It's a fine line between quietly optimistic and quietly cocky. Tonight as I stood out in the howling wind that chapped my face so badly I had to put vaseline on the back of my head when I got home, I got an alert on my phone: Just short of three minutes in, the Blues were losing to the Canucks. A couple years ago, even a year ago (okay, three months ago), I would have been pissed. I usually get into the games about halfway through the first period. Far too often, the Blues were already losing and never regained the lead.
But these days that doesn't happen much. More often, we hear a faint horn and say, "Is that the start of the game? That's not the start of the game, right? We just scored, right?"
We're getting more confident, too, of course. Like tonight, when my pocket buzz was announcement of a Canucks goal. Me? I didn't give no fuck (as my boy PCS likes to say). I was pretty sure the Blues would be okay. Seconds later, in the distance, a horn.
"Is that the start of the game? That's not the start of the game, right? We just scored, right?"
"Yeah, man," I got to say, "We just scored."
And while I personally like the fact that most fan bases and most media outlets are still ignoring the Blues, I am on that line: Not sure if I'm quietly optimistic about this team or if I'm quietly cocky. Probably the latter. I kind of expect the Blues to win these days. And when they don't I just think, "Enjoy that shit, you ginger bitches, because you needed a bad call and a broken stick to beat us. I can smell your fear."
But what about you, late night friend? What do you feel like?