My fellow Mets fans,
Tonight we gather neither in triumph nor in joy. Rather, we have assembled out of necessity, driven by the need to oppose a deep-seated evil. Tonight we must make choices that will not sit well with any of us. Tonight we must make choices between unpalatable courses of action. Tonight we must do what many of us, in all honor, once swore we would not.
These are not easy times. We have been bested on the field of battle and outmaneuvered in the arena of ideas. Our fires have been banked, damped by misfortune and miscalculation. For now, our yesterdays are brighter than our tomorrows. We may mourn that we have come to this pass, yet we stand here nonetheless.
And here, stand we must. We have proven unfit to play a role in the combat about to unfold before us. Yet this grim judgment, however impartial its verdict, must not lead us to reject our larger calling, or to turn aside from our unhappy duty. We are bystanders, yet our voices must be heard. We are reluctant, yet we must commit.
We have profound differences with our league-mates to the south. It would be the stuff of childish fantasy not to acknowledge this. We abhor their Hawaiian braggadocio. We reject their penchant for domestic violence. We disdain the partisan yowling of their maroon rabble. To offer them fellowship runs counter to all we profess and everything we hold dear. We are neither friends nor allies. It is only wisdom to state this clearly, calmly and without apology.
Yet wisdom is nothing without a sense of proportion. We must not profess blindness citing the mote in our eye, while ignoring the beam that would blot out the light for all. Our neighborly disagreements are profound and the canyon between us is deep. Yet deeper still lies the chasm into which we now both stare.
My friends, there is another evil loose in our nation, one that makes the misdeeds of our league-mates in maroon look small. We have a greater enemy, and a higher calling. This greater enemy gilds all that it touches in gold, then scorns those who can afford only brass. This greater enemy gathers mercenaries and reprobates and evildoers to its banner, and declares them paragons. This greater enemy declares that pitchers shall not hit. This greater enemy conflates arrogance with tradition, and bequeathed wealth with hard-earned success. This greater enemy is attended by a howling mob that knows neither reason nor humility nor decency.
This greater enemy cares not for our disagreements and disputes, real though they are. Twenty-six times has this foe bred a vile plague, one that reduced our nation to lifelessness and blighted all that we hold dear. Though we are not allowed to fight, neither are we required to adjourn in silence. We must lift our voices against tyranny, though we would have chosen most any other champion. We must shout down injustice, though our voices cannot conjure fairness. We must oppose a great evil even if it means supporting a paltry good. We have been called, and however reluctantly, we must answer. It has fallen to us to do what must be done, and to heed a summons we would pretend not to hear.
My friends, this too will pass, and the banner of the blue and orange will fly once again in triumph. I eagerly await that day, and the restoration of all that is just and proper. As do all of you. But for now, we must serve a more difficult cause, and we must do so with all we can wring from our reluctant hearts. This is necessity. This is obligation. This is duty.
My friends, the conflict we wish had never come to pass is upon us now. Join with me. Say the words we would rather bite back. Say them firmly, and clearly, with loud voices, though none of us possesses a glad heart. Say them with me now, and we will face these difficult days together.
ICH BIN EIN PHILLIE.
I cannot join you in this campaign, JF.
Anyone – anyone – but the Phillies.
-Z
The Skanks are evidence that Satan lives.
Go Philthies
i don't even see what's difficult about this
(that was me)
[Comment deleted]
Sic semper trollis.
Aw, and I had a snazzy reply, too.
I couldn't tell if that was a Yankee fan or Phillie fan, but I was going to congratulate him for spending even a single, solitary second on a Mets blog in the midst of his hard-earned postseason. Would not have occurred to me to have sought out the fans of a team not involved in the postseason, but I guess we should be flattered the Mets mean that much to him.
Go Angels, until no longer possible.
The only choice here is to pray for is a natural disaster to consume Satan's armies of the diamond, both of the maroon and pinstripe banner. I would rather die than cheer either of these evil gatherings onwards towards victory.
I stand with Angels, sir, no matter how desperate their cause may seem.
I'd rather root for Al qaeda than root for the Yankees or the Phillies.
I hear you. But Al Qaeda isn't a choice here.
