what if the Braves won the division and nobody cared?
So the Braves, as this charming ESPN story notes, have roared past the favored Phillies and are now sitting pretty at 26 games over .500.
Is there anyone else having a hard time getting excited about this? I like having a Braves game on the radio while I’m cooking dinner as much as the next person, but it’s so tempting to shut down emotionally in anticipation of a playoff loss. Last year I lost a bet with a Cubs fan. Fortunately I don’t know anyone from St. Louis.
It’s also hard to get excited about this team when I can view the 1991 team through the haze of nostalgia. I was far too much of a fan of Treadway and Lemke and Gregg Olson and poor Lonnie Smith to be able to throw myself into learning about Marcus Giles and Adam LaRoche and Johnny Estrada. And of course that’s not a good attitude to take: the only member left over from the ’91 team, as it should be, is Smoltz, and as I’ve said before, is something of an ass. (Eddie Perez is more of an ass, it seems.)
Sigh. I’m a terrible fan.
The Falcons’ season starts Sunday. UGA football starts Saturday; so does Tech football. Let the trash talking begin — someone out there has got to take up the slack for me.
Oh, Jessica, no! I, too, view the ’91 season with great nostalgia. Also the ’92 team and the slide heard ’round the world. But this team, this year, is every bit as exciting as those teams. They have a lot of young guys who are playing their hearts out (see Charles Thomas, Nick Green, Eli M., etc.) and some veterans who are even getting wrapped up in the thrill of this season.
Giles plays with the grit and heart that Lemke did (and though he doesn’t have the defensive skill that Mark did, he makes up for it with his great bat).
This team is exciting also. I promise. They are.
Go Dawgs!