I watched the football on Sunday morning with the 2:00 a.m. kick-off (obviously).
There was nothing pleasurable about it.
I was delighted that Scotland won, got 3 points, and we're not (yet again) humiliated by a minor side in world football.
I can't say that I'm hopeful for games against Morocco and Brazil, and as I write this, it's Thursday, so it's like more than 24 hours to the Morocco game. The truth is, though, I'm a little bit hopeful.
I'm hopeful that we can create a miracle like the one we created against Denmark last November.
I'm hopeful that over two games against Morocco or Brazil, we can grab a point somehow, somewhere, against the odds.
If we did that, we would qualify for the second stage of a major tournament for the first time in our history.
In the back of my mind, I know that it's unlikely that this will happen, and I've followed Scotland for 50 years, so I understand what it's like, but as Idlewild noted in their amazing and extraordinary album of many years ago, ‘hope is important’. The hope that Scotland might pull something off is absolutely the same as the hope you or I have for many things in our lives. It doesn't matter that it might not work; we can be hopeful.
We can try for better, try for bigger, try for nicer, try for kinder.
We can strive forward to make a difference, or not.
Without hope, there is almost nothing; there is no urge to get out of bed in the morning, there is no urge to go to work, there is no reason to go above and beyond. Hope is super important.
Supporting the Scotland football team is an exercise in developing hope and stamina.
At some point somewhere, they will qualify for the second stage, maybe not now, maybe later.
I hope in my lifetime, but I'm not forced to get it; that's how hope works.
Blog Post Number - 4578