You can choose to believe me on this or not, but I was literally born the day that Bud Selig took over the Pilots, April 1, 1970. I was too young to see much of the horrific early years of Alex Grammas. My formative years, where I acquired my love for baseball in general and the Brewers specifically, aligned exactly with the "glory years" of 78-82. For better or worse, they are my team, always have been, and it hasn't been easy almost all of the time. Like others, while I was really bummed about the collapse last year, I could understand it, young, pitching wasn't really there, etc. This year WAS the year. I have been emotionally drained every game this year, and it feels like that emotional investment increases exponentially every game. Last night was horrible. The effects of a collapse will be that the hard core fans will remain, probably more jaded (if that's possible with this franchise), probably more guarded and less emotionally invested. Bandwagon fans will decrease rapidly as the sting of the collapse combines with CC and Sheets going elsewhere, there just won't be anything to get excited about. I will say that if Ned is not fired if they collapse, I will find it extremely hard to have any emotion over this franchise any more. Finally, I'm aware that I'm at times a glass is half empty kinda guy when it comes to my sports, but I'm really struggling to see how 2008 wasn't THE window, and once Sheets and CC are gone, I can't see a scenario where they compete in the near future. Not in this division with the big spending Cubs, Cards... In the end after the bluster and the frustration, I'll still be a fan, I honestly just am struggling this morning to envision how I let myself get my stomach in knots every game next year... But, I know I will. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif