Who cares what happens from here?

In Tuesday's Washington Post (Feel-Good Story Continues to Unfold), William Gildea said the following:

At the risk of sounding provincial, I would say it's all right to keep on cheering without restraint for the home team, dream impossible dreams and stop worrying about the Nats fading in the National League East standings in the second half of the season. Enjoy. Not only is baseball back in Washington after 33 lost seasons, this team has treated its new fans to a half-season that rivals some of the best half-seasons in major league history. If that sounds preposterous, that's how it is.

We think that this is precisely the reasoning Nats fans should not adopt. Yes, it's great that the Nats have done so well so far, but Nats fans should ask of their team what all fans ask of their teams: try to win. If the Nationals do nothing to capitalize on their first-half performance, which almost certainly can't be duplicated in the second half, and fade out of the playoff picture by season's end, this will have been a "feel-good" season of sorts, but it will have been a lost opportunity, and we can't expect these kinds of opportunities to come along every year.