Instant Reaction: The Atlanta Braves' 2011 Wild Card Collapse in Context

I've been a Braves fan my whole life. When I was younger, I would literally watch every single game on TBS. Those were the days. Andruw Jones's walk-off walk in the NLCS is one of my all-time greatest memories.

I was in tears when Raffy Furcal got hurt and missed the second half of his sophomore year. I felt like I got shot in the kneecap when Chris Burke took Joey Devine deep. Even more recently, I just about broke down when Chipper went down for the season last year, and we thought we'd never see him again. 

And just now, I watched Freddie Freeman ground into a double play and end the Braves' season, capping a monumental and historic [promptly topped by the Red Sox] Wild Card collapse. And yet, I somehow felt very little emotion. I don't want to analyze it too deeply now because the event is too fresh. At the same time, I need to try to get a handle on why I'm so unfazed by this. I really hope this doesn't make me a bad fan. Bear with me through this quick rant. 

A Few Reasons Why This Didn't Move Me as Much as It Could and Should Have

1. As the lead shrunk, I was getting prepared for this possibility. Eventually, the nightmare scenario became realistic. I can't say I was caught by surprise. To be honest, before the game started I didn't think we had much of a chance.

2. Let's face it, this wasn't our season. Yeah, I know—once you get to the playoffs, anything is possible. But these are the Braves we're talking about. It was looking great in June and July, but once the injury bug hit the pitching staff, it became pretty clear that things just were not going to come together the way we wanted. I tempered my expectations. The good news here? Things are looking up. More on this in a future article, but the Braves have youth and a future. They're not the 2007Mets.

3. I think this is the biggest and most startling realization.  I'll write more about it later, but briefly: baseball just doesn't strike my emotional chords the way it used to. I don't want to say the game is not exciting anymore, or that I'm tired of it. Rather, it's that I just feel as though I've seen most of what there is to see in this game.

My emotional attachment to the team? Still there, but I just don't have the same bond to the current generation as I did with the older guys. Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Andruw, Javy Lopez, and, of course, Chipper. To me, those were, are and always will be the Braves.

I just haven't formed that bond with the younger guys yet. Right now, I'm hurt mostly because of Chipper, and the thought that his career would end like this. I don't feel the same pain with regards to Heyward, Freeman and Beachy. Their time will come. This collapse stings, but it, hopefully, should not be a killer. 

4. Maybe I'm dead inside? 

Hopefully not. Anyway, there's always next year.