How quickly hopes change

Golden State looked shot at one point this season. Actually, at many points they were shot. They had to win nine of their last ten games to scrape into the playoffs, for the first time in 13 years. Holy moly! So there was an expectation wildly exceeded. That wild excess seemed like nothing when the Warriors, as seed number eight of eight, beat the number one seed, Dallas in six games, 4-2. Holy cow! So of course, expectations went up, even though they'd been met in the same way that a freight train meets a bug on the tracks.

What happened next? Four of five ESPN employees picked the Warriors to beat the Jazz. Even though they're supposedly, purportedly, reputedly, allegedly the underdogs. When everyone is on them, there's only one way to go.

And yet at the end of game 1, when I clicked onto the ESPN scoreboard, there it was: GSW 116 beat Utah 112. On closer inspection it was actually the other way round. So they lost. But it was at Utah, and they did have a chance right at the end. So what now? Maybe they bounce back, shock the Jazz at home and go back to Oakland with their insane crowd for games three and four. Or maybe they lose, maybe they lose badly, and come back home with just that slight dent in their halo. Hell, they could be out in four games. Then everyone would be crushed, Dallas a distant memory. At the start of the series I thought the Warriors were a real chance. If they can snatch game 2, they'll win the whole thing. If not, well.... who gives a crap anyway.