Maybe I'm growing soft, but I'd take the baseball terrorists over the actual terrorists.
Not without thinking it through first, of course.
Come to think of it, this gives me a chance to write The Forbidden Blog Post.
Friend, ally, brother. Your words are true and sound. There is a dreadful situation in front of our camp. Yet, we can not join the fight with the men in red so easily. Good sir even though your words come from a good place, i must say they are but folly. To much has transpired between us and them over the coarse of just 3 years. Failure on our part and triumph on theirs. Only to be scorned by it every day from them. It is a thing i do not take lightly. It burns deeply in me and i know it does you. As well as other metropolitan followers.
They are our enemy for now and eternity. I would rather watch the evil from the Eastern shores of our fair city celebrate because it is what they are suppose to do. The dark ones are versed in this battle 26 times over. 1 more could not hurt. No it be a welcome thing against our bitter foe.
Our community has struggled against both over 10 long years friends. An epic battle to start this decade hurt us deeply. Still many recover from its wounds. The red have prospered where we have failed recently. A HEART DIVIDED ladies and gentleman.
But i implore you, Do not align with those who walk and gather enjoyment from a green demon clothed in red. You will not be able to live with yourself. The blue and orange that flows through your veins will be deceived and it will lead to self destruction.
it's an a-bomb….from(cough) a-rod
can we still hold out hope for the Angels????? I'm on board w/having to root for the Phillies Cannot have the yankees winning….just cannot
I can't do it Greg. I live among these people, in the part of Central NJ that is the vortex between New York and Philadelphia.
I'm rooting for a meteor.
Oops – I meant to say Jace, not Greg.
I wish we had an edit function….
OK, here goes…
“Ich bin ein Ph—- blarrrrrrgh!”
Sorry about your shoes. I'll clean that up in November.
This is my worst nightmare. I change my mind at least ten times a day….
Phillies fans are just laughing at all of you.
Gotta root for the National League, Yankees or no Yankees. Easy call here.
i used to root for “braves and yankees…. and then the stadium blows up.” these days, i just can't quite get behind it as much.
i'll settle for the ebola virus.
Sorry dude. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I hate the Yankees 6 times a year, but I HATE THE phils all year long.
IGGY
Hi Jason,
Circumstances are a bit different and I find myself supporting (note, that does not mean “rooting”) for the pinstripes by default.
Under Joe Torre I would have rooted for any oponent to cream them because he poo-pooed regular season subway series games. And there are so many other reasons too: throwing money at under-achievers like Jason Giambi, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson and other players getting big bucks and just clocking it in; bombarding us with homers like Michael Kay, Suzan Waldman and a less than talented baffoon like John Sterling who stains the legacy of Mel Allen by being called the voice of the Yankees; thinking the World Series was their birthright, etc.
But this group at least comes to play. Girardi might be criticized for over-managing but at least he doesn't just make out the line-up and then sit on his pants like Torre who, in close games, allowed his players to just swing away instead of making them play team ball and scratch out a run. Nor is Johnny Damon laughing on the bench anymore when his team is on the verge of losing.
Still, this is not enough ammunition to root for anyone who happened to be their opponent.
I resent the Phillies even more. Not because they beat us two-years straight (this year, everybody beat us). Jimmy Rollins bragged they were the team to beat in 2007 (doesn't matter that it turned true) when they hadn't yet accomplished anything while we made it to game seven on the NLCS (and they called US arrogant!). In late July, 2008, the Mets were playing an important and emotional series with the Phillies. After Jose Reyes hits a three-run homer, waving his fist in the air while rounding the bases, Phillies radio man Larry Anderson took poke shots saying “somebody oughta put one in his neck.” and “he's acting like they just won the world series”. This past winter Cole Hammels then called us chokers — while true, only we can call our guys chokers!
That's why I'm more rooting against the Phillies and more or less showing my civic pride by only “supporting” they Yankees.
I'm a life long Mets fan. I don't see how any NYer can get behind any team from Philly. Have some NY pride! You can pull for CC or Tex or even A-rod. Who on the that other team can you rout for? I hope the Yanks sweep and crush the Phillies.
Who cares?
Amen
I have a hard time differentiating the three of them.
