Hope for the Hopeless- CONTEST ENTRY

[metsmagic18]

Why do you stick up for your team in tough times? North Side Chicagoers, Red Sox fans, Pirates fans, Padres fans, Nationals/Expos fans, Mets fans, etc.

You root for your team because you know that one day greatness will come. Sometimes Kevin Millar is correct when he predicts you will win the series. The ball rolls through Buckner's legs sometimes. Steve Garvey can whack a home run off Lee Smith and send you to the World Series. Nationals fans, your greatness will come. It always does.

But this is what makes baseball great. Every team will have it's day. Whether it be 2012 or 1912, no team is forever destined for futility. Take the Yankees. In their first 15 years, they were a down on their luck team without a superstar. Enter Mr. Ruth. The greatness comes. Some teams are yet to reach the final goal, but most have had a taste. The Astros did make it to the Series in 2005. The Rangers are turning the corner, having made it each of the last 2 years.

My point here is that every team will have it's day, and that's why you stand by your team through thick and thin. After all, you don't want to have switched teams when they finally do win, do you?

Living in New York in the 1990s, who do you think young guys and kids chose to root for, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, or Bobby Bonilla and Todd Hundley? Sadly, they haven't yet had the day when they watch the Mets win.

The problem is that you will go through times that you think couldn't get worse. The Mets for most of the 60's, and 90's. The Pirates in the 00's. The Astros's seem to be going down that path. You gotta stay tough. Every year every team has a 3.3 percent chance of winning it all. Winners come together. The 1986 Mets were a team destined for greatness, in 1986. That was the team for those 162 games, that they knew would work. By 1987, the attitude was different, and so were the results. 1979 Pirates just clicked.

I have a little cousin who recently got into football. Right after Sanchez was drafted, hopes were high for Gang Green, so he jumped on that bandwagon. He laughed in my face as the Jets cruised to consecutive AFC Conference Championship Games and the Giants sat at home and watched on TV. He says he's a Jet fan "for life". The day after the Super Bowl, I see him. He's wearing a Hakeem Nicks shirt. That's not how you play the game.

Take Joe Beningo. For those of you who don't know, he's a radio guy for the New York sports radio station, WFAN. He's been rooting his butt off for the Jets, Islanders, Knicks, and Mets. Sure, he had 1969 for the Mets and Jets. He had the 70s for the Knicks. He had the early 80s for the Islanders. Since, nothing. Every day you can hear him talking about Castillo's dropping that pop-up in the Bronx, using his signature phrase, "Oh the pain!" Or insisting that the Jets were ready to win it all this year. Anyhow, since 1987, he has stood by each of those teams and been rewarded with nothing.

It's easy being a Yankee fan. You sit back and wait for the wins to come. If not this year, the next. If not then, just sit tight for the next 5 years. The dynasty will come. Babe Ruth will show up. Derek Jeter is just waiting to be found. That's not always how it works, and sometimes, patience is THE virtue.

Spoken from a Met fan who grew up cheering for a team with a drug filled Dwight Gooden, out of place vets like Bobby Bonilla, Eddie Murray, and Bret Saberhagen, as well as looking to the future with Bill Pulsipher, Paul Wilson. I know how it feels. It does get better it really does! Maybe by 2022 the Mets will have a new owner, and maybe even have figured out how to win! Maybe. The promise of a chance. The inkling of a possibility to have a season you dream about. I was lucky. The Giants just won. Maybe that can tide me over until the Mets pick up winning ways.

Bear with me. The shameful Met fan.

[Pheebs888]

Thanks for the entry, published here: https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...-the-hopeless/