Disappointed, but Not Bitter

The life of a sports fan on the shores of Erie is analogous to a rookie at bat in the American League. The best you can hope for is to tumble through existence as a seeing eye single and get on base. Maybe even score a run here and there. Or, you can crash and burn like an inning ending double play with the tying run on third. Sometimes both of those happen. More often than not, the latter occurs. And for many people in Cleveland last night, the second half of the life cycle took its toll.

But there is something to be said about this Indians team. At least from my perspective. The press here in Cleveland was less than supportive. Let's take it back 10 years when the Tribe snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the Marlins. After the 11th inning of the 7th game, everyone was despondent. At school the next morning, red eyes were running amok and almost every teacher put a movie on. There was a lingering bitterness after that Fall Classic. We had a sense of entitlement. We should have won, we deserved to have won. We've been putting together 95+ win seasons and we beat the two beasts of the East. What gives? Who knows. Who cares. All we felt was an indescribable disdain towards everything.

This team, though, doesn't leave that taste of bitterness. Sure there is disappointment aplenty among us. But realistically, it was unrealistic to expect such a young team, with no postseason experience, to topple both the Empire and the Nation. The White Sox didn't do that, and neither did the Tigers. In fact, no team has done that thus far. Even David only felled one oversized Philistine. This team had the talent to do it, but ultimately fell short of toppling the other $200 million dollar monster.

Sure, the Red Sox players that did their part were young. So why can't our players do it? Perhaps because 2/3 of our starting lineup and 3/5 of our regular season starting rotation was under 30 years old. Sure, Pedroia and Ellsbury came up huge last night. But their team doesn't depend on them to win day in and day out. There is less pressure on them because the Red Sox ride the veterans for wins. And their veterans felt the heat. Ortiz and Ramirez went 5 for 20 in the last three games of the series. So it's natural for the Red Sox to feel less pressure, because their young guys have nothing to lose and their vets have been there before.

The Indians, on the other hand, are solely dependent on young everyday talent. So when the pressure is on, the whole lineup should be expected to suffer. Even Sabathia and Carmona were affected. Their 4 LCS starts amounted to absolute garbage. But honestly, what were we supposed to expect from this squad? We know they care. We know they aren't stone cold guns for hire. We should be proud that they took the Red Sox to the brink and that they razed the Yankee Empire. We should be proud that they took the season in their hands and dominated an experienced Tigers rival that surged in September. These guys showed a lot of guts throughout, and there is nothing to be bitter about.

Yes, I'm looking at the silver lining. Yes, I'm clinging on to that ray of hope that floated out of Pandora's Box. And yes, I live by the mantra that "there's always next year." Sure you can chide me for being in an abusive relationship or acting like a battered spouse. But without that eternal optimism there's no reason to follow what we love. So here's to that seeing eye single with the winning run on third.
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Notes from the Weekend:

• The Patriots are on a mission to decimate everyone this season. They are like General Sherman marching through the South killing everything that exists. But I think we need to keep on eye on old cheatin' Bill. When the undefeated Pats play the winless Dolphins again, the Pats won't cover the spread. And guess who's offshore bank accounts just saw payday.
• The Bills put on a pretty good game against the Ravens. It looks like Marshawn Lynch is the real deal. Too bad Willis Mc-fuck you scored that long TD. I'm sure Bills fans could have done without that.
• Who else thinks that any NFC team should subtract at least 2 wins and add 2 losses to their record for a converted AFC record? In other words, don't get too cocky NY and Dallas. Your teams may look good in JV, but Varsity is a whole different game.
  
• Matt Schaub really killed my fantasy team this week with Brett Favre on the bye. Fuck. I should have started Garcia.
  
• Finally, with the Red Sox going to the World Series, the Pats on an ironically tyrannical karmic warpath, and the Celtics with the best starting 5 in the NBA, there is a new era of douchebaggery emerging from the Boston area. I can't wait until someone takes a knife to 5 fuckbag Boston fans in the same fight and kills all of them. Even then, dickbag New Englanders will probably be too self absorbed to realize the potency of their putridness. Even if, GOD FORBID, their teams win the championships in the big three sports, these racist fucks will still have their false sense of entitlement. Eat a dick. Seriously, to about 98% of Boston fans ("genuine" and bandwagon) just fucking die. And don't let karma hit you on the way to hell. Faggots.