My brother-in-law is not a Mets fan, and thank God for that. He's a Yankees fan. But there were plenty of Mets fans there Saturday, a few of them I know from my brother-in-law's bachelor party and of course, the wedding almost a year ago. I hadn't seen any of them since, and last time I saw them we were arguing over all things Mets and Phillies. We got along well enough, but there was trash talking and bickering galore. I refused (rightfully) to believe anything positive about the Mets, and they (wrongly) talked down the Phillies.
Saturday was the first chance I got to see those Mets fans since the wedding. The first time since, you know, the Phillies became World Fucking Champions. Well, a funny thing happened Saturday: Those Mets fans who were so ardent that the Phils were no better than those jerks from Queens were quiet, reserved, even respectful.
As I approached wearing my Phillies shirt, the one just looked at me and said, "I can't say anything. You guys are champs." And then we had many civil discussions about baseball, the Phillies and the Mets. No shit-talking (except by me), none of the usual, obnoxious, unfounded arguments in favor of the Metro
It's funny what a world championship will do. Now, there was the completely expected injury excuse thrown around for this season, but then again, the Mets are ravaged terribly by injuries to some real key players. Those arguments are founded. But even the Mets fans couldn't talk down on the Phillies, even with the Phils dropping three of four to the Giants this weekend.
That made for an especially satisfying time up in NYC. We played an intense game of whiffle ball, there was tons of food, and I got entirely too drunk, even for my standards. And I encountered this new breed of Mets fans. The ones who can do nothing but concede that they are, in fact, an inferior franchise right now. Sometimes it's the little things like that in life can really give you great pleasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment