Month: September 2011

Soaring

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My dad would probably tell you that I’ve been a Jets fan “all my life,” but technically since I was 10, as that was the year I really started to pay attention to the sport.  I, however, will tell you that I didn’t come around on the Jets till much later in life, till I was in my 20s, specifically in 2002.

And that was because that was the first year I not only really started paying attention to games, but that I really understood the passion that is there for Jets fans.  It was also the first year I started attending games.

As I’ve said before, I “speak” baseball, so I have a hard time finding parallels in life to football.  This could simply be because I came around so late to it.  But I do see it now.  I see the passion, the living-breathing-eating the sport, especially when it comes to Jets fans.

I’ve often called my contentious relationