I never fail to be amazed by how stupid this whole enterprise is suppsoed to be. How mindless. The fans are supposed to act like idiots, cheer mindlessly, because, well, they are fans, and that's what they do. Thinking is a sign of a bad fan. The organization is supposed to leave everything on the line to win every single game, no matter how pernicious the effects, no matter how unimportant the game, or how little sense it makes for the future. Because somehow somewhere that's been written.
Its all an immensely simplistic and short sighted view of the purpose of the whole enterprise. The only acceptable purpose is to win today, this game, right now. And that's never the way it works, in life, sport, or anything else. Barring ridiculous luck, you plan for your future, or you do not have one.
The players have to come to play. Well...they don't think so. Some of ours only play when they want to despite the millions they are being paid. But in theory they have to come and bounce a ball. That's their contractural duty if nothing else. Everyone else, fans included, should be allowed to use their grey matter. To think, scheme, plot, plan, anticipate consequences and generally do anything else it takes to accomplish the real goal of this enterprise, which is not to win some meaningless game at the tail end of a lost season.