NYC, the Mets and Right Now

Finally, The Sip, has come back to New York City!!!

For those WWF fans of the late 90's, it was a heck of a run. For the rest of you, please read on.

I touched foot in New York City yesterday and I felt a lot like Brooks from Shawshank. I too, can't believe how fast things move in this city.

When I left New York girls were wearing the new uggs and assholes around the city were sporting Yankee hats.

10 months later and girls are trying to bring back leggings (Are they serious?) and half of New York is wearing orange and blue.

I guess that is what happens in the city of transplants and dreamers.

It is no coincidence that my return to New York coincides with the Mets' first playoff run in 6 years. You all know how I feel about this team and the people that support it.

After five months, Mets fans were already printing World Series t-shirts. Hell, I even got a few orders from Happy Will at my failed 2004 t-shirt company, Fratbucks.com.

Then a funny thing happened. The games became irrelevant, the Mets took a few slower steps and all of a sudden Mets fans are heading into the postseason scared as I was in my first night at Shawshank.

Three weeks ago I wrote that the Mets should play their starters, stay as fresh as sharp as possible for the postseason. In retrospect, I don't know if I was right. I don't know a lot about much.

But the Mets did what most Mets fans called for. They took it easy. Starters received plenty of rest, pitchers threw fewer pitches and all of the sudden the Mets, shockingly, lost a few games.

Which takes us to today, the start of the postseason and the eve of our first game.

One month of "getting ready" for the postseason and all of a sudden we have gone from shoe-in favorites to the underdogs.

In my opinion. The experts are morons.

Yes, we lost Pedro. But honestly, when was the last time we had him, May?

This team has gotten this far with an amazing lineup, great defense and an amazing bullpen.

We are at our best when we are tied 4-4 going into the 7th inning. Those types of games are won with bullpen and speed.

As we enter the postseason, Mets fans and the media are frightened by the same Mets rotation that has taken us through all of 2006.

This would scare me too if we were playing the Astros.

But of the 3 NL playoff teams that we will face there are a combined 3 starters who resemble a #1 starter (Jake Peavy, Chris Carpenter and Brad Penny).

The fact that Brad Penny is on this list says something, as does the fact that he won't be starting until Game 4 at the earliest.

The National League will not be won cause of starting pitching or at least, we cannot assume it will be.

This being the case, I love the Mets' chances.

In my opinion, the current mindset of the Mets and their fans is where it needs to be.

For much of 2006 the Mets resembled Cameron from this season of Laguna Beach.

An unexpected growth spurt shot us to the top, to the point where everything just came way too easy. Girls loved us, guys wanted to be us.

This cockiness could only lead to disappointment come the postseason.

We are where we need to be. Confident but not cocky.

The Mets are the class of the National League and should be in the World Series. In my opinion, anything short of that would be a major disappointment.

No speech in history pisses me off more than Gene Hackman's at the end of Hoosiers. You know the one where he talks about not caring what the scoreboard says, at the end of the day we'll be winners?

Yeah, that is a hunk of shit.

If Jimmy doesn't make that shot, Hoosiers is not a good movie.

Instead, there is another quote that I think reflects where the Mets need to be right now.

Quoting (sort of) the heroic Johnny Moxon, "19 games for the next 19 years of our lives."

Since 1986 (19 years +1) Mets fans have lived vicariously through that dream season. When people ask me what the bestyear of my life was, I say 1986, without really thinking anything but the Mets. At the time I was 4.

This season has been as magical as any we can remember. We overcame our bigget nemesis, the Braves, and absolutely plowed through everything in sight.

Now it is time to do it when it matters.

There is no place that I would rather be than New York City right now. This October could be the one that we remember for the rest of our lives.

And I truly believe that it will be. It's time for us to take a taste from the whipped cream bikini.

Vaya con dios,

Sip