Mets Mourning

 

So, the dream ended last night.

The team had won 101 games but couldn't get past a talented and feisty San Diego Padres squad.

By the time the clock struck midnight, the New York Mets season had ended.

Sports aren't fair. They aren't meant to be fair. You have to play the games and nothing is just handed.

Except for Tom Brady but I digress. Oh, come on, you were likely thinking it.

You might be thinking that I have no business discussing this. I'm a Yankees fan. A Steelers fan.

My teams -- adding in the Knicks and Rangers -- have won 16 championships in my lifetime.

Though let's be clear, I don't remember the Knicks' titles. In fact, most people seem to think they were a dream at this point.

On the other hand, I know some heartbreak. Rooting for a winning team also means getting to the doorstep and not crossing the threshold.

I still lament 1981 and 1995 and 1997 and 2001 and 2004 (though nothing happened since I'm still in denial) and a couple of Super Bowls I prefer to forget.

I get that the Mets fan is still haunted by the late-season collapses of 2007 and 2008 and, well, let's just not talk about 2000.

The Mets fan would be well-served to not be "happy that we made the World Series" as if they so much as swung a bat. It's dog pile or bust.

Championship or nothing.

I'll be licking that same wound in a week or two.

Yet, as much as sports has been my life and I've been fortunate to work in that world, it doesn't define me. It's not entirely who I am.

What I'm saying is that the sun came up today. This stuff shouldn't define who we are.

After that horrible night when the Yankees lost to the Mariners in 1995, I got up, got dressed, and went to work the next day.

I did the same in 2004, not wanting to talk about the collapse to the Red Sox but I knew I'd have to.

The simplest thing to do is take the high road, smile, and congratulate the other team. It feels awful but it's (in my opinion) the right thing to do. 

So, today, the Mets fans would be wise to note the Padres played the better series. Internally, be mad at your team for laying the proverbial egg, because that's what happened.

But hold your head high. Maybe stay off social media. Also, perhaps avoid sports media. I'm talking from experience here.

I'm not mocking you, Mets fans. I know that you've dealt with quite a bit of your own hurt over the 60 years of your experience. All I'm trying to do is share my experience and how I've worked through it.

So after it's over, I congratulate the other team but I also wear my team's stuff to show I'm proud of them -- win or lose. Even as I'm seething at them.

As I said, I fully expect to deal with it again soon. I don't have a lot of faith in the Yankees.

But that's what sports do to us. We think we're done with them and then we dust ourselves off and climb right back in.

Sort of like "The Godfather" in that way.

Oh, it's going to hurt for me just like it's hurting for you today. 

Thirty teams started the season with the same dream. For some, it's more realistic than others. The Mets had a realistic chance to win a title this year and the frustration and disappointment poured out today.

Justifiably.

But the Mets consider themselves to be a direct descendent of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Well, you know what they used to say about the Dodgers after they'd come up empty every October?

Wait till next year.

Let this image burn in your soul