Fans: Is this the best day ever for Seattle sports?

The 12s rock the house.



SEATTLE -- Today, right now, is the best time it's ever been to be a Seattle sports fan.

Woah. Hold on. Set your pitchforks down. We didn't forget about the Super Bowl win, the mid-90s Sonics or Edgar's double in 1995. We haven't forgot about the 1979 NBA Championship or even when the Seattle hockey team won the Stanley Cup more than 100 years ago.

We're talking cumulatively, here. Collectively.

Right at this moment -- with everything going on at this EXACT moment in Seattle sports -- it's the best time it has ever been to be a fan in Seattle.

Let us explain:

The 2014 NFL season starts today in our fair city. It starts here because the Seattle Seahawks dominated last year's regular season with a 13-3 record, battled through the playoffs and cruised to a Super Bowl victory against the Broncos. What followed was a victory parade through downtown; one of the largest civic events in Seattle history.

Now, entering the season, the Seahawks are ranked Number 1 numerous in NFL power rankings. Many pundits predict a Super Bowl repeat. Some even wonder if the team is better this year than last.

Yes, it's great to be a 12 right now. But it doesn't stop at football.

The Mariners -- yes, the seemingly forever embattled Mariners -- are in the midst of a playoff run.

Coming off a series victory in Oakland, Robinsons Cano, Felix Hernandez, Fernando Rodney and company are only .5 games back of the second Wild Card spot. Even more promising perhaps, the team is only and 3.5 games back of the As for the lead wild card spot, a team the Mariners play three more times before the end of the season.

With 24 games left, and arguably the strongest pitching staff in baseball, the Mariners can make a real run at the playoffs. And this is HUGE. The team hasn't made it to the post season since since 2001, hasn't had a realistic shot late in the season since 2007 and hasn't finished over .500 since 2009.

We haven't talked playoff baseball in September in years. For the first time in nearly a decade, legions of tired, battle-worn fans are tuning into their radio and TV nightly, wondering how the bullpen is looking or if Kyle Seager hit another home run. Legions of Seattle fans are coming back to baseball.

That's not all, though. It's no mystery that Seattle is also a Major League Soccer town. And the Seattle Sounders may be the strongest they've ever been. The team is atop the MLS Western Conference, has three more wins than any other team in the league and leads the league in points.

With increased visibility in a World Cup year, the team is slated to finish atop the conference for the first time in their recent six year history. Stars such as Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin lead CenturyLink, packed filled with 60,000 fans, to victory almost weekly. Once they qualify for the playoffs, the Sounders look to be the favorite, perhaps bringing the first MLS Cup to Seattle; and a subsequent parade to boot.

Don't forget about women's sports. The Seattle Reign FC, the city's professional women's soccer team, recently lost a close championship game to FC Kansas City, completing a monumental turnaround in just a few years. The Seattle Storm recently completed their 15th season, a feat for a league than not many expected to last.

Then there's the Huskies football team, situated behind new and promising coach.Seattle U basketball, too, which after years of absence is starting to fill the stands.

No, right now is not the best single moment in Seattle sports. That distinction goes to Super Bowl victory, the Sonics' Championship in 1979 or the 1995 double that brought Ken Griffey, Jr. into home.

But add everything up, and it's the best time to be a fan in Seattle.  And looking ahead, there are only clearer skies ahead.

So bizarre because Seattle sports has long been shrouded in rain.