The Morning After

Is it wrong for me to admit that I feel pretty good this morning? I suppose it is. Normally, I'd threaten to punch someone in the throat for saying such a thing. I think there may be ten reasons for my general level of...well...not quite contentment...but almost level-headedness.

1) The Game One choke job was like a severe kick in the nuts. I didn't notice how much it hurt at first, but once the pain came, it made me shrivel up and hide. As such, my spirit has probably been a black testicle for about two weeks.

2) Once we were down 3-1 in the series, I came to grips with the fact that we were going to lose. The odds were too high. As such, I was much worse last Monday that I am today.

3) I have only had about two hours sleep. That may mean the loss hasn't really sunk in yet. I do know that I flip the channel whenever I see anything related to last night on the television. So I may be just avoiding things.

4) The World Cup is starting to get really interesting, which eases the transition. Normally I feel a big gap between the end of the Oilers season--which usually happens a lot sooner--and the beginning of the NFL regular season. Baseball doesn't always work, because I don't get to see much of anyone other than the Jays. Watching France choke is a cool balm on my soul.

5) My fantasy baseball league also eases the pain. Soon, so too will the preparation for my NFL league. It doesn't hurt that Cosh and Abboud have the two worst teams in our division. Actually, it feels pretty good, since the former was talking trash about my team as late as yesterday afternoon, and the latter has refused all season to make any moves to enhance the quality of his team.

6) Madden 2007 is what, a month and a half away? That means enough time has passed that I am again convinced that spending a whole weekend playing video game football with Kimmis, Abboud and Muhly is an awesome idea.

7) Everyone else is in pain, which means I don't have to be. That sounds worse than I intended it to, so let me explain. It's like going to a funeral, being really sad, but ending up as the positive force in the room because you have a bunch of friends who can't keep it together. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a ball of sunshine today. It's just ended up that this time around, I get to do all the loving, instead of being the one getting the hugs.

8) In the grand scheme of things, I have been pretty lucky. In the past three years, my three favorite sports teams have made it to the finals (BoSox, Eagles, Oilers). That is a pretty good run, considering the recent and historical futility of all three franchises. Of course, in the GREAT BIG GRAND scheme of things, only one of those teams has won in the finals. But as an Irishman, it's pretty much the best I can expect from God, so I’ll take it.

9) If the Oilers had won last night, it would have been the second time in three years that one of my teams had accomplished the improbable. Not only would the Oilers have been the first NHL team since 1942 to come back from being down 3-1 in the Finals to win the Stanley Cup, and only the 2nd NHL team ever to do so, they would have been the first 8 seed to take it all. The Boston Red Sox were the first ever baseball team to win a series after being down 3-0. And they did it against the Goliath of professional sports, the New York Yankees. Frankly, the one comeback was a miracle. It would have been unreasonable to expect another two years later.

10) It could be worse. I could be a Flames fan.