Anyone who can root for the Yankees over the Phillies is a sellout and not a real baseball/sports fan.
I normally would not root for a division rival like the Phillies, Braves or Marlins (Nats aren't really a division rival officially as of yet, since they always stank), but there is something darker than a mere division rival, and that is the Yankees, what they stand for, and what all of their pompous bandwagon lackeys stand for.
The Phillies, I can at least respect. I respect a large number of their players. I respect Charlie Manuel. I respect their management and ownership. While I think a large chunk of their fans are obnoxious, I think a decent number of ours are obnoxious too, so I can't fault them for that.
The Yankees, on the other hand, is an organization that lives in pure darkness. Evil incarnate. The GM's last name is “cash man”. The owners make the Wilpons look like sweethearts. They do everything they can to put themselves on an entirely non-level playing field (laughing at salary cap penalties along the way) and then pat themselves on the back when they make 1-2 World Series appearances in a decade.
The Yankees are pure evil. They are made up almost exclusively of mercenaries. They are a team that buys out the best players from any of their rivals (Johnny Damon, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi, Reggie Jackson … and the list goes on forever). They are a team that outspends everyone, leveraging the mere fact that they own a franchise in the wealthiest city, urinating on the concept of parody by mocking the salary luxury tax. They have made a mockery of our sport, and you would root for them over the Phillies? The Phillies are just another team in the National League, a team that conforms to most of the principles of the sport.
If you are going to root for the Yankees, then to Hell with you. You are lost.
Old Backstop – real baseball fan
I can't help help but think of the eternal smugness of Yankee fans. Living on Long Island Philly fans are rare, go Phils.
I forgot to add in the part about the announcers. John Sterling … who actually IS the Devil.
A-Bombs, from A-Rod?
A Teix message, you're on the Mark, Teixeira?
Yankees Win, Thuh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-YANKEES WIN!
Anyone who can root for that alone is someone I do not want to associate with. It takes a lower form of life to support that in any way.
— Old Backstop
I was just thinking about all of this and seriously, at this point who cares who wins. This post season has been terrible with all the sweeps and uneven matchups. Id enjoy seeing a good series but by Thanksgiving this world series will be a distant memory.
Then again I think all of my energy is going into be depressed about the Mets being crap again next year.
Being asked to choose between the Yankees and Phillies is like having a choice between gonorrhea and syphilis.
This is a terrible time, but I agree. You have to hope the Phils beat the Yankees and here is why. First off, the Yankee fan lives among us. They are at our job, they are people on our block, they are on our softball team and worst of all, even in our own family. I dont know any Philly fans and dont ever want to. So if the Phils win, I never have to hear about it everywhere I go. I just will continue to avoid Met/Phils game until the Mets win a title of their own (God knows when that will be) but I cannot live day to day seeing arrogant Yankees fans in every part of my life.
The other reason is that even though I despise the Phils, they do represent the NL East and if the Yanks beat them, it gives the Yankee fan even more fodder to gloat on how they handled the Phils, but we could not. Either way, it is a painful time.
This is one of the greatest posts ever written on the internet.
While it does suck to support Philly, they are clearly the lesser of 2 evils. Lets face it- what Mets fan cared about Philly before 2007? They were irrelevant. The Yankees, however, have been our face our whole lives. For the last 13 years 80% of NY newspaper back-pages wash their jock-straps. They represent all that is wrong with sports. They are greed, excess, and they flaunt it constantly. Philly, as much as I don't like them, I have to respect their team. They didn't go buy all-stars at every position. They are gritty and blue collar, they have balls and don't back down from anyone. Everything I wish our Mets were. They represent the NL, a league laughed at by most everyone, especially Yankee fans.
The Yankees will stroll into the WS thinking they have already won it by beating their nemesis in the much tougher AL. Their fans and the media will be ready to crown them for #27, as will the whole world. The defending champs will not get the respect they deserve, and as we know, they enjoy beating NY. They thrive on being disrespected, and they will beat the Evil Empire. And when they beat that $200 million payroll bunch of all-star mercenaries, in their billion dollar stadium in game 6, I will still be a Mets fan.
I still won't like Philly, but I will damn sure respect them. As will every other baseball fan. Cheering for the Yankees is not an option. Never. Under any circumstance.
