Read: Dealing with Disappointment
Last week in Time, political columnist Joe Klein, who is a big Mets fan, explained to outsiders how Mets fans have grown used to dealing with disappointment, if for no other reason then the organization was essentially created out of this very emotion.
…actually, like so many people, i was recently asked the following question for a Q&A…
“In your opinion, where do the 2007 Mets rank amongst other ‘historic’ baseball collapses?”
…my response was as follows…
“Of teams with seven game leads with 17 games left, yes, the Mets are most disappointing. However, to rank one disappointment over another is just silly. I mean, look at the Padres from this season – they had a two game lead with three games left and they lost it. I imagine those fans are as disappointed as Mets fans, if not more – and now people want to go back and compare other disappointed fans from a 100-year span. Good luck. Go ask a Cubs fan about being teased and jerked around or let down in the face of hope. The whole idea of sports is sustained by disappointment. It’s a bizarre relationship. And, frankly, I don’t care about other fans. I only care about my fellow Mets fans, and right now we’re not happy. That’s all I know. How that stacks up against others, I mean, who am I too judge?”
…i’m not saying that the Mets ‘collapse’ did not hurt…of course it did…but this idea of which collapse is worse, or trying to pick out the ‘worst collapse of all time’ is insane and totally unfair, and it wreaks of hyperbole…
…actually, what’s odd, and this gets to klein’s point, i am impressed with how well we, as Mets fans, are handling the pain…i mean, if this is truly the ‘worst collapse of all time,’ you wouldn’t know it when talking to a Mets fan…sure, we’re disappointed, but, frankly, i think we have kept it together quite well…
