Chairman How's Glorious Army
Significantly Lowering the Bar Since 2008.

Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.

– Julius Caesar

It’s been a long time since I had any need to quote something in Latin. I am an historian, yes, but my area of study is far more recent and far more American than the ancient world. I vaguely remembered this quote from some fucking class or another; odds are I was drunk or stoned at the time, or staring at the ass of some girl that would never give me the time of day if my life depended on it.

Those days are long since gone, vanished into the ether many years ago. Like most of the people I know, I am no longer the angry and half-mad drunkard I used to be. I’ve become a somewhat respectable member of the community; a homeowner, a husband, and whatever other label you’d like. Still, one large part of my life has managed to reach out and caused me to remember that quote: this year’s edition of the Syracuse Crunch.

This has been a very hard year to be a fan of this team. After the bluster and swagger of last year’s Nasty Boys crew, it was so easy to get drawn in and fully believe. This was the year. This was the year these guys would put it all together. There were enough key pieces of the puzzle that were coming back. There was the promise of young blood that would light up the league. This was a team determined to erase last year’s monumental playoff collapse. It was laid out in an almost perfect manner…this was the year to break through and be a serious contender for the Cup.

It started out as perfectly as anyone could hope — a red hot October and piles of highlight goals to watch. Rock solid defense and what appeared to be an esprit de corps that was so obvious and tangible. We could be forgiven for thinking that last year had ever ended, really. For a brief moment, it was so easy to suspend disbelief and live within that bubble.

Then, little by little, the cracks began to show, and the bubble burst. The Wilson callup was puzzling. The Columbus orders to make Smitty a healthy scratch were nonsensical. The injuries to any number of guys hurt. The Kelly-Yates shouting match on the bench was ugly, and pointed to something bigger than any of us imagined lurking just below the surface. Bit by bit, it all began to add up. From 6-1 in October to 1-10 in December. Standing ovations on Opening Night led to booing the boys off the ice on New Year’s Eve. What the fuck happened?

There’s no easy answer to that. The callup/injury/trade crutch is a weak one. Has playing with a decimated roster hurt? Sure it has, but the game still needs to be played. Is it fair to point the finger at coaching? You can, sure, but all the coaching in the world isn’t going to put one fucking puck into the net on its own. Leadership, perhaps? Maybe, but even the best leaders can’t reach everybody all of the time.

That brings us back to Julius. As he said, men willingly believe what they wish. That, I think, is the trouble…this is a team that could and should be so much better than it is, but I’m not so sure that they believe that. That’s what made last year so unforgettable and so rare — every single guy in a Crunch uniform bought into the bigger picture. We’ve seen Crunch teams that were more talented on paper, but never one that was so singular and so united. Every team in the league knew it. Hell, they admit it; maybe they’d beat the Crunch, but they’d have to fight for their lives in the process. Every game was a fight to the death, and there were few teams that were willing to ride that fine line. That’s what made the last four months of the season so gut wrenching, stomach churning and maddeningly beautiful to watch…

…and we were spoiled by it. Is it possible for this group of guys to get back into this thing and make some noise down the stretch? Absolutely it is. Anything is possible; we learned that last spring. We’ve all seen the flashes of brilliance and grit this year. What’s missing is, as has been pointed out by the players themselves, that sense of belief. This is what a team with an identity crisis looks like. It’s not the Nasty Boys, nor is it a freewheeling offensive juggernaut, no matter how hard they try to be. They are the sum of their parts, and for this thing to work, that has to be greater than their individual value. The doubt has seemingly creeped behind closed doors. For it to disappear, they must be willing to be better than this. They are better than this. For that to happen, though, they have to be willing to believe it first. With that belief, this can happen again:

Without that belief, the ice will be melted on April 11th.