I’ve just finished watching the last Mets game of the 2007 season and I still can not believe it’s over. I should be ripping mad and maybe I will feel the anger by Tuesday or Wednesday when I watch the first division playoff game and the Mets are not in there.

Long time readers know I have no love for Tom Glavine and the way he spit the bit the last two starts usually makes my comments about him more vile but all I will say is if he ever had doubts about retiring he shouldn’t now  and if he can’t come to the realization that he’s finished as a pitcher then he can take his act elsewhere. If the Mets even thing about bringing him back next year then the Skill Sets are bigger fools than I make them out to be. Glavine needs to go home to Alaphrata GA and put on a apron and play house husband.

Please spare the Fire Willie and Fire Omar comments as it’s not going to happen. As for the rest of the coaching staff the only one safe is Hojo. I think Professor Rick could be a goner as well as Rickey Henderson and Sandy Alomar Sr. Jerry Manuel I feel is safe but if a managerial job comes open he could go although with this collapse I don’t see any Mets coaches getting any offers. This coaching staff needs John Stearns badly.

I will have a whole post morden on the Mets this week but one thing is for sure, Willie needs to take control like he did in year one of his rein as Mets manager. He and Omar need to meet and settle their differences and get on the same page here becuase if they don’t don’t both guys will be out of work and with this historic collapse on their resumes they may never get the chance to run or manage a team again. The big message that has to get through to the players is that losing is bad but non hustle will not be tolerated and with that I’m calling out Jose Reyes, Lastings Milledge, and Carlos Delgado who need big time attitude adjustments. Delgado has to know that he is leader here and the young guys watch him and Milledge is still immature but I still love his talent and hope he’s here next year. Reyes is a puzzle. I don’t know what the hell happened to him if it’s off the field issues or if I’m all wrong and Rickey Henderson is a bad influence on him I just don’t know. I love the kid and I tend to cut him some slack as he’s young but Omar and Willie really need to sit down with him and read him the riot act. Fans can deal with losing but we will never ever accept not hustling and if Reyes thinks that’s cool Mets fans will make his life a living hell. Make the choice Jose.

I’m not done with baseball. I will watch the post season closely because it’s the greatest game ever invented and I love it. So I will be posting a little preview here and I will comment on games. I will also do an autopsy on the Mets season and give my who stays and who goes. Unlike the 2007 Mets I don’t go away and hide I’ll be here and I will still be wearing my Mets shirts and Mets hats  as I am what I am, A METS FAN!

This is why you never say your team sucks or they don’t give a shit if they win or lose or give up. I’m telling you I’ve seen a lot of Mets games this is what being a Mets fan is about. Your not really here for the championships are you? Your here for the ride right? The Magical Mystery Tour of sports fandom.

Thank you John Maine for stepping up and pitching a gem. Just a 45 ft bleeder away from a no-hitter. You were fantastic today when a fantastic pitching effort was needed. You gave us a Sunday, no matter what the Phillies do today.

Thank you Luis Castillo for being the guy to finally get mad enough to go after a pitcher it was good to see some passion out of the dugout and hopefully the rest of the team realizes the resource you guys have but haven’t tapped into all season. The Mets fans.

No matter what happens tomorrow all you folks you leave comments about Fire Wilie Fire Omar you can stop ’cause it ain’t happening. Both guys will be back as will Professor Rick. But one thing both Willie and Omar have to do is tighten up the ship. When Willie first took over as manager he was a hard ass. No beards, no long hair, no loud music in the locker room. A bit to rigid I say. But now after losing the reins a bit the boys have gotten lazy. Next spring Willie has to run a modified boot camp and get the message out to run out every hit ball like you have a porterhouse in you back pocket and a pack of pit bulls are chasing you. There is no excuse for not hustling that means you Jose Reyes and Lastings Milledge. If the Mets need a coach in charge of ass kicking next spring I want the job.

I’m off to Coney Island for the premier of Mathematically Alive remember the show tonight is sold out but they have added a show for tomorrow at 7PM at the Coney Island Museum.  

I love how fans are now telling other fans how to root, root, root for the home team. Telling a Mets fan or any sports fan how to support their favorite team is similar to telling a person how to grieve the loss of a loved one. It’s a very personal emotion.

Some fans a vocal and want someone’s head on a platter. Some fans wear blinders like folks did during the Vietnam War when they wore buttons “My Country Right or Wrong” Some fans pull out slide rules and calculators to figure out if a player hits better on Saturday’s at 3:47PM  when he wears one sock up and one down. There are fans who are with you win or win and some who are highlight fans. They never watch a full game just the clips on SportsCenter. The worst part of that clique is they feel they are “experts” on the team.

Then there are guys like me and a bunch of other folks who not only follow the big league team but also fret about the Savannah Sand Gnats, Brooklyn Cyclones and the Kingsport Mets. We read anything that pertains to the Mets and the organization from the signing of a 16 year old Dominican outfielder to how many bricks it will take to build the rotunda of Cti Field. To say we immersed into the Mets culture is like saying we need air to breathe.

I hate to be a grumpy old bastard (usually I LOVE being a grumpy old bastard in fact it is one of the few things in life I am really good at. Just ask my wife and kids. ) but I don’t need some twenty something or thritysomething Mets fan telling me a fortysomething (this is my last year as a fortysomething which when I turn fifty next summer I  will become an unbearable grumpy old bastard) Mets fan how I should feel or root for the Mets. With all due respect, FUCK YOU!

My feelings right now are of sadness. I’ve moved on from the pissed off stage and the shocked stage and now I’ve moved into the sadness stage. I’m sad because no one in uniform has stepped up and led except for Paul LoDuca and Pedro Martinez. With all the stock answers that come from Willie, David Wright and Carlos Beltran it’s refreshing to hear LoDuca show honesty. From reading the quotes that come out of the Mets clubhouse the players are either full of shit or great actors. This team last night looked like they were playing baseball with sharpshooters aiming at them from the light sanctions.  Let’s face it it’s tough to relax when your team can’t pitch or field and 50,000 people are howling and talk show callers are raging and bloggers are bloviating and the newspapers but out front pages headlines like this.  It takes a tough guy to play here and just don’t know if the Mets have any tough guys in that clubhouse.

If the Mets drop the next three games I won’t be mad. I will be depressed yes but not mad. I’ve had my heart broken by this organization many times before this. The Seaver trade, Gil Hodges death, M.Donald Grant, Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry’s crash and burn, Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonila, 1985, 1987, 1999. Get the picture. The Mets organization has smacked the shit out me time and again and what do I say “THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER” 

Please don’t get me wrong here this is no surrender post. I won’t say I have total confidence in the Mets winning two or three games this weekend and making the post season but with all the heartache moments I have seen miraculous ones as well. The Black Cat of 1969, Wrigley Field Monday October 1, 1973, Game 6 1986 NLCS Game 6 1986 World Series Robin Ventura Grand Slam Single Rosalita Leiter beating the Reds in a one game playoff in 1999 5-0 There have been great moments and hopefully there will be some this weekend.

I hope to get to Shea tonight and win or lose I will be back not this weekend but hopefully next week. If not I will be back in April just like I’ve done for the past 44 years. WIN OR LOSE I LOVE THE NEW YORK METS. Pass the Kleenex please!

We will have all winter to dissect what went wrong and what has to change but for now is not the time for that. Let’s see how this plays out first. Let’s hope the Nats blow up the chicken men in Philly.