Meet the Mets

I'll admit it. When John Buck hit a grand slam off of Mike Pelfrey on Friday night - Opening Night 2011 for the New York Mets - I said it.

"Here we go again. Same old Mets."

Several people sent me this Family Guy clip. SNY, the Mets-owned network, even started to air that clip at the end of the first game.

Yes, the Mets lost the opener. But then, despite a blown save Saturday night, the Mets won the next two games. They won their first series of the season -- on the road, no less. They didn't do that much last year.

"Being a Mets fan means enjoying a few fleeting moments of rapture in exchange for stretches of soul-crushing failure."

That's from a column in Sports Illustrated by Phil Taylor, a fellow Mets fan. It appears on the back page of the March 14th issue -- the one with Yankee Legend Joe DiMaggio on the cover. Of course there's a Yankee on the cover. When you're a Mets fan, you get used to taking a backseat to the Yankees. It's like being a President's little brother.

Financially, the Mets are a mess. Some of their best players are hurt. They play in a division featuring the team with the best starting rotation in baseball. Their own fans, like Chris Rock, make fun of them. And they've had some epic failures. Epic.

They've also been on the winning side of (arguably) the most remarkable and memorable game in World Series history. Yes, 1986 was a long time ago. I was in middle school. The Mets have been back to the World Series just once since then. In 2000. They lost to their historically more successful "big brothers", the Yankees.
 
But the Mets are my team. Thanks for the offers Yankee and Red Sox fans, but I'm not trading in my Mets gear. The "soul-crushing failure" hurts, but the "moments of rapture" will be worth it. And they will come. As we Mets fans say, "Ya Gotta Believe!"

Today's Title: Bob Costas gives it a shot, but messes up the words a bit