Now that the L.A. Kings have dispatched the Devils - and in so doing did every Ranger fan out there the favor of a lifetime - what to do until football season?
Naturally being a Mets' fan, summer can be a little, shall we say, lacking in suspense, unless of course the suspense you're talking about is trying to determine how the Amazins will collapse down the stretch. The last three years, even that has managed to allude us.
But this year, the Boys of Spring have done something rather unusual. With a payroll almost half of what last year's was, team Wilpon has been the surprise of the 2012 season. The starting pitching has been the envy of the league and David Wright - the last holdout of the '06 team that was one strike away from going to the World Series - is having an MVP season.
Going into a weekend subway series at Shitty field with the Yankees, the Mets record stands at 38 and 32 and they are three games out of first. Of course the summer has just begun and that's the time of year that every Mets' fan knows all too well. The tease of spring turns into disappointment as the dog days of summer eventually wilt yet another promising season. Oh death where is thy sting?
Wait till next year has become the mantra for us. In fifty years - yes, it's been that long - this franchise has been to four World Series and won two of them. In that same time the team that plays across town in the Bronx has been to fourteen and won eight. Just admitting that is painful enough. The hardest part is knowing that even if this team manages to get close - say stay within four or five games of first and a game or two out of the wild card - the owners, in all likelihood, will not shell out the dough to get the missing chip that might actually put them over the top.
And that has been the most bitter of pills to swallow for Mets' fans for half a century. Not only is this team clearly the second team in a two-team town, its owners won't commit to doing whatever it takes to change that reality. Mutt and Jeff, fresh off of catching the break of a lifetime when the Madoff trustee settled for less than half of what he was seeking, decided not to invest in the team (e.g., go shopping for some free agent talent). Instead they sat on their wallets and played Moneyball.
As if that wasn't bad enough, they managed to convince ten very rich suckers to pony up $20 million each for a non-voting piece of this marvelous second-place team. One of those suckers - Bill Maher - apparently must be doing very well with his HBO gig. If I'm Obama, I'm thinking where's my other nineteen mill, Bro?
There's no sense denying it. This season is shaping up as yet another huge disappointment. I can just see it now. The team - lead by the clutch hitting of David Wright and the stellar pitching of R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana - will flirt with first for most of the season. Then, just before the trading deadline with a pennant in reach, Frick and Frack will issue orders to dump Santana's contract for a couple of minor leaguers, who we'll be told will allow us to challenge for the title in future years.
Yes, it's always about the future in Queens. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, as they say. Fortunately, right about the time the Wilpons shit all over the 2012 season, I'll be watching Eli Manning taking snaps in pre-season football games as the Giants prepare to defend their Super Bowl title.
I don't get the chance to say this all too often, so here goes. I root for at least one New York team that hasn't choked and has managed to win a couple of championships over the last five years. That team is most definitely NOT the Mets!
