Maybe there was a curse of Shea Stadium.
Maybe the baseball gods put the hex on the Yankees after they celebrated on the Mets home field. Nine years have passed since Mike Piazza’s flyball looked oh so close to going out, only to fall gently into Bernie Williams’ glove.
Yet, now Shea Stadium is gone and the Yankees are going back to the World Series, playing of all teams, the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s a Met fans’ nightmare. Them against them. The same type of suffering the Yankee fan had back in 1986. Does a Met fan root for a Phillies dynasty or the completed purchase of No. 27?
This is what Sam Kinison meant when he spoke about the “Big Menu.”
Even though this seems like a tough choice, it’s actually pretty obvious, Met fans need to back a New York team here. Sure it’s easy to say, “I’m not watching.” But unless you really love CSI and NCIS, there’s really nothing else on TV. Football only happens on Sunday and unless you are a Ranger fan, all the other New York teams stink.
And forget HBO, because outside of the hour of Curb Your Enthusiasm, there’s really nothing on there either, unless you are a fan of Madagascar 2.
As a baseball fan, you will watch the series and as a Met fan, you need to pull for New York here. It’s the Greatest City in the World against the Greatest American City of the 18th Century. Philadelphians have a huge inferiority complex when it comes to New York. They don’t like this city and they especially don’t like our sports teams. Sure they hate the Mets, but they also hate the eight other teams in the area. It make you wonder what makes them happier, a championship for one of their teams or seeing New York suffer with their sports teams?
Now they have a chance to be twice as excited.
Sure the Yankee fans are hard to take, especially when they are winning. But remember this is the team that your wife or husband back; the team of your father or your brother and sister. The Bombers are your best friend’s team or your co-workers. Almost every Met fan has a friend or family member who roots for the Yankees. And if you tell them up front that you are pulling for their team, the abuse won’t be so bad if the Bombers happen to win.
Remember these are your neighbors, who also back your other teams. They are Giant and Jet fans. They follow the Rangers, Islanders, or Devils. They pull for the Knicks, who need all the help they can get. There’s common ground here. There’s none of that from Philly, which looks upon New York with disdain.
So Met fans, put up your noses and back the Bombers here for the next two weeks. Don’t just relish their victory, but also the defeat of a common enemy.
And remember after the Yankees win, you won’t have to see any of those “highlights” of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter celebrating on Shea Stadium’s field.
No. 27 will be win for all New Yorkers.
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