Don't Stop Believing

You know how when you normally put your iPod on shuffle and it's really stupid, but there are those timely moments when it seems like the little machine is reading your mind? Mine is reading my mind right now.

#882/1496 on my top-rated shuffle: Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I don't think there's a more fitting song to start off my day.

I may have resigned myself to the fact that the series is possible [and more than likely] over, but will that stop me from supporting my team through to the very end? Absolutely not. Two nights of sleep after a disappointing loss gives me my optimistic edge back. It's a long way back to the top, people, but the Wings can do it, if they play these remaining games like every single one is a Game Seven.

Don't look at it as a "Oh, we have to win four in a row." Look at it as a, "Oh, we can win this one at home because there's no way we're going to let ourselves get swept at home," and then a, "Well, it's possible that we can steal one on the road," and then a, "Hey, we're back at The Joe! They can win it for us!" and then end it with a, "Well, it's Game Seven and we fought back from a 0-3 deficit to make it here. If we win, sweet, if we lose, at least we fought like crazy."

Now doesn't that sound a little easier and a little more possible? The tricky thing about it? The Red Wings need to think like this. Like Pierre LeBrun said in a video he posted yesterday, if there was one team out of the thirty that could pull this off, most people would say the Wings. But it's easier said than done.

Pray for consistent reffing on both sides of the call. Pray that the Red Wings play out of their damn minds. Pray that Nabokov has an off night and Jimmy Howard looks less like a rookie and more like Chris Osgood when he came in for Hasek in the 2008 playoffs. Pray that the Game Seven Red Wings show up.

Work today will be a test of my patience with people who believe they understand how much I love this sport. They know I'm a little more than obsessed, yes, but for me there's a difference between obsession and love. Wearing my Homer shirt and sporting some Wings earrings, I already know I'll be barraged with the, "So are they gonna wiiiiin?" taunts. And I will smile and say, "If they win, they win. If they lose, they lose. We're allowed to lose in the second round once every four years."

I'll be wearing my Franzen jersey during the game. It's 4-0 at the Joe and 1-0 at my house [1-0 in Game Sevens, mind you. This is sort of like a Game Seven!]. I hate to put this out there, but it's what my brother said to me before Game Seven, "Keep your eyes on Nick Lidstrom, because this could be the last game you see him play."

I sure as hell hope it isn't. We all do.