Smarter Than the Average Bear

By Metstradamus
Posted Friday, September 5, 2008

A study has confirmed what I've always suspected: Watching sports makes you smarter.

No, it's true. Really. Between the plethora of comments on blogs such as my own (plug), I can confirm that. Sports fans really are smart. And something else I've learned is that the bulk of them are smarter than me.

You know how I knew that? Last year is how I knew that. Even with the Mets pacing the N.L. East for much of the 2007, all people kept telling me was that there was something wrong with this team. There were pieces that weren't in place ... something was off ... they were boring and lifeless. And I kept saying things to the effect of "What the hell are you talking about? We're on top! We're seven games ahead with 17 to go! Even if the Phillies swept us, what could possibly go wrong?"

But you knew. You, the sports fan, you knew. You called it. It's like when animals desert entire cities in advance of earthquakes. You, my friends, are my own personal animal kingdom.

This season, at this very moment, the Mets are 79-61. Hey, just like last year. Go figure. But there's a different vibe this season. Yes, still cautious. Let's face it, nobody wants to be the one to claim the race over before it really is. But if the vibe of you, my furry friends, is any indication, the ending is going to be entirely different than last season. The Mets go into this series against the Phillies on a hot streak with a 14-5 mark going in. Last season the Mets went into a September series against the Phillies at Shea on a similar hot streak: they were 10-2 in the 12 games prior to that series ... a series in which the Mets lost three games late to Philadelphia and basically welcomed them back into the race. So certainly, there's every possibility that the Mets will choose today to begin Choke 2: Electric Boogaloo.

But even with the warts in the bullpen, I get a completely different vibe from this team. More than that, I get a completely different vibe from you, Mets fans. You're optimistic. YOU ... the most fatalistic group of fans in all of sports ... are optimists. Imagine that! But hey, while you may be fatalistic, you're also smarter than everybody else.

That's good enough for me.