Going into a season with high expectations is, I think, only healthy. To hear that our players are doing the same as the fans — expecting the best, that is — is a reassuring point, but until we see it on the pitch, I expect there'll be a little bit of anxiety as supporters. It's only natural, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a touch of it myself.
After an unfortunate late-season collapse and revitalization, a mid-season slump, and a crushing blow early on, 2011 was filled with heartbreak. Sure, we're all moving past it as best we can, but we won't be able to (metaphorically!) exorcise those demons until the team's back out on the pitch and competing for silverware — and not the kind you'd eat with. I mean, I suppose you could drink out of the cups, but that seems wasteful and/or unnecessarily decadent. There's no shame in a little heartbreak, mind, but here are some things the team should look to do (or avoid suffering) during the impending season.
1. Don't let the thugs get to Javier. Not street thugs, either. Footballing thugs. If they come near him, we'll send Olave their way. (Perhaps we should call him NOlave. Or perhaps we shouldn't.) With a lad named Jonny Steele, too, we may confuse opponents into thinking we've recruited a martial arts fighter or some such into the side, and hopefully that'll act as a deterrent.
2. Don't stop believing. And no, I don't mean that we should pipe that Journey song across the stadium at kickoff. Banish the thought. But we did suffer a bit from belief — both a lack of and a misplaced belief — throughout the season. Part of it came from the rash of bad refereeing decisions sent our way, none of which did us any favors. Some of it descended from the disappointment in the continental cup competition final, which, for the purposes of our collective sanity, shall not be named.
3. Be a bit more lucky. Perhaps a curse or some such descended on us to cause that rash of refereeing decisions. I don't know. I do know, however, that there isn't some grand conspiracy against us, and though the league may consistently show themselves as awkwardly inconsistent, don't take that to mean that we're somehow the league's whipping side. If we get a little more luck in our decisions, we'll gain more points. I hope.
4. Continue blooding our youngsters. What a violent-sounding phrase! I don't mean that we should use leeches on them or anything of the sort. I just mean that we should continue giving them chances. Our senior players will, at some point, be injured. Not all of them, hopefully, and not to the extent that we saw last season. But in a long run of matches, we won't be able to submit our best XI week-in-week-out, and we've got to get behind our young players and support them. I don't doubt that we will as supporters, but it's worth remembering.
5. Don't smash people in the chest with your head. I'm looking at you, Kyle. Don't do it. (Beckerman, not Reynish. But I'd also not like to see Kyle Reynish do it. Or, if we sign another Kyle, I don't want to see him do it, either. Just saying. Hell, I don't want any of our players to do it. I'm selfish.) When a French legend does it, it's amusing (and heartbreaking, a bit.) When your player does it, it's confusing.
6. Let the goals flow. Sometimes, we seemed unlikely to score. Please don't let that happen again. If we score anything less than 1,000 goals this season, I'll be crushed. (Not literally.) (That's also an average of 20 goals a game in a 50 game season. So, uh, don't take me literally. Ever. Unless I specifically instruct you to, in which case, by all means, do.)
7. Beat the Rapids. Again. Hey, it's about time we won another Rocky Mountain Cup again, isn't it?
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