St. Louis Cardinals 3 Cincinnati Reds 0: Fan Confidence and Decisive Wins

I'm excited about the Cardinals' win over the Reds, both in its particulars—Yadier Molina's giddy home run, Jake Westbrook's solid start, the continued unhittability of Fernando Salas, Eduardo Sanchez, and Mitchell Boggs, basically everything short of Albert Pujols's perpetual gimpiness turning briefly into an actual limp—and in general, coming as it does after a brutal loss and Brandon "#boophillips" Phillips's escalation of the nascent rivalry to 140-character proportions. 

But I'm predictably gunshy about boasting about it, given what happened after the series that inaugurated the rivalry in the first place. I don't expect Gerald Laird to develop post-concussion syndrome, but aside from that it's perpetually difficult for me to lighten up and assume the Cardinals are going to ride the momentum train to 2004-ville, and it was even before the Cardinals followed up the most stirring sweep in recent memory with a 22-27 run to close the season. 

So: I have another obligation, as per our new five-blades good, three-blades bad policy, to check up on our Fan Confidence poll. And I can tell that VEB in general seems to be as afraid to commit as I am. Despite the Cardinals' recent offensive hijinks, we're still at a collective 38 out of 100. If our St. Louis brothers are optimistic, or at least content, we're positively antinatalist by comparison—the Blues, who didn't make the playoffs, are at 57, and the Rams, who might not even play this season, are at 87. 

So: The Cardinals have topped the Reds and all is right with the world. How confident are you in Lance Berkman's continued ability to bat 1.000?