Role Reversal

In the 1990s, I had a pro baseball and pro football team . One team was a joke. They played in a run down, pathetic stadium. Instead of going outside of the organization, they would retain coaches and player personnel guys because they were there, not because they were talented. They had to massively overpay free agents, and the only ones willing to come were midlevel players looking for a payday, not a championship. The fan base, already cynical from years of losing, became more and more frustrated with every passing year.

The another team was a model of success and the envy of the rest of the conference. They drafted well, spent money but did it fairly wisely, and were fortunate enough to have players willingly to take less to play for a winner. Their leaders were Hall of Fame players lauded for their professionalism and devotion to the game. Championships were expected, and any season that ended before league championship round was a massive disappointment. Not only did that team win many big games, but they set records in those games that weren't going to be broken.

It's 2010 now, and somehow the roles have completely reversed. However, I'm not going to make the same mistake and expect the good times to last forever, because the windows is going to close (and probably pretty soon). So when I have two players step up with two classic performances, I'm going to make sure to enjoy it, because it's probably won't happen again. I don't know what will happen next round (though #55 scares the hell out of me), but even if things don't work out, I won't get too upset. Long term success in professional sports in unbelievable hard, and changing the expectations of a franchise and an entire city are even more difficult. Somehow though, this team has done it, so that nights like tonight are no longer a shock to the system. I just need to make sure to enjoy it. If I forget, I can always look at this.