Get me a Cheesesteak.
if you were a true met fan you would understand that 26 times is too many, to live in the shadow of the yankees, i could never and will never support them, i shunned that bandwagon in the midst of the 96' world series when i was only 7 years old. the verbal abuse i had to take from my family, my friends, everyone who is hoplessly in love with the yankees. i would rather side with philly and for once ill side with the evil i dont know as well as opposed to the one i do……….im so sick of the god damn yankees!
Yes, you've summed it up well
Yankee fans I know can't stand John Sterling either. Many call up the FAN during day games and say they would rather catch updates than listen to him (even his supporter, Mike Francesca, admits Sterling is an entertainer who does not call a good game).
No doubt his notariety is more a negative than a positive with many tuning in waiting to hear him screw up (which dpesn't bother the Yankees since it still means ratings). A ball is high, far and gone no matter if hit in the upper deck or landing three rows into the right field porch. He is so involved with being the entertainer more than a play by play man that a year or so ago he went into his home run routine on a Cabrerra double, even though the ball hit the warning track and the outfielder played it off the wall. He didn't correct himself until after realizing Cabrerra was staying on second and Suzan Waldman had to point out what had actually occured.
Here's all you need to know: If the Skanks win, the likes of obnoxious Skankee fans (are there any other kind?) like Mike Fatcessa will be crowing that the Phills came up short when it came time to play the “varsity squad” from NY . . . GO PHILLIES!!!!!!
I am a Mets fan who happens to live in Philadelphia…Go Yankees. The fans here are the worst kind of people. Yes, worse than Yankee fans. Trust me. I grew up in NY and it was never so bad as living in Philly. They beat us down the past 3 years and I still get spit on.
One other reason that I hate the Braves (besides that Stalin came from Georgia) is that in 1996 I was forced to root for the Yankees. It appears I will forever put the Phillies in that category as well.
Back in 1976, before I knew any better, I put my faith in the other NY team. I detested the Big Red Machine and I wanted to see them lose quite badly. The other NY team rewarded me by going down meekly without a fight. My hatred for the other NY team has grown exponentially ever since I made that youthful yet terrible error in judgment.
If the other NY team was playing the Soviet all-stars, I'd wear all red. I'd rather scoop out my own eyes with a melon-baller than root for the other NY team. The Phillies could win 10 WS and not disgust me as much as the other NY team winning one.
Clearly, you've never lived near Philadelphia nor spent any time in a place, that despite being a very nice city, has one of the sickest, most vile pro-sports culture I've ever seen. They hate us, to an extent that I refuse to support them in anything. Let me give you two examples:
My father is a die-hard Yankee fan. But he worked shiftwork when I was a kid, so I spent every day after kindergarten with my maternal grandmother and grandfather. Grandpa was a Mets fan and I basically followed his lead. As I grew up and headed to junior high, the Mets franchise turned around. I literally grew up with Doc and Darryl and Lenny and Wally. The Mets became my team for life. Never hated the Yankees — they were dad's team — but there was just something about Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner that was hard to latch on to. Didn't hate them, didn't actively root against them. They just seemed to lack soul. 95 wins and second place got you booed or fired in the Bronx. In Flushing, it got you a standing ovation. The fans appreciated winning. It was just a much better environment.
And my father didn't berate me or try to persuade me to become a Yankee fan. He took me to Shea Stadium. A lot. Even when you knew he'd rather be watching Mattingly than Hernandez, he loaded up the station wagon and sent us off to Flushing. For my sake.
Fast forward a few years. It's 1998. The Mets and Phillies have both been in a long period of relative futility (seems to happen a lot). Francona's still managing the Phils, who are led by the likes of Darren Daulton and Rico Brogna. Mike Piazza has been a Met for a week and a half. My future brother-in-law's family, from South Jersey, is coming for their first visit to the house. My uncle and his family — Mets fans all — are coming to the barbecue straight from Shea. With them is my aunt's 6-year-old granddaughter, wearing her new Mike Piazza shirt.
This is how my brother-in-law's uncle greets said six-year-old, whom he has never met before. Keep in mind, SHE'S A SIX YEAR OLD, and IT'S 1998.
