Nothing

I've officially lowered my expectations of the Leafs to... whatever.

Do the same. You'll stay sane.

Just completed Ken Burns' baseball documentary, The Tenth Inning. It took me about a month to get through. Yes, it's quite long. But no, it's not because it was that long. Get a 9 month old and you'll see what I mean. You watch, do anything else when you can. The rest of the time, you parent. Anyway, the story basically chronicles the game of baseball from the strike of 1994 to just after the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. There's a bunch of steroid BS in there, but the feel good tale of the Red Sox prevails. Man, what a relief for those fans, still alive. Talk about a miracle, still living, breathing and seeing with your own eyes the moment it all went down. For those Red Sox nation members who had unfortunately passed on before 2004, friends and family wound up placing commemorative championship flags next to their grave stones as if to say, "the deed's been done, you can now rest in peace". It was a touching moment to an already heart tugging, heart breaking story. Oh, that '04 Red Sox victory parade brought out an estimated 3 million previously tortured souls for a collective exorcising of demons. The whole Red Sox story line got me thinking about those Maple Brothers.

How many people do you think would turn out for a Leafs Stanley Cup parade?

How many showed up in 1967?

Was it a national event back then, the same way it might be if it were to happen in the future?

And for god's sake, when might that be?

It's been long enough, hasn't it?

Wait a minute. Besides verbal abuse, constant mocking from others, perpetual embarrassment, etc. what do Leafs supporters really have to complain about? We're not even at the half century mark yet. The Red Sox title drought extended 9 decades. The Cubs' run of futility, similar to the Leafs without an end in sight, has already passed the 100 year mark. The Blackhawks just ended a 50 some odd year slump. So gee wiz, folks.. 43 seasons of going without ain't nothing at all.

Nothing.

Now that's the right word for what the Leafs are about. Not to mention comfortably suited, and situated when positive anticipation of what might be next cruelly takes hold. I'm telling you, expectation doesn't amount to much, especially when not much is expected. Foolishly, recently I had strayed from this discipline. Thankfully, the Leafs have put me back in line. The Red Sox? Well, they've proven there's nothing wrong with nothing. And hey, one day it might even amount to something.