Tabloid Junk(ie)

Friday, I wrote a bit about all the press that has recently come out killing the Mets for the way this season has played out. Much of it was truthful. Almost all of it was justified. The Mets organization shouldn't necessarily be killed for their poor injury luck, but they can be killed for not having a proper contingency plan, and they certainly can be killed for continuing to feed into the "Win Now and Sacrifice the Future" philosophy of their General Manager.

Then, I heard the stories creeping out about how Citi Field was falling apart. Apparently, all this noise has been coming from my favorite paper of them all, the New York Post. It's no secret that I feel the Post thinks way too highly of themselves, and also seems all too happy to take a dig at the Mets whenever possible (Perhaps because the Post's #1 rival, the Daily News, is in bed with the Mets). But it seems like the Post is almost going out of their way now to turn that knife and needle the Mets, and their fans, some more. It's taken what had been a series of valid arguments about the team and basically making it complete overkill.

It started with this article on Sunday about how Citi Field has leaks and mold. As with any new building, these things happen. Someone mentioned it on WFAN and the host basically poo-poohed it, saying, "All right, can't we just leave the Mets alone?" He's right. The Mets and their fans have suffered enough indignities this year. Never mind the fact that the article is mildly misinformed, since public funds weren't put directly towards the Stadium, they were put towards infrastructure. Basically, the public funds went towards renovating the Subway and LIRR stations. It's a bit more cut and dry than, say, the deal the Yankees got for their stadium, something that has been swept under the rug and forgotten.

But the Post can't keep their mouths shut. That same day, a piece from Mike Vaccaro appeared, echoing the first story. It's a complete puff piece, no doubt, attempting to squash every issue plaguing the Mets into 4 paragraphs. Here's the link. I assure you it's not worth reading.

Yesterday, there was even more Met-bashing. This time, they've taken to the streets and tried to get some fan reaction. I wonder how hard they had to search to get these quotes. You know, assuming these quotes came from real people.

But with the story losing juice, mainly because most people just don't seem to care about it all that much, or because as with any new facility, there will be some problems at first, and it's not as though these issues aren't easily fixable with a call to a good plumber, the Post had to find another issue to pick on. So, today, it's back to the problematic medical staff.

But it's not all bad. At least Carlos Beltran is coming back. Even though he should be sitting out to preserve the final two seasons on that posh $117 million contract...