It is done. The Suns’ season is over. For me, every time a season ends, it is a like something dies inside me. In a way, it can be compared to my regular job as a Spanish teacher.

During the school year, I get to know a group of teenagers very well. I see them an hour a day for 180 days. They have good days and bad days, as do I. I like some of them more than others. I want them all to be successful in my class. At the end of the school year, I have to say goodbye. Some of them I will never see again. I admit that it is saddening at times.

With the Suns (or Cardinals, Sun Devils, or Diamondbacks), I have watched a group of players and rooted for them. They have had good games and bad games. Like school, some seasons (school years) are more satisfying than others. But even when the season has been bad, I miss the season.

The major difference, however, is that the school year ends with excitement and anticipation. It means I get two and a half months without having to go to work. (I say go to work because if you know any teachers, you know that they still work. I, for one, the day classes let out last week already began thinking of the changes I would be making for next school year. I will be home, but I will be planning lessons and units, and I will still be working my college job online.) The end of the season for any of my teams is never with accompanied with excitement.

What is most difficult about the end of the Suns’ season is that I really believed in this team. They overachieved all year and exceeded my expectations. I was more optimistic than many, predicting 50 wins and a sixth seed, probably losing in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, they win 54, earn the third seed in the West, and make it to the Western Conference Finals.

Against the defending champs, the Suns made a series of it, and honestly felt that they could win the series. So while I am very satisfied with how the season turned out, I was disappointed that they didn’t pull off the upset.

Over the years, I can classify most seasons in three ways. I have been completely satisfied by some seasons, I have been satisfied but disappointed by others seasons, and a few seasons have just left me disappointed. Examples, you ask? Here is how some of the seasons (for all my teams) turned out for me:

Seasons that left me just disappointed:

Every Cardinals team before 1998, then all of them from 1999-2006. Is there any explanation needed?

2004, 2008, 2009 (and likely 2010) Diamondbacks. 2004 was just awful. I was almost happy to get rid of that season. 2008 was very disappointing because of how the team started. It looked as if they would run away with the division. Then, they stopped scoring runs. The 2009 version was a continuation of the 2008 second half team. This year’s team looked as if it would compete. The bullpen had supposedly been bolstered with veterans with a track record of success. Supposedly indeed. Now the entertainment comes by guessing what way the team will lose.

2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 Suns. The 03-04 team was much like the Diamondbacks team from the same year- just horrible. Come to think of it, 2004 was a bad year for me and sports. I wonder now how I managed to make it through that season.
The three seasons previous to this year’s Suns team were disappointing for other reasons. It was the expectation. In 06-07, there was really no reason why they should not have been champions. In 07-08, the disappointment came from the Shaq trade. Shaq was supposed to be the key to beating the Spurs. The 08-09 team had the TerryPorter/Shaq/Amare’s eye disaster. That team was supposed to be just as potent offensively, but yet improve defensively. The actual performance was a downgrade on offense and, as unbelievable as it may be, a worse performance on defense than the known bad defensive Mike D’Antoni teams.

2008, 2009 Sun Devil Football. After the surprising 2007 season that ended in the Holiday Bowl and ten wins, I had hopes for being competitive in the PAC-10. Instead, nine wins in two seasons. That plus an offense that might not have been able to score on some high school teams, and that is a recipe for sheer disappointment.

Seasons that left me satisfied but disappointed:

2007-2009 Cardinals. The Cardinals teams now are very different. Ken Whisenhunt’s first year as coach in 2007 was satisfying because it finally appeared (and correctly so) that the team had turned the corner and was finally making progress. Even still, because of a horrible road record, they missed the playoffs.

The 2008 team was VERY satisfying, as they were within minutes of winning the Super Bowl. The disappointing part is that they ALMOST WON THE SUPER BOWL. I still don’t believe that Santonio Holmes got two feet down.

The 2009 team was a success because of the playoff victory against Green Bay. With that I was satisfied with the season. However, I felt that the team could have made it further. I thought that they had a chance to beat New Orleans. The loss, although not surprising, was disappointing, but did not ruin the season for me.

Every single Suns team from the 1990’s and the 2005-06, 2009-10 Suns. Maybe it was just being a teenager or the fact that the Suns had very bad luck, but while I was disappointed with each playoff exit and with the championship loss, I always felt good about the seasons. From 1991-1998, the two best players in the league (Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwan) led their teams to champion status. That was just bad luck for Phoenix.

There were, though, some very bitter moments. The John Paxson three, the Mario Elie kiss of death, the two 3-1 leads that disappeared against the eventual champion Houston Rockets. They were all painful, but did not ruin the entire season for me like the suspensions in the 2007 NBA playoffs did for me and that season’s Suns team.

The 05-06 team, which was a complete surprise because of the loss of Amare Stoudemire was great. It was only disappointing because it was an untimely playoff injury to Joe Johnson that sidelined the team’s championship hopes.

This year’s team was similar, although it was not because of injuries. As stated before, I really believed that the Suns were going to beat the Lakers. That was the disappointment. However, after being the team most likely to be upset in the first round, they beat Portland and then swept the Spurs. That alone was enough to make for a satisfying season- just bouncing the Spurs instead of being bounced by them.

1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007 Diamondbacks. 1999 and 2000 were amazing rides because the team was still new. It still disappointed me because both teams were capable of making it further. The 2002 and 2003 teams were competitive and played well, so I was satisfied (plus I was still a little euphoric because of the 2001 championship). In 2007, it was really magical, but being steamrolled by the Rockies, who in turn were steamrolled by the Red Sox, was not pleasant.

Seasons that left me completely satisfied:

2007 Sun Devils. You might say that getting walloped by Texas in the Holiday Bowl was a little disappointing, but the season was very satisfying. An 8-0 start, a new coach, ten wins, life was good. Too bad it would not continue.

2004-05 Suns. This was the team that came out of nowhere. Losing to the Spurs was not bitter yet. I was at peace with that season because it still looked like something special was yet to happen.

1998 Cardinals. After making the playoffs and then beating Dallas, I could not have been happier. The next week against Minnesota didn’t matter. I knew that there was zero chance of beating them in Minnesota. It was as perfect a season as I had experienced. That is until…
2001 Diamondbacks. Any explanation needed?

These are what I can remember. Where do these seasons rate for you? Send me a tweet, an email, or a comment.

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