Miserable trip so far for Seattle fans in 2008

Buckle up and take a trip with me down Misery Road.

You know the road. It isn't on the map, but if you're a sports fan in Seattle, it has become as familiar to you as the floating bridge.

Misery Road is that dreary stretch of highway pocked with the pot holes left by too many losing teams. It is scraped and scarred by too much heartbreak and too many disappointments.

It is I-5. And it is I-405. It's Mercer Street. It's Montlake Boulevard. It's I-90.

It is every road that leads to every stadium and arena in town.

Safeco Field. Qwest Field. KeyArena. Husky Stadium.

Misery Road runs past Hec Edmundson Pavilion, where Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham holds his Monday news conference inside the Founder's Club.

It winds around Lake Washington to the Seahawks' new practice facility in Renton, where coach Mike Holmgren is trying to make sense out of Sunday's 34-10 opening-day loss to Buffalo.

Grab a seat for this uncomfortable trip. I'll let you ride shotgun.

On Monday on Misery Road, news quickly spreads that the Seahawks' last healthy veteran receiver, Nate Burleson, is out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.

On Monday on Misery Road, Willingham is more insistent than he was on Saturday, believing his quarterback, Jake Locker, was unfairly penalized for his post-touchdown celebration in the final seconds of the loss to BYU.

Willingham called Locker's celebration "spontaneous." Said he was showing "the sheer joy of playing the game," and, as Locker's coach, Willingham said he encouraged that enthusiasm.

But, after scoring with two seconds left in regulation, Locker was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebrating. BYU then blocked Ryan Perkins' 35-yard PAT and Washington lost 28-27.

On Misery Road Monday, Locker talks again about the penalty.

He says he ran back to the sideline after his 3-yard touchdown run and was told the team had been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"I thought, 'Man, who was that on?' " Locker says. "Somebody must have done something stupid."

That's life on Misery Road in Seattle.

The Mariners are 30 ½ games out of first in the American League West. They were eliminated some time around Memorial Day.

The Sonics are long gone. New city. New nickname. Only their place in the Pacific Division standings — last — will remain the same this season.

The Huskies are 0-2 and preparing to face third-ranked Oklahoma, at Husky Stadium, on Misery Road on Saturday.

Before this past weekend, the hopes of an entire city, rode with the Seahawks. They were certain to win another NFC West title. They were Super Bowl contenders again. They could rescue the city.

"I've thought about that, too," Holmgren said Monday. "I'm a coach of one of the teams here, but I'm also a resident of Seattle and I've felt that way a little myself. Our fans have been so great to us and we have such a great atmosphere in the stadium and want to do well, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is for the fans."

But Buffalo happened.

And Burleson got hurt. And the young receivers couldn't catch the ball. And the special teams got fooled and schooled by the Bills' special teams. And it was discovered that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has a bulging disk.

And, for at least this one week, even the Seahawks had property on Misery Road.

"We all hurt a little bit because of yesterday," Holmgren said. "But that's being a fan. That's being a coach. The beauty of this thing is that we've got 15 more games. We can tee it up in another week and that's the ebb and flow of the season. I know we're a better football team than we showed yesterday."

But what if they aren't?

Where do local football fans turn for wins?

Central Washington? Bellevue High School?

On Misery Road, Willingham is fighting for his job. He needs seven wins this season and, barring an epic upset, his team will be 0-3 entering the first of three bye weeks.

And, in the 12-game season, there remain difficult road games at Arizona, USC and California and home games with Notre Dame, Arizona State and UCLA. Where will Willingham find his wins?

On Misery Road, there are too many questions and not enough answers.

Do the Seahawks make Seneca Wallace their full-time replacement for Burleson? Do they sign a veteran like Joe Horn and hope he can catch just enough balls until Deion Branch and Bobby Engram return?

So many questions. So much misery.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.