Friday, October 30, 2009

Yo, Meathead!

I am in the midst of one of the worst weeks of my life in terms of being a sports fan. Weeks like this don’t come around too often. The stars have to align perfectly—in this case, perfectly badly.

Just to make things clear at the outset, I root for the Mets and A’s in baseball; the Giants and Dolphins in football; and the Knicks in basketball. Anyone who understands sports loyalties and rivalries will now understand why things are so bad for me.

Let’s start with football. First off, the Giants lost to the Cardinals. That in itself was hard to bear, especially after the previous week’s blowout loss to New Orleans. We Giants fans want to see Big Blue mix it up with the big boys, not act the bully to the weaker teams in the league, then fold against the real competition. Besides, Giants fans are also used to the Cardinals being pushovers—the Jints had won 17 of the last 19 against Arizona, dating back to when the teams were division rivals in the old NFC East. To see the Giants on a two-game losing streak with a game against Philly this coming weekend is enough for a fan to get weak in the knees. The Giants must find a way to beat the Eagles or risk having their once-promising season spiral out of control.

The rest of the league didn’t cooperate one bit. Dallas and Philadelphia won, making the division race even tighter. And over in the AFC, Miami let a 21-point lead over the Saints evaporate into a humiliating loss. Compound that with wins by the Bills, Jets, and Patriots, and I can’t think of one thing that went right for me this weekend, other than the fact that the Redskins lost. But since they lost to the Eagles, it is a moot point, at best!

The crowning travesty is this mockery of a World Series that I must suffer through, along with my fellow Mets fans. I had already given up the season by mid-June, but this series is the final insult added to injury.

The Phillies versus the Yankees.

Which team do I hate more?

It’s a tough call. I have almost always hated the Yankees, and especially their fans’ sense of entitlement when it comes to winning championships. But over the last couple of years, Philadelphia has overtaken the Braves as the most hated team in the NL East, and the Mets should be chafing at the idea that their division rivals are in the Big Dance for their second year in a row.

There is no easy answer. I want them both to lose.

The rotten cherry on this steaming mess of melted ice cream is the Knicks. I just have no words for that team anymore.

Hockey, anyone?

1 comment:

Michael Burgan said...

Go Blackhawks!

Yeah, a tough Series to watch. And now Calhoun and UConn have another mini-scandal brewing...well, at least the women will dominate again. And the football team was this close to having a great season, Jasper Howard aside. Well, that's the latest from CT.