August and Everything After
So... what do you expect to happen this month?
* * * * *
Expectations are funny things. They can be reassuring and they can be devastating. We saw both sides last September, when we all expected the Mets to close out the division. As things collapsed all around us we clung to those expectations, and for a long time, too long, they buoyed our spirits.
In retrospect, those expectations not only added to the devastation of our collapse, to some people's minds they caused it.
Who knows what happened really. Expectations, smoke and mirrors, an evil spell... something. And then nothing. Not again until March.
* * * * *
And so this September we expect only the unexpected. We learned last year that nothing is given, and our season this year has had enough ups and downs to know that the script this team is reading from is illegible.
As the Hound is fond of saying, it seems this team suffers a Most devastating. Defeat. Ever. every other week, but somehow it keeps on going.
More than anything, the ability to pick themselves up is the hallmark of this year's team. I remember wondering throughout the last season what the identity of the 2007 team was. In 2006 an identity was forged through comeback victories and their general wont to "run roughshod over the National League".
In 2007 we were left searching until the identity of last year's team revealed itself in that final horrible month, and that identity was so horrifyingly negative that frankly I don't care to talk about it now.
This year though there's something to latch on to. The ability to pick themselves up off the mat has given this team an identity, an edge, and for the fans, a reason to believe in them again.
Cynical ones among us might seize on their almost implausible ability to squander big leads, but that's not their identity, it's their flaw. Their trademark is in not succumbing to that flaw; it's even made them endearing again.
As fans of the 1998 Mets know, they'll have to be a lot more than endearing if they're going to pull this thing off.
Luckily, in the past week they've shown they have the pop, the starting pitching, and, sometimes, the bullpen to make the playoffs.
Beyond all that, they've shown they've got the backbone. And if they're going to pull this thing off, I think we all expect that particular quality to be infinitely more important than anything else.
- A.F.O.M.G.
* * * * *
Expectations are funny things. They can be reassuring and they can be devastating. We saw both sides last September, when we all expected the Mets to close out the division. As things collapsed all around us we clung to those expectations, and for a long time, too long, they buoyed our spirits.
In retrospect, those expectations not only added to the devastation of our collapse, to some people's minds they caused it.
Who knows what happened really. Expectations, smoke and mirrors, an evil spell... something. And then nothing. Not again until March.
* * * * *
And so this September we expect only the unexpected. We learned last year that nothing is given, and our season this year has had enough ups and downs to know that the script this team is reading from is illegible.
As the Hound is fond of saying, it seems this team suffers a Most devastating. Defeat. Ever. every other week, but somehow it keeps on going.
More than anything, the ability to pick themselves up is the hallmark of this year's team. I remember wondering throughout the last season what the identity of the 2007 team was. In 2006 an identity was forged through comeback victories and their general wont to "run roughshod over the National League".
In 2007 we were left searching until the identity of last year's team revealed itself in that final horrible month, and that identity was so horrifyingly negative that frankly I don't care to talk about it now.
This year though there's something to latch on to. The ability to pick themselves up off the mat has given this team an identity, an edge, and for the fans, a reason to believe in them again.
Cynical ones among us might seize on their almost implausible ability to squander big leads, but that's not their identity, it's their flaw. Their trademark is in not succumbing to that flaw; it's even made them endearing again.
As fans of the 1998 Mets know, they'll have to be a lot more than endearing if they're going to pull this thing off.
Luckily, in the past week they've shown they have the pop, the starting pitching, and, sometimes, the bullpen to make the playoffs.
Beyond all that, they've shown they've got the backbone. And if they're going to pull this thing off, I think we all expect that particular quality to be infinitely more important than anything else.
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 7:34 AM
2 Comments:
Couldn't have said it better meself, Bart.
What I expect? I expect a division title, and a final week of relaxing tribute to Shea as well as scouting of the Cubs.
Maybe the Cubs and Mets clinch the same time, via a Mets win and a Milwaukee loss, so both teams are celebrating titles at Shea after one of those games. That'd be weird.
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