I am going to speak of the word anticipation, somewhat in the sense of Margaret Atwood, who spoke of science fiction as anticipation, though I am speaking solely of sports at this juncture. There is expectation and anticipation and the two often work together, though not always for the better. At this point, people expect the KC Chiefs and the Philly Eagles to be good teams. There are tiers to these things. The Bills and Ravens are on a tier of positive expectation. The Browns and the Cowboys are very much not.
Anticipation is different. In this regard it is the feeling of possibility–the wondering of what could and what may come of a thing. In this regard that thing is the NY Giants season, and to an equal degree, the New York Jets season. When I think about both I find that expectation enhances anticipation. I expect the Giants will be a terrible football team. I expect them to be ‘in’ six or seven games this season. I expect they will win 2-4. I anticipate there will be far more exciting moments than I expect. Likewise, the rebuilt Jets are expected to be better on defense, but I anticipate they will be a fun watch–primarily because I have no real expectations in regards to the ball club. Are they a playoff team? I don’t know… Probably not.
Both of these NY teams are teams I love and while I expect more from the Jets, I hold an equal level of anticipation for both teams, namely because both teams are not expected to be very good and when the expectations are lowered, anything that does happen is a happening. This occurred once before under Daboll when he was able to lead the G-Men to a playoff win, which unfortunately set them back two entire seasons while releasing Barkeley to become the Madden cover star he is today (watch out, quon!).
The season is close. I’m here for it. I’m definitely not excited as I was in the past, but that has to do with expectation. Anticipation is at a high.