Be a fan 

Posted 11:25 AM by Sean
"It's better to light a candle, put on a big lacy shawl, light a bunch more candles, and twirl around a lot than to curse the darkness."
--Stevie Nicks

Okay, wail. Gnash your teeth if you have to. Bemoan the lack of focus, the failure to put batters away with two strikes, the failure to put innings away with two outs, the baserunning lapses, the fielding lapses, the bad hitting. All of these are valid. You have the rest of today.

And then it stops. Because it's times like these that you show your true colors.

Be a fan. Did we have a bad spin through the rotation? Absolutely. But when you go three months putting together the best ERA in the league and suddenly lose it against the worst team in the division, it seems to me that "fluke" is the word that best obtains.

Be a fan. If you follow this team, you've been here before - and recently. Remember last September? Remember dropping five out of six from September 18-24 against Texas, Seattle, and Oakland? Remember what happened after that?

Be a fan. What, did you think it would be easy? You knew better than that. But you also know this isn't the kind of team that folds up its tent and skulks away. Ask the A's about that. Ask their fans if they see Erstad doubling high off the wall in their nightmares.

To be honest, there's not a lot the average person can do to help their team out. What happens in the clubhouse and on the field has a lot more importance that what happens in the stands, or in the newspapers, or on somebody's blog. But what little you can do happens now. It's sticking with your team during the down times; showing some pride in what you are. It's realizing that in order to fully enjoy the victory, you have to leave yourself open to the defeats. It's proving you're not on a bandwagon, you're the damn band.

It's being what you are.

Be a fan. To hell with anything else.