The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT May 29, 2010

A few weeks ago, Forbes Magazine wrote a story about the most miserable sport cities in America, and Seattle topped the list.

What took so long?

WITHIN THE last two years, the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, then watched as former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren retired, then returned to football in Cleveland as general manager of the Browns.

Throw in the Mariners losing over 100 games a couple years ago, and it's easy to see why fans are miserable in Seattle.

ATTEMPTING TO make excuses for the Mariners' bad start, I am beginning to run out of them as the team finds new ways to lose close games.

Considering they aren't scoring runs and don't seem to hit at a consistent level, hopes the Mariners will be playing baseball in October are starting to fade.

The Mariners aren't totally out of the American League West race, but if they continue on their current pace, they'll be doing a lot of watching come the playoffs in October.

When the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, it seemed they were on the verge of being locked into the NBA lottery for many years to come.

This past season, with a lot of the same players, the Thunder pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the Western Conference playoffs and came within three points of forcing a seventh game.

The Sonics weren't too far removed from an NBA finals appearance when they left - about 11 years - but as soon as they kept coming up short of the playoffs, the fans began to dwindle away from KeyArena.

FANS OF the Seahawks enjoyed five straight NFC West titles before being hit with two straight losing seasons.

Between 1984 and 2005, the team failed to win a playoff game in four appearances, but were defeated by a couple of pretty good quarterbacks in Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino once they got there. The first time they had a home playoff game at Qwest Field, the ball hit a Seahawk receiver in the hands as time ran out against the St. Louis Rams.

They finally got a win in January 2006 against the Washington Redskins and made the team's only Super Bowl appearance three weeks later.

Two years later, it seems ages ago since they've won two straight games - against anyone.

Not even success by the University of Washington basketball and football teams has been enough to cheer many of those fans up.

Most miserable sports city in America.

Finally something makes sense around Lake Washington.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2020, or via e-mail at jelliott@cdapress.com.