“Hi, (insert little girl's name here). We hate the Mets.”
Tell me why it's my Metly duty to root for the Phils to beat Dad's team again?
But regardless of whether the Yankees win this year, they're always going to have their 26 (or 27) championships to talk about. Face it, we' re just never going to compete with the Yankees history.
The Phillies are our direct rivals, their players talk trash about the Mets, and they've humiliated us the last 3 years. Every time we play the Phils, we have to hear about their clutchiness and gritiness and how un-Mets they are. If they win again, we’ll never hear the end of it.
-Peter
Because all teams have moronic fans, especially NY, Boston and Philly teams. But only one of those teams is truly evil.
Give credit to the Yankees for winning a World Series is like giving credit to George W. Bush for getting into and graduating from Yale. His daddy bought the degree.
– Old Backstop
OK, so here's a question for you, Backstop: Should the Yankees win the World Series this year, will their fans like Broadway holding anti-Mets signs, while the shortstop takes time out from celebrating a championship to talk smack about the Mets? Seem to recall the Phillies doing that last year.
I've lived in the New York area most of my life, within striking distance of Philadelphia for half of it, and I know “evil” when I see it. At least Yankees fans have the 26 championships and years of success to back up their pomposity. And at least they're real baseball fans, who care about their teams all the time. No one in Philly cares about the Phils unless they're winning. And even when I was living there back in '93, all they wanted to talk about on Sports Radio during the midst of a stellar baseball playoff run was Randall Cunningham and Richie Kotite. They're obnoxious, and they're not good baseball fans to boot. As I type this I'm listening to a Phillie fan on WFAN make the argument that Carlos Ruiz is a better offensive player than Jorge Posada, and that Ryan Howard is a better all-around first baseman than Mark Texieria (ever seen him play the field)?
In Philadelphia, moronic fans seem to be more rule than exception. Like the two guys who sat in front of my date and I at a game at Citi this September, yelling insults at all the fans in the section around them. Never seen Yankee fans behave like that — even when I was in Yankee Stadium, in my Mets cap, during a Subway Series game, rooting rather loudly.
And as far as I'm concerned, your Dubya metaphor only extends as far as Steinbrenner. Highly-paid teams still have to earn it on the field. We learned that lesson the hard way in '92 and '93. The Mets aren't exactly lacking in the payroll department. If we were Rays or A's fans we could make the argument, but our franchise is one of the haves.
Why does hating the Yankees have to be a prerequisite for being a Mets fan? Can't I just be apathetic about them? Phillies fans have given me more reason to hate their team over the years than Yankees fans have. That's all I'm saying.
Amen to this. Root for Philadelphia? No no no no no no no. You don't feed a growing beast. Hateful, bile-filled fans that won't be satisfied with the title. History has shown us this.
And I'm sick of the Phillies. And other Mets fans who tell me how to feel… I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but don't tell me I'm not a real fan because I don't agree with you…
Yes… but the trash (“choke-artists”) that the Phillies spoke about the Mets (THESE Mets) was actually accurate. And they really don't seem like that bad a bunch of guys (except for maybe Utley… and Hamels… and Pedro(!?!)…)
Besides, the Phillies never tried to kill Mike Piazza with a fastball to the forehead.
Go, Phils! (except for Utley, Hamels and Pedro…)
I really think it's more about the fans.
If you're surrounded by Phillies fans, you'll be inclined to root for the Yankees.
If you're surrounded by Yankees fans, you'll be inclined to root for the Phillies (and to stab the Yankee fans who have surrounded you…)
You've never seen a Yankee fan get obnoxious at a baseball game? What planet are you from?
I wouldn't be so quick to call them real baseball fans either. It might be fair to say the Yanks have just reclaimed their “biggest bandwagon fanbase” title back from the Red Sox.
Can't believe this post is approaching 9/30/07 territory so quickly in regards to the response given.
One thing seems clear from reading this, and it pretty much confirms what I've been thinking all along: if you're a Mets fan in NY, you're probably rooting for the Phillies–but the further south you get, the more and more Yankee fans turn up.
None of us want to hear about it when this is over, so we're pretty much all rooting for who we'll hear it from less. Am I wrong?