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Make Us Love…The New York Mets (what the…?)
By Jay Busbee | March 7, 2007
Continuing our mission to have zealots convert the unfaithful, “Make Us Love” takes on its most difficult challenge yet…making us love the hated New York Mets. (Yes, we know they’re not a southern team by any possible stretch of the imagination, but the rivalry aspect makes this one fun.) Holding forth for the orange and blue is Jordi Scrubbings, proprietor of the always-enjoyable Serious Tip. Take it away, Jordi…and don’t give that Kenny-Rogers-walk-to-Andruw-Jones-to-lose-the-99-NLCS another thought…
Wow. What a difficult topic. How to make an absolute stranger love the team I have been maddeningly following (or just mad at) for over 20 years. Sounds easy, right? Just extol the highest, most positive virtues of my favorite team.
Unfortunately, to borrow from rap legends Naughty by Nature, positive isn’t where Mets fans lived. For most of the organization’s 45 year history, we’ve resided around the corner from Cubs fans and two blocks from Mariners fans in the Neighborhood of No Hope. Although we had our run of the city in late 80s, we’ve too often had to watch from our low-talent tenement as the Yankee Empire dominated the skyline.
Lacking the prestige and financial muscle of the multi-media corporate Evil Empire from the Bronx, the Mets have become a team for the working class. A team whose failures have been the stuff of legend, stories the common man or woman could relate to in his or her own efforts through life. As John Leo wrote in U.S. News and World Report prior to the 2000 World Series, “The Yankees are the team of HMOs, Big Oil, and Big Tobacco … Mets fans, on the other hand, are members of ‘working families.’ … Unlike Yankees fans, they don’t expect to win every year, and they don’t throw tantrums or complain bitterly to their butlers in those off years when they don’t win the pennant.”
So why should you like the Mets?
· Young stars – For the first time since those swingin’ 80s, the Mets’ farm system has produced two legitimate all-stars in the persons of David Wright and Jose Reyes. As long as neither player develops a career-stifling cocaine problem, the left side of the Mets infield should be set for a long time.
· Cheesy songs – No organization prides itself on hokey, cheesy public relations jingles like the Mets. From Meet the Mets, to Let’s Go Mets, to Our Team, Our Time, to Think Big, the Mets are responsible for more bad musical performances than Ashley Simpson. But you know you can’t help but sing along.
· Superstars – Besides Reyes and Wright, the Mets are chock full of superstars such as Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Oliver Perez. Ok, maybe not Oliver Perez. How about Tom Glavine? [Editor’s note: Woohoo! Tommy G!]
· Mets websites/blogs – Although every team has its nation of fans in these Internets, in my biased opinion some of the best sites are run by Mets fans (sorry, Jay). There is the Ultimate Mets Database, Mets by the Numbers, Matthew Cerrone’s Metsblog, Greg and Jason’s Faith and Fear in Flushing, and Jeff Brohel’s Metsquire among many, many others.
· The Quest for .500 – Currently at a career record of 3,408-3,742, the Mets are only 334 games under .500 as a franchise. This gives them the 8th worst winning percentage among active teams. With 10 straight years of 98 victories per season, the Mets should be .500 by 2017 – as long as they keep Reyes and Wright away from the drugs.
· No-hitters – As good as the legendary arms of yesteryear have been, not one pitcher has ever been perfect in a Mets uniform. Only the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays share in this dubious honor. And none of those teams once had Nolan Ryan (7 no-hitters), Tom Seaver (1), David Cone (1), Dwight Gooden (1), or Hideo Nomo (2).
· Mr. Met – Big bulbous head, perpetual smile, numerous SportsCenter promo appearances, and friend of Condoleezza Rice. What’s not to like about a mascot that’s been with the team since the early days of Choo-Choo Coleman and Marvelous Marv?
So come on out and root for the Mets this year. There’s room in our bandwagon bungalow for everyone. Even Braves fans.
Thanks, Jordi! We do believe he may have redeemed Mets fans everywhere…or at least those that blog. The Serious Tip and SGS are trying to figure out some kind of cheesy season-long bet like mayors of opposing cities make come playoff time. Jordi didn’t want anything that would involve naming rights to his children, which is a shame because my daughter DerekJeterKicksAss would love a playmate named ChipperRulez (boy or girl). Thoughts?
Topics: Make Us Love... |
