Now, I don’t want to shock you, but take a glance at the NL Central standings. Yeah, the Brewers lead the division by three games, and are the only ones above .500. Now, as weird as that must be to read as a Cubs or Cards fan, imagine what it must be like for me.

I have spent nearly my entire sports-fan life with out any semblance of success from my Brew Crew. We have suffered years of downright awfulness (read: pretty much any time between 1993 and 2004), years of mild accomplishment (2005) and years of disappointment (2006).

How am I supposed to deal with this new type of season? I have tried using what I have observed from winners in the past: basking in the glory, taunting floor-mates and friends and dissecting our chances at the playoffs and beyond. But, I’m not programmed that way.

I’m much more comfortable blaming injuries, deriding relief pitchers and waiting till next year. What am I supposed to do, now that we have no serious injuries, the best 8-9 combination in the bigs and that this is finally (maybe) our year?

It feels so weird now, when commenting to my friends, I hear back the things I used to spit out. Cubs fans tell me to look at the injuries, Cincy fans talk about next year and Cards fans are content as last year’s team.

We have put together, through years of smart drafting and astute player development, a very solid baseball team-a team that’s actually fun to watch.

But, what are we supposed to do now? Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy, Bill Hall and Ben Sheets are all ready to become legitimate stars and All-Stars. But, Doug Melvin has orchestrated multi-player deals better then anyone else, selling stars high for a collection of role players.

The Brewers have traded off their most popular player for the last four years (Richie Sexson, Scott Posednick, Lyle Overbay and Carlos Lee), but it’s what we expected-we couldn’t afford those players for too long. But, now those role players are coming through, and we aren’t sure what we are supposed to do.

I imagine that it must be weird being in a new role for you St. Louis fans. Only once in my life have I rooted strongly for a team that ended up winning it all (although, I did have a lot of fun with the 2001 Marlins). The 1997 Green Bay Packers captured the hearts and souls of the state of Wisconsin, sending us all into bliss when we defeated the New England Patriots.

Packers fans are still reeling from that win, actually. Finally, we are again ready to be next year’s team, hopefully in time for Aaron Rodgers to be the next quarterback. Our team was dismantled so slowly that only Brett Favre’s 36th birthday finally convinced fans that maybe it wasn’t going to be our year.

The Brewers, though, have snuck up on us. They regressed slowly enough, disappointed us long enough, that I, for one, am genuinely surprised.

But that does not mean we, as fans, are done. Chances are, if you know a Brewers fan, you are hearing all about Ben Sheets’ injury. I heard the outcry that came from Milwaukee when he pulled up lame after spinning around to watch a groundball out in my dorm room at Gries. All of a sudden, it was all my friends and I could talk about.

I guess that old habits die hard. We can only gush over Hardy’s six home runs for so long, or Fielder’s bid for ownership of the Cubs, regardless of who buys them. We need to make a goat of Greg Aquino when we have plenty of arms in the minors to take over.

But I can hear you Cards and Astros fans grinding your teeth, reacting poorly to our faux-lamentations. “Just wait for July or August, Brewer-boy, we’ll see who the real franchises are in this division.”

The thing is, you are probably right. The Brewers will lose a pitcher or two, Cordero and Turnbow will cool off and midseason wonder boys Yovanni Gallardo and Ryan Braun might not be all they are cracked up to be. We will tumble from atop the division, slide into Wild Card contention and eventually lose out.

But, with a winning record, Zach Jackson and company in the minors and a general manager and manager who inspire confidence, this team has the makings of a contender. You will be able to write the headlines for us: “Look out, 2008, here come the Brewers.”