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R.I.P. Mets

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BYH, Sep 28, 2006.

  1. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    There might be no known phyla for this column. Truly bizarre stuff.

    --

    By David Brooks
    The New York Times

    NEW YORK
    No one can describe the agony I feel. No one can describe the forebodings of
    doom that mount pitch by pitch, inning by inning, as the New York Mets make
    their way through the National League playoffs.

    Early triumphs build mountains of false hopes, but this merely forestalls
    and cannot avert their eventual extinction. Delgado may slug and Glavine may
    discover the genius of lost youth, but, as the poet says, doom is the omen
    in my heart convulsed. For the gods decree, and history confirms, that those
    without starting pitching do not win championships.

    And sooner or later I will sit with the remote trembling in my hands, with
    hollow cheeks and lifeless eyes, as some other fan’s team celebrates its
    glory, and there will be children weeping uncontrollably on the floor of the
    ruined family room around me, and men will tear their cheeks and beat
    themselves with clenched fists under the full impact of the devastation.

    The Mets will lose, and I will make the lifeless trudge to the unforgiving
    fridge in search of liquid anesthesia.

    They have tempted fate this year with a most un-Metslike display of
    offensive greatness. They have been led by joyful Reyes, strong-limbed
    Wright, sharp-jawed Valentin and Beltran the Unperturbed. They have fed our
    pride with a great torrent of hitters. But as Aristotle says, the more one
    is possessed of excellence, the more one will be pained at the thought of
    elimination.

    And the failures of the starting rotation have been a long time coming. The
    mind reels back to the pointless trading of the young phenom Scott Kazmir
    (Woe!); the injuries to Pedro’s calf and shoulder (Double Woe!); and the
    final tear to El Duque’s aging muscle (Tremble all before the dying of the
    light!). And now, as it is said, having done what men can, they will suffer
    what they must.

    If this were a Christian universe, they would be saved by grace. If this
    were a Jewish universe, they would be comforted by more food. But baseball
    exists in a Homeric universe, where none can escape the iron shaft of fate.
    Soon the foaming crowds at Shea will grow silent as the tomb. The dugouts
    will gape manless and the world’s attention will shift to the Mannings and
    Madden, to Roethlisberger and Parcells, as winter comes too soon.

    Perhaps what matters now is one’s comportment in the face of what is to
    come, the willingness to embrace the full truth of the unchangeable destiny.
    We stand at the Hot Gates of Thermopylae, waiting for Pujols. We suffer and
    yet stand firm. We know opposing balls will fly off walls. We know
    double-play-turning shortstops will leap like rams. But we will greet these
    blows with an acceptance that is not resignation. We’ll greet them with a
    clear soul and with a composure that affirms the dignity of life and unites
    suffering and knowledge. A great soul in agony transcends misery and
    achieves immortality, especially in the upper decks.

    Aeschylus writes: “God, whose law it is that he who learns must suffer. And
    even in our sleep pain that cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the
    heart, and in our own despite, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the
    awful grace of God.”

    This is how a true Mets fan greets impending loss. And come to think of it,
    this is not bad preparation for what’s about to befall Republicans, either.
     
  2. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    Pretty strange column and I thought it was needless to throw the politics shot in at the end, but I thought it was well written and interesting. Though, I also think it was just posturing from a Mets fan so if they lose he can claim he saw it coming.
     
  3. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    A friend sent me that column for a cheap laugh. It's not god-awful, but its conceits likely scud over the heads of the average New York Times reader. New York Vinny thinks Thermopylae is a new S&M club.
     
  4. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    Good point, I didn't even pay attention which paper it was for, I just assumed it was for the NY Post or Daily News. Wow, I can't believe that was written in the NY Times.
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    BYH Shit like this are the reason this board is not taken seriously . Of course the Mets have a chance.

    Think before you write next time.

    Peace
     
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    What's with the Mets playing Sweet Caroline and God Bless America? Can't they come up with their own identity.

    Hockeybeat -- spinitted - you boys must be beside yourselfs to here GBA - I know you hated it when the Yankees have played it
     
  7. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    I don't hate the Yankees or anybody else playing God Bless America. I honestly don't care.
    I hate it when George the paper patriot trots out his personal Irish tenor with the elephant ears to do the 7-minute version.
    You want to play a 2-minute recording, go right ahead. Just don't give me Ronan Tynan wasting 7 minutes.
     
  8. Claws for Concern

    Claws for Concern Active Member

    I said before the start of the playoffs it would be Mets and A's in the World Series and A's winning the title in 6. I think I may have jinxed and deep-sixed the A's.
     
  9. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    The Sweet Caroline thing is the lamest, most pathetic thing I've ever heard.

    Even worse than 2000, when they became the 29th team in baseball to make "Who Let The Dogs Out" their official team song.
     
  10. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    When you can't knock the on-field product, you have to start grasping at straws.
     
  11. hockeybeat

    hockeybeat Guest

    Dear Boom,

    Fuck off.

    Sincerely,

    The fans of the only professional baseball team in New York City that's still alive in the playoffs.

    P.S. Learn words, their correct usage and how to spell.
     
  12. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    6-6, old man. Your beloved's one strength has been tattooed this inning. Suck it!!!!
     
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