With every pitch of last night's devastating Mets loss to the Cubs I felt the stomach acid burning holes in my belly. Ulcers were forming at an alarming rate; but I had been dealing with this my entire life and was well prepared. After all, I endured an entire decade of Knicks basketball that was more stressful than solving the American economic crisis. Charles Smith missing layup after layup against the Bulls, Patrick Ewing trying the finger roll instead of dunking, Reggie Miller taunting our fan base multiple times after raining down clutch three-pointers...and this was all when the team was good!
But as my beloved Metropolitans failed to score with the potential winning run on third and less than two outs for the 3rd straight inning last night, it all of a sudden hit me. Considering all the crap I have head to deal with between the Mets this decade and the Knicks in the 90's, I am so grateful to be a Giants fan.
Imagine what it is like to be a Mets and Knicks fan, and then on top of that root for the Jets, arguably the most frustrating of all the New York teams?!?!!? Well, I personally don't have to imagine too hard, because both my cousin and a good friend of mine suffer from the deadly trifecta, and they seem to watch sports with the pessimistic view of one of those crazy people in the streets that proclaim the world is coming to an end in mere days. If you don't have any friends or relatives who follow these three brutal teams, just listen to WFAN (660 AM if you are in the NY area, or www.wfan.com) from 10am-1pm on a weekday and listen to Joe Benigno. Joe is a huge Knicks fan, a die hard Mets fan, and maybe the biggest Jets fan in the world. He is also the unhappiest sports fan I have ever heard in my entire life. I just can't fathom being in his shoes.
You see, every time this season the Mets lose a game like they did last night I peek over at the Super Bowl DVD on my book shelf and thank God I am a Giants fan. Had I not experienced the pinnacle of sports for a die hard fan this past February I would not be able to handle the daily terror of rooting for the Mets. Had Eli Manning not escaped four Patriots and found David Tyree for the catch of the century I could not move on with my life knowing the Knicks are going to be a laughing stock for an 8th straight year. And had Plaxico Burress not been in single coverage, and couldn't make the game winning catch on the final play of the Giants' offensive season, my overall view on life would be much cloudier and gloomy.
Unfortunately, I don't have to worry about those things. Sure, the 2008 baseball season has taken somewhere around 44 months off my life (at least that's what my doctor told me), but I still have Big Blue. We are the defending Super Bowl champions with a history of success, and have already started our title defense 3-0. The G-Men are not without trouble (see: Plaxico getting suspended); but then again no team is. In the grand scheme of things there are not many franchises in all of professional sports that are easier to root for right now than the New York Football Giants. I would be lost without them as a sports fan, and as the Mets put me through this Autumn of discontent the Giants are my one saving grace.
Keywords: Charles Smith, David Tyree, Eli Manning, Joe Benigno, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Knicks, New York Mets, Patrick Ewing, Plaxico Burress, Reggie Miller, WFAN
