Dealing With It.

Dave, who long ago was an acquaintance, has presented one particular way that we've been dealing over the past week. Screaming is indeed therapeutic. I myself did a bit of screaming into El Guapo's voice mail while leaving Shea Stadium on Sunday. I've been involved in a 3-day long e-mail string that has smacked with bitterness. People at my office haven't laughed at me, they feel sorry for me. Having this hanging over my head has been pretty bad...

...But, oddly enough, I've been okay with it. I was worse off last year, when I spent a weekend sitting in my bedroom with the shades drawn, refusing to watch the World Series at all until El Guapo and I re-convened the following Thursday to watch one game, where the Tigers handed the game to St. Louis and just depressed us even more.

I've stopped screaming. I actually watched some of the Red Sox/Angels game this evening, and listened to D'Backs/Cubs on the radio. I didn't torch my playoff tickets (although I'm still waiting for my refund, Freddie!). I've folded them up in the envelope they came in, and stuck them in my 2007 Yearbook, tucked away safely so that I can find them someday and remember just how awful this all was, and hopefully, I'll be able to laugh about it.

In the meantime, as a staunch historian of the Mets, I've been dealing with this the best way I know how.

In 1999 and 2000, I had my VCR cranked up for several weeks in October while I was tucked away in College, and my collection of game tapes includes just about every Playoff game the Mets played in that time span (less the first 5 innings of 1999 NLDS game 3, half an inning of 1999 NLCS Game 6, and all of 2000 NLDS Game 4, because I had gone to the game and my bastard roommate didn't tape it for me, and if anyone has a copy of this game, I can send blank DVDs or pay for a copy!). And at times when I've been most depressed, when the Mets have ripped my heart out or whatever, I pull out one of these tapes. Because all you need to do is look at something like this:



And don't you immediately cheer up? As Tim McCarver said later on in that broadcast, "That ball was Fucked." Ben-ny! Ben-ny! Ben-ny!

Anyway, my choice last night was Game 4 of the 2000 NLCS, in which the Mets fell behind 2-0 to the Cardinals in the top of the 1st, and then proceeded to hand Darryl Kile (may he rest in peace) one of the worst thrashings I've ever seen. It's 7-2 Mets after 2, Piazza adds another run with a moonshot in the 4th, and Glendon Rusch comes in to stop a Cardinal rally in the 5th. Mets win, 10-6, up 3-1 in that series. If that doesn't warm your hearts, nothing will.

PS - If you must know, I'm going with the following in the Division Series: Rockies, Cubs, Red Sox, Indians.