Some of us on BSB are optimists and some are pessimists, so let me start by saying that regardless of what I have shouted in the past few GDTs, I do not think anyone here is any less of a Rangers fan than me.

This is a high pressure time of the year. We have the chance at the top spot in the conference and even if we fall to 4th, a certain level of performance is expected of us. There is no doubt that all of us fans are a lot more high strung and emotional right now. The Rangers give up a crap goal, go down in the game, lose a game, and we react in the GDT. The pessimism in these reactions really needs to change.

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering

Well, the suffering here is by your fellow Rangers fans, when you act out like this.

Join me after the jump for a meaningless ramble.

I kind of like this Star Wars quote. It is true, that we are emotional because of fear - fear of losing the top spot, or not performing up to par. All that bullshit about anger turning you to the Dark Side, and the Dark Side being stronger but you lose control, all applies here. Pessimism is definitely much stronger than optimism.

Every time the chips are down in a game, some of us (like myself, Moshe, others) are the eternal optimists. We can turn the game around, we are only a goal from coming back to tie the game, we can play well the final 8 games and stay in 1st, or dropping to the 4th seed is not a death sentence. We can say that until our faces turn blue. We say it after bad goals and bad games because we believe in the team and have hope. But for every one of us that say this, there are 3-4 people that jump in with the back-breaking cynicism and pessimism. "There we go again", "Oh great there goes first", "Pathetic!", "Embarrassing!" ... Those comments are really will-crushing slaps in the face to the rest of us. It brings the whole mood of the thread down. It makes us argue amongst ourselves. It is really tiring.

I am not really asking people to curb themselves in any way, I am not trying to stomp out anyone's opinion or voice. I understand your emotions when you say that. It is because this is a team you love and care about and are therefor critical of, like a coach. You hold the team to a high standard. I get that, I do too. I guess I am just asking people to be mindful of the negative effects of cynicism. Understand that it makes a bad situation worse. Know that it is tiring to hear it after every goal allowed, every loss, and every day after. Try to see it our way, in a better light. Have faith in what we can still achieve and the road ahead.

Turn that frown upside down, little guy.