In many ways, the first weekend of March Metness ran true to bracketology form, with each of the four 1-seeds still alive. Then again, did anybody see two 7-seeds advancing to the Rick Sweet 16? Did you think you would hear Jane Jarvis playing on? Was there a lot of money put down on Pete Rose hustling to two victories?
And how do your brackets look after the first 48 games? Home Run Apple’s stunning loss to 15-seed Bill Shea’s Floral Horseshoe may have upset more than a few, well, apple carts.
The big question is who and/or what’s left to compete for the title of Quintessential Mets Thing. Right off the bat, it’s a noticeably broadcast-heavy tournament now, with Bob Murphy (The Happy Recap), Ralph Kiner (Kiner’s Korner) and Gary Cohen (Outta Here!) all represented, to say nothing of television’s Seinfeld. Two chants — Let’s Go Mets and Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose! — both have their chance, too.
The field also includes one promotion (Banner Day), one sponsor (Rheingold The Dry Beer), one conveyance (The 7 Train), one mascot (Mr. Met) and one favorable miscue (Buckner) to go along with one villain (Rose), one organist (Jarvis), one slogan (Baseball Like It Oughta Be) and a pair of entries best described as hybrids. The Franchise nickname and the Terrific pitcher who inspired it are inseparable, while Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? stands both for Casey Stengel’s extraordinarily Original Mets and the Jimmy Breslin book that helped immortalize them.
However these indelible components of signature Metsiana arrived at this next level, they’ve survived, they’ve advanced and they figure to make Rick Sweet 16 weekend an exciting one. The Miracle and Magic regional semis will tip off Thursday, to be followed by the quartet of Believe and Amazin’ games on Friday. As ever, Faith and Fear will be on hand to report and analyze all the action.
The tourney as it’s been reset:
THE MIRACLE REGIONAL
1 LET’S GO METS
__________________
5 JANE JARVIS
—
3 BANNER DAY
__________________
2 RHEINGOLD THE DRY BEER
THE MAGIC REGIONAL
1 THE 7 TRAIN
__________________
5 OUTTA HERE!
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3 CAN’T ANYBODY HERE PLAY THIS GAME?
__________________
7 JOSE! JOSE! JOSE! JOSE!
THE BELIEVE REGIONAL
1 THE HAPPY RECAP
__________________
4 SEINFELD
—
3 THE FRANCHISE
__________________
7 BASEBALL LIKE IT OUGHTA BE
THE AMAZIN’ REGIONAL
1 MR. MET
__________________
5 PETE ROSE
—
3 KINER’S KORNER
__________________
2 BUCKNER
If you missed any of the Don Aase round matchups, you can come from behind and catch up here:
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Mr. Met vs. Pete Rose? One for the ages…
2 macro-cepalics going…umm…head-to-head…
I learn something new from our readers every day. Today, between your big word for big heads and Joe D.'s lesson on Freedomland, I learned two.
This blog pays for itself in knowledge.
I know it's late, but I think they're really should have been some mention of Barry Raziano during this tourney. Just my two cents.
Hi Greg,
The 1964 Worlds Fair was just another way that allowed Robert Moses to further destroy the Bronx. As the Fair closed, so did Freedomland, those great patches on the Met uniform, Yankee domination of the American League and Yogi was forced to move to Queens (the last two could indicate that Robert Moses wasn't entirely that bad after all).
I am hoping it s Happy recaps winning it all over Lets gop Mets. ther is nothing more pure, or quintesentially Mets than Bob Murphy's loving intoantion after the Mets put somebody away.
“..And the final score, the Mets fiiiiiiive, San Diego One…outr next game is Thursaaaay from Jarry Park in Montreal……”
Excellent, Excellent work on the list. It was like a little reward for being a fan for so long. My favorite ones were Darylea (I cut those coupons out religiously), Jane Jarvis and Mettle the Mule. Haven't thought of Mettle in 20 years. Brilliant.
BATYL,
Glad you're enjoying the tournament and happy that you could go two decades without being haunted by that mule.
I heard Raziano Tech was bounced Jerry Cram Community College in the Division III tournament but I couldn't find it on the Internet.
Yeah, but you gotta watch out for John Glass State. They may have a cakewalk, facing Ostrosser…