I have always been a true Seattle sports fan, no matter the agony. Staying loyal to the Seahawks during the 1990s was like jamming a needle into your eye for 16 weeks straight. The refereeing during Super Bowl XL against the Steelers was a travesty.

And being a Mariners fan is never easy.

Rooting for the team in the 1980s I didn’t know what winning was like. Then Ken Griffey, A-Rod and Randy Johnson showed up. Then they left. Winning 116 games and then not making the World Series. Then the franchise celebrating that failure – in true Seattle style.

Many of my friends have changed allegiances over the years, jumping ship to the 49ers or the Red Sox. But it has also given me some of my greatest memories –good and bad. Watching Griffey belt home runs. Seeing the Rain Man throw down a sick dunk. Watching Steve Largent catch a nearly uncatchable pass.

One of those good memories was watching the Sonics play the Bulls in the 1996 NBA finals. I remember running into the streets with glee with my best friend when they beat the Bulls in game five. It looked like they might pull off an incredible comeback against the best regular season NBA team ever. They would lose the series 4-2.

Losing and being a Seattle sports fan go hand-in-hand. But losing the Sonics franchise was the toughest part of all.

Preparing for the NBA finals this year is tough for many Sonics fans. Watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Miami Heat is akin to watching someone kick your dog repeatedly or attending the wedding of your ex-girlfriend.

First I rooted for Dallas. Then I rooted for one of the NBA teams I despised most as a Sonics fan – the L.A. Lakers. I rooted for the San Antonio Spurs. All by default and all resulting in defeat. Now it is the Miami Heat.

Rooting for the Heat is not easy. I was one of the people who got upset about how LeBron left Cleveland in the lurch. It reminded me of Griffey, A-Rod and Randy Johnson.

For me it wasn’t about LeBron leaving his hometown or going where he thought he had the best chance to win a title. It was about the loyalty factor and how he made the announcement. It was about ripping out the hearts of people who supported him his entire life. He grew up there.

It was about LeBron, Dwaine Wade and Chris Bosh taking the easy way out. But for the next week-and-a-half I am a Heat fan. Because for whatever pain LeBron caused Cleveland, they still have the Cavs.

Cleveland fans know how we feel. They lost the Browns in 1996 and then watched them in the Super Bowl in 2000. Four years later, just like us with the Sonics.

I have friends, former Sonics’ fans, who are actually rooting for the Thunder. I am not conflicted, but I get it.

Kevin Durant and Nick Collison, the only two former Sonics players on the team, seem to be great people. Durant is a nice guy and tough to root against. But I can’t get the dust we ate from Clay Bennett leaving town with our team out of my mouth. Watching him raise that Western Conference trophy above his head a week ago made my stomach churn like an Oklahoma tornado.

But more than that, I want other NBA fans to know that it wasn’t Sonics’ fans who let the team go. It was our politicians. It was Howard “Benedict Arnold” Schultz. He sold 40 years of tradition out from under the community that helped him build his coffee empire.

But the biggest reason I am upset is because I have a son who likes sports. We won’t be excited because our team is playing for the NBA championship. We will be watching Ichiro flail away at the plate. Talking about why a curve ball is harder to hit than a fastball. We will be deprived of the great memories of watching the Sonics in the finals together. Deprived of sharing that exhilaration when Durant dunks over LeBron. Deprived of once-in-a-generation or, in Seattle, once-in-a-lifetime moments.

That is something that money can’t buy for a true sports fan. But it is something that Howard Schultz sold for a few extra bucks. It is something that OKC and Clay Bennett have not earned. Four years of waiting is not equivalent to 33 years of angst since our regions’ last major world title.