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So Fresh and so Clean
2006-05-04 05:11
by Alex Belth

Flipping around the tube last night, I caught portions of the Met game, which was mostly played through a steady rain out at Shea. I was surprised to see how many fans stuck it out, getting soaked in the process. Many simply seemed oblivious to the conditions. Man, you've got to be a devoted--or slightly crazed--fan to sit and get rained on for that long, as far as I'm concerned. I don't have that kind of tolerance. The Mets have an exciting team who has performed well early on, and it's cool to see the fans have responded to them. Met fans deserve to have a great guy like Carlos Delgado on their team. Great win last night.

Comments
2006-05-04 05:45:22
1.   Alex Belth
One of the reasons that the fans were out there I think is a) because the Mets are showing some promise and b) because Pedro started last night. The Yankees haven't had an "ace" like Pedro, where his starts become an "event" in a long time. RJ hasn't been great here, but even when he is dominant, he is a grinder, not a showman like Pedro.
2006-05-04 05:56:59
2.   Sliced Bread
Nice to see both NY teams atop their divisions this morning.

The Mets own the backpages of the NY rags for now. Both the Post and Deli News are running full-page photos of Delgado crossing the plate, burying A-Rod.

I guess 'Gado's 12th inning home run trumps A-Rod's 10th inning game-winning single.

Think about how lucky NY fans are to have players like Pedro, Delgado, and Rodriguez in town, and dominating the headlines.

And to make NY's thrilling victories (albeit against two last place teams) even sweeter, Boston's boy wondah closah blows the game, and Captain Cheapshot goes down looking with the tying run on third to end it. Good times all around.

2006-05-04 07:15:17
3.   vockins
I am pumped for the Mets fans. That team is good. I think they have to give up on Reyes, though.

I went to Shea in August of 2004. It was Asian Culture Appreciation Night. I think Kaz had been injured for about two months by then - not that a team needs an Asian player to appreciate Asian culture, but it certainly reflected the tone of the season. (I wasn't sure how the management planned on appreciating all the cultures of the largest continent on the planet in the time it takes to complete the seventh inning stretch. They brought out a bunch of flags, I think.)

They were playing the Pirates, who were awful of course, but the Mets managed to take themselves out of the game in about three innings despite the low quality of the opponent.

I felt like I was attending a funeral for a despised dictator or a Thanksgiving dinner in a family that hates each other - there were lots of people there, but only attending out of obligation and they were very bitter. It's nice to see that the situation has come around.

2006-05-04 08:56:24
4.   hugo
I am really encouraged to see the goodwill from Yankee fans. I am a Met fan but follow the Yanks pretty closely. One thing that really impresses me about Yankee fans, it really does, is that while Met fans spew unbelievable venom for the Yanks (most Met fans hate the Yankees even more than the Braves for some reason I can't figure out), Yankee fans are usually pretty gracious to the Mets and their fans. I think it's exciting when both teams are doing well and, while I certainly don't root for the Yankees, I'm happy for their fans (my fellow New Yorkers, after all), when they win. Maybe my goodwill comes from the fact that i can't stand the obnoxious Boston team and their even more obnoxious fans. Most Mets fans seem to sympathize with and root for the Sawx (I'm not sure if this is cause or effect of their Yankee-hatred). Any thoughts?
2006-05-04 10:19:01
5.   Alex Belth
I think the Met fans who root for the Sox are pulling for them just because Sox fans hate the Yankees so intensely. I think that's why many casual fans gravitate towards the Sox. They are a competitive team and bully against the Bombers.

There are some Yankee fans who are decent about the Mets but I know many others who are obnoxious jerks towards them too. For me, it's not a real rivalry, the Mets/Yanks, but a manufactored one. I mean, yes, the rivalry is between fellow New Yorkers, and that is real enough, and George Steinbrenner has burned to beat the Mets since the old Mayor's Trophy Games, but really, it's Have/Have Not thing, like the Clippers and Lakers more than anything else.

I think a lot of Mets fans are sick of Yankee fans talking smack for the past ten years. That's why they hate the Bombers. I don't recall them hating on the Yanks like this in the mid-eighties.

I root for the Mets in as much as some good friends are Met fans and I want them to be happy, and as much as I like the personality of any given version of the team. I love Delgado, David Wright and like a lot of the other guys on the team, so they are easy enough for me to pull for. Until they play the Bombers, I'm pleased for them.

As for Reyes, I don't really like him too tough from a distance but I was talking to a Mets fan the other day who said there wasn't anything he DIDN'T like about Reyes. Not so much his game--which has glaring holes--but his disposition and attitude. He does have a marvelous arm, a real cannon, and watching him run around the bases is a real treat.

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