The New Cardinals

When I shuffled out of Shea Stadium on a miserable night in October 2006 after Adam freaking Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltran after Yadier F'in Molina had hit a homer, I could have sworn I had been cheated.

The Mets had one of the most magical years of my life and the prissy, complaining, jerk-off Cardinals had stolen their spot in the World Series.

They weren't even scrappy underdogs. They were a team that got lucky after a mediocre season, were aided by fluke performances, bad weather and every bit of Karma not ascribed to Endy Chavez and stole the NLCS.

They weren't worthy champions and frankly, this isn't just the bitter Mets fan talking, but it undermines the credibility of the term World Series champion that this group of pretty mediocre punks wore the crown.

Now I'm sure the objective observer, not scorned by virulent hatred for Tony La Russa and his band of HGH'ers can draw some parallels between the Cardinals and Big Blue turning the table and making an out-of-nowhere magical run to the Super Bowl.

The Giants derailed the magical seasons of Dallas and Green Bay in back-to-back weeks and went from people discussing trading their franchise quarterback and firing their coach to readying the plans for a ticker-tape parade in their honor.

As much as I would be quick to point out that there are a tremendous number of differences that make this comparison unfair, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it doesn't matter. In the life of being a sports fan, the heartbreaking defeats are always going to outnumber the triumphant victories.

If you're lucky, your team will win a championship once every 10-15 years and hopefully make a couple more appearances in the finals.

Unfortunately for Knicks/Mets/Giants fans like myself and a lot of the Y2K faithful, we're in a bit bigger of a drought, because in most seasons your guy strikes out, the shot rims out or the QB throws a back breaking pick. All that's left is an analysis of someone else's team and your own judgments about your team.

So even though this Giants run came out of nowhere, when Larry Tynes' kick went through the uprights, it was a bolt of pure joy. For once, the break went our way, the luck was on our side and the team we supported surged at the right time and defied logic and the experts.

So even though I'll never forgive anyone wearing the color red, I understand why Cardinal fans couldn't care less what the critics of their 2006 team said.

When the ball finally rolls your way, it's all you ever hope for as a sports fan, and pretty or not, it's not the time to start looking a gift horse in the mouth.

- Happy Will