If The "Chariots Of Fire" Theme Had Lyrics I'd Post Them Here

A few thoughts as we draw closer to "Patriot Games":

• I still think Alex's comment about Sanjay was out of line (more on what that might mean for next week in a minute), but otherwise maybe I was a little too harsh to her in my recap.  Her other comments were funnier the next few times I watched her scenes (especially the repeated "BAM!"s at the beginning even after she lost her glasses).  And she did get brought down to earth a little bit by Claire ignoring her back at Jay's house.
• But why (other than the fact they used her comments for the voice over for the final scene where the family rebuilt the castle together) was Alex presenting the integrity award when it seemed like Principal Brown was presenting all the other awards?
• One opinion I had in the recap hasn't changed: I think it is almost certain Alex will not be winning the mile run to decide who's valedictorian.  I think her winning all of those awards at Sanjay's expense last week is a set-up for disappointment for this week (the episode's title may prove even more prophetic than I thought - remember that New England Patriots team a few years ago that won every game except the one that mattered the most?  And make no mistake, I'm pretty sure in Alex's eyes being valedictorian is like winning the Super Bowl.).  That, and again given the show's past history (especially this season) of usually giving Alex the short end of the stick (she's always been the one character least likely to get a happy ending), and the fact she did beat out Sanjay 4 years ago for middle school valedictorian seems to reduce her chances.  A couple of weeks ago I had the chances as 50% Alex loses, 40% a tie and 10% Alex wins.  Now? Probably 75% loss, 20% tie, 5% win, and that 5% is probably optimistic.  Maybe that's just the pessimist in me trying to reduce the dread factor of this episode (I'll share my analogy on this on Wednesday), but...
• On the other hand, I am still very much looking forward to this episode, since this still may finally be the time for Alex to get that steady relationship she's been missing for the past six seasons.
• There probably will be a press release for the season finale out this week, but unless there's new information that concerns Alex beyond what we already know I probably won't comment on it but instead I'll just simply post a link in an unrelated post.