oregon 23, Washington 16 >> Remember the good ol’ days when the regular season mattered in college football? The Huskies, with Marques Tuiasosopo at quarterback, were poised to make a run at the national championship after beating Larry Coker’s Miami team that had Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis and Najeh Davenport at running back, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss at receiver, and Ed Reed, Dan Morgan and Vince Wilfork on defense, just to name a few. While Miami would’t lose again until 2003, UW suffered its only loss of the season in Autzen Stadium. The Ducks won their 18th straight home game controlling time of possession with Joey Harrington at quarterback. Oregon linebacker Matt Smith batted down a fourth-down pass by Tuiasosopo with 1:52 to play to seal it. UW finished with one loss that season, along with Florida State, which lost to Miami, and the Hurricanes. The Seminoles were voted to play Oklahoma for the national title and lost while UW beat Drew Brees and Purdue in the Rose Bowl. A national championship that slipped away in Eugene. 1. Feb. 1, 2015: Super Bowl XLIX, Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 >> I will still argue the football aspect of calling a pass instead of a run. Get stopped and you have to use your final timeout and are down to one play that has to be a pass. If the pass doesn’t work, you still have two plays with the timeout and New England doesn’t know what’s coming. Nonetheless, the first interception from the 1-yard line thrown in the NFL that entire season happens as Malcolm Butler picks off Russell Wilson, making Tom Brady a hero and ending the Seahawks’ two-year run at the top. Beastmode never gets the ball, the most annoying fan base in professional sports gets another title, and we won’t talk about that 8:1 ticket I had waiting to be cashed at the Paris sports book in Las Vegas. Ahhh. So many terrible memories. Suddenly going on hour No. 20 of no power doesn’t feel so bad. Stay safe, everyone.