So we're back to this again: Seattle is the most miserable sports city in the world, according to Forbes. It seems as though Forbes puts this completely arbitrary list every few weeks, as pointed out by SB Nation Atlanta' Jason Kirk. Seattle lost its NBA franchise and has suffered through losing seasons, so it must be the worst sports city. After all, with all the rain and grunge music in Seattle, those people must be miserable, right?
Sure, losing the Sonics was rough -- and still is. The Mariners have been up-and-down, to say the least, over the past few years, losing 101 games, putting together a respectable season, then losing 100 games again. But that's about where it ends. Seattle had a playoff team this year and has a soccer team winning trophies. Even college athletics is on the way up as the Washington basketball team nearly made the sweet 16 and the football team made, and won, a bowl game.
So is Seattle actually the most miserable sports city? I'd argue no, but have a fitting replacement.
Cleveland. It's simple and there's no way Cleveland should've been behind both Seattle and Atlanta. None. Forbes attempted to use some kind of system to choose the most miserable sports cities, measuring success in the playoffs, but it results in a poll that, by and large, stays the same each year. And it's pointless.
I'd argue fans in Seattle, at the moment, aren't at the bottom of the misery barrel. We just watched the Seahawks make a surprising run into the playoffs, beating the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints along the way. Washington just beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl and the Seattle Sounders brought home the U.S. Open Cup for the second-straight year. Yes, the Sonics are still gone, but that was years ago.* And the Mariners ... fine, we'll give you that one.
Meanwhile, over in Cleveland, LeBron James just took the whole franchise -- proverbially speaking -- with him to South Beach. This season, the Cavaliers tied a professional sports mark for futility, losing 26 straight games. The fans have become apathetic -- except when LeBron comes to town -- and the franchise went from major player to irrelevant in the time it takes to say "taking my talents to South Beach." On the football side, the Browns finished 5-11 for the second-straight season, as well.
Comparing the cities side-by-side, after the last year of sports, it's clear Seattle is still in better shape. Yes, championships have been hard to come by, but we're still alive and kicking. If nothing else, at least we have the Sounders.