Leeds United are among the most storied teams in British football. They're also the team I've followed since 1972 when I watched the FA Cup final on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I had no idea the world of pain I was opening myself to at the time, but I decided to root for the team in the white kit. Leeds United FC. They won the Cup that day, and my life as a soccer fan, which began with glory of the mildest sort (FA Cup? Soccer? Huh?) continues to this day in a fair bit of sporting pain.

Ipswich Town 2, Leeds United 1.

Five games into the season, and Leeds has but 4 points and a goal difference of -1. For the second time in those five games, a man sent off and the game subsequently lost. This would be maddening if it were not for the comforting fact that the season continues through May.

In other words, it's too early to give up. Winning today's match would have put Leeds in the top ten in the League Championship; the loss puts us in twentieth. Way too early in the season. Things are very volatile, and teams are still developing. Games like this, and the Southampton and Middlesborough losses, are not encouraging, but the draw at West Ham shows the potential to do a lot better.

It's way too early. I remember several seasons back, Leeds' first in the First Division. Punished by the FA for going into administration (ie, bankruptcy) with a 15-point deducation to start the seasons, Leeds came out winning six in a row. No one could touch them. They simply torched everyone in their path. But by the end of the season, they'd cooled off, way off, and they were unable to win promotion that season. The hot, fast start simply got them out of danger of being relegated even further.

It's way too early.

Yes, I'd love to see a few more wins, or even draws, by now, and the play of some of the players isn't encouraing. The team's owner appears to have as little to spend as the Dodgers (I sure know how to pick 'em) but the players we have can at least stop getting red-carded! That's a matter of being smarter, of not getting in the position of making a foolish play. But until I see the team 15 points out of a playoff spot with a month left to play, I'm not going to give up. Get a run of results going, start working your way up the table (as other teams work their way down; it always happens), and the EPL for next season is not out of the question.

But only if they stop getting their asses red-carded into defeat.