Expectations

It's been interesting watching the Chargers undergo a transformation this season.
They opened the season as a gutty little underdog just hoping to somehow make the playoffs. And now, four months later, they're the powerful favorite to win it all and nearly everybody's late-season choice as The Best Team in Football.
Watching that transformation has been nearly as interesting as watching the transformation of Charger fans.
Four months ago, football fans in "America's Finest City" would've been dancing in the streets over the prospects of a Chargers wild-card playoff game in Buffalo.
But things are different now.
Over the past nine weeks -- all Charger victories -- an increasing sense of entitlement has settled over San Diego.
Now, Charger fans don't just hope to get to the Super Bowl -- they expect it.
And this season, with the NFC being roughly as good as the Mountain West Conference, getting to the Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl are one and the same.
So, anything less than the Vince Lombardi Trophy is going to be a bitter disappointment to Charger fans this season.
With these increased expectations, Charger fans seem to be losing their sense of perspective.
Being The Best Team in Football is no guarantee of anything. Being the No. 1 seed and having home-field advantage is no guarantee of anything. The playoffs rarely play out according to form.
Road teams actually do win playoff games from time to time. It's been known to happen. We don't think Tom Brady or Ray Lewis are waking up in a cold sweat, worrying about a possible playoff game in San Diego.
Frankly, we're worried about Charger fans and the emotional letdown they're setting themselves up for. No San Diego team -- in any sport -- has ever been such a clear favorite to win it all, and we're worried about the emotional well-being of our fellow San Diegans, should the Bolts not reach the Super Bowl. We sense there's going to be a city-wide case of mass depression, the likes of which this town has never seen.
But don't worry, Charger fans. There's always Aztec basketball. Surely they won't disappoint anybody.