Where'd they all go?

I was walking through the streets of new york and a smile came across my face. In about a three block walk i must have saw 6 mets hats. 2 hats/block is a # you expect out of those precious black and white yankee hats. After all, on top of being the hat for new york's big winner, it is also as trendy as jeans skirts and uggs were too the lovely women at my alma mater, The University of Pennsylvania.

But amazingly, I saw no Yankee hats. I arrived at my favorite sports bar where i go every sunday to watch football and amazingly, still no Yankee hats.

Finally, on my way to work today, no Yankee hats.

I bring up these hats because they symbolize the Yankees and what they are.

The Yankees are a trend.

A trend that is so last season.

Yes, there are true Yankee fans. People have been fans their whole lives and have received endless amounts of shit from me and my friends over the years in an attempt to rile them up.

But New York is not a Yankee city, like Yankee fans try to argue. The Yankees are as much New York as mesh hats and good restaurants. They are the team in style.

I make this point to defend the city of boston. A friend of mine from boston was arguing(surprise, surprise) with his friend from westchester, a yankee fan about which was the better baseball town.

As a proud mets fan, who will happily admit that nyc is not a mets town, i sat their and i observed. The Yankee fan made the same yankee points that all yankee fans make, and no one wants to hear.

Meanwhile, i saw a side of my buddy that i never really saw. This kid had passion. He argued a ton of points about the spirit of boston and how boston is the red sox. I would have to agree

I make the trip north to boston a couple of times a year to see my brother and some friends out there. The minute you get to south station you see souveneir stands with boston t-shirts and Red Sox t-shirts. Everybody, tall, short, black, white bleeds navy and red. There is no divide and there rally arent too many people that dont care. The Red sox are boston.

12 months a year.

Now im not saying there arent yankee fans like this. Yes, there are many yankee fans around talking about how the yankees are going to pry away the Lyle Overbay's and BJ Ryan's of the world(note- if bj has to cut that hair, it would be a crime). However, there is a much greater % of bomber fans who have no idea who these players are.

New York does not bleed the yankees. The day after the season ends and Yankee fans finish complaining about how their 208 million dollar team couldnt win, the Yankees all of a sudden disappear.

Mets fans dont have to deal with this. If i see a kid in a mets hat, he is not wearing it cause he likes the hat, or because its cool or sad to say, cause the team is winning. Being a mets fan is a 12 month commitment, honestly, cause why else would you be a fan at all.

There is no argument between new york and boston. I dont really think there is an argument about new york vs. anywhere. 95% of "new yorkers" arent from new york yet 95% of "new yorkers" are yankee fans. New York is a city that is too hip and cool to be a real sports town.

Club hopping and baseball are two things that dont mix. Neither does red wine or fuagra. Sports are made for the average guy and everyone who comes to new york tries to be something so much more.

The Yankees arent a baseball team. They are a U2 concert or a broadway show. Derek Jeter isnt a baseball player. He is a celebrity. George Steinbrenner isnt a baseball owner. He is a baseball businessman.

These are all things that the mets dont have to deal with. Neither do the sox, or the Diamondbacks or any other team in baseball.

While i always want the mets to win, there is one thing about them losing that i really like. Losing weeds out the "yankee fans." People dont pack shea cause its the thing to do. The people that go, love the mets.

Next year remains 2006.

Sippy Momo


Also, i would like to retract a statement i made in a previous blog. Jeremy Burnitz is not a bum. He was having a monster season in 2003 before he was traded away. J Burn RIP. And either way, things dont get more entertaining then watching hack and miss terribly at 58 footer.