Mets Fans, Prepare for Failure

The Deep End #16

Opening Day is upon us. In just a few days, the New York Mets will put cleats to dirt at Citi Field and commence what is already shaping up to be a pretty bleak season for everyone’s favorite team based in Queens, New York (unless you’re partial to New York City FC II, who also play in Queens—if you are, please leave).

Anyway.  If you were born in New York City and had any inkling of a spine, chances are you would become a Mets fan. The Mets are the team of the people. The lovable losers who you can always count on to break your hearts right as you finally believe the tides are going to turn.

Growing up ten minutes from Shea Stadium/Citi Field meant all of my friends shared the passion of supporting this franchise with me. With the Mets comes the Jets, too. In other words, our sports fandom was completely and utterly f*cked from the beginning.

We’ve come close, but sadly none of us have ever had the chance to experience a championship victory. Here are some moments to spark some PTSD for my fellow Mets and Jets fans:

-       In 2006, when I was nine, I remember crying after Carlos Beltran looked at a called strike three without moving a muscle. This happened during game seven of the NLCS, and propelled the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series while poor David Wright and co. got a head start on their offseason golf training.

-       In 2009 and 2010, Rex Ryan AND Mark Sanchez and the Jets came one win away from reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1968 season.

-       In the 2015 playoffs the Mets were scorching hot. Sadly, their sweep of the Chicago Cubs to get into the World Series meant they got a chance to cool down while waiting almost a week for their opponent to be decided. This led to the Kansas City Royals coming in hot against the cold Mets. The Mets stood no chance, getting steam rolled by the Royals four games to one. Ouch.

Don’t even get me started on Carmelo Anthony getting traded to the Knicks and decimating a team jam packed with talented players like Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mosgov, and Raymond Felton.

In other words, sport hasn’t been kind to us. And why do they need to?

Back when sports weren’t fiercely influenced by legalized gambling, there was a grittiness to the game which is now lost. Fans of the NBA, MLB, and NFL (I believe hockey is exempt from this, but more hardcore fans may disagree) must admit the passion, heart, and soul of the game has been wrecked by dollars—salaries, merchandise, stadium costs, advertising, and much more. Teams were obviously in it for the money. But now they really don’t care to hide it.

This is why the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and honestly all other New York teams will never win another championship. The Mets, Jets, and Knicks are synonymous with losing. It’s what they do best. Yet, they are consistently ranked as the most valuable teams in their respective leagues and the world. Why?

Because they play in New York City. There are enough people here that the money is going to be made no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the team is winning—they don’t need to produce a perennial winner like the Kansas City Chiefs do in order to be at the top of the revenue heap. The Jets do it while making a consistent mockery of themselves—which only boosts their bottom line.

So, do I believe the Mets have a shot this season? Yea, no. They won’t accomplish much. The only high ranking the team will get is in the Forbes list of most valuable sports franchises.

Frankly, I’ll probably never see a Mets or Jets championship in my lifetime; there just isn’t a need for it. The leagues need the small market teams to reign supreme to help spread the wealth, while us New Yorkers will continue forking over dollars regardless of the product on the field.

Anyway. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Mets will be good. But we’ll have to wait till Thursday to find out.