Friday Cannon Fodder: back, gearing up, and running in

Happy Friday, y’all. Like the Arsenal men tomorrow morning against Leeds, CF is back, baby. Even though the Gunners play just one match a week through the end of the season, I’m anticipating an exhausting sprint to the finish. If the title race thus far has taught us anything, it’s that the anxiety and emotion are turned up to 11 when every match feels as if it could be the difference between lifting the trophy and a heartbreaking second place. It’s hard to imagine how things could feel more intense, but I’m confident that over the final 10 matches of the Premier League season, they will. Brace yourselves.

How worked up do you get about Arsenal, both generally and during matches? I like to think that I keep it relatively even-keel most of the time, but I can definitely get fired up about certain things — dirty, injurious play by opponents and bad calls (in my eyes) are two hot buttons for me. I know that refereeing bit comes as a shock to y’all. Arsenal support aside, I think it stems from a deep-seated sense of fairness — poor refereeing in any match and across all sports bothers me.

I used to let disappointing results from my sports teams put me in a foul mood for several hours afterwards, but fortunately, I’ve moved past that. It’s just a game, after all. That growth came from centering myself on the concepts that sport is meant to be fun and that I’m choosing to spend my free time watching it. In essence, I was choosing to be miserable by letting losses get me so down. Life is too short and there is too much else to do for that.

Are y’all gonna make it through the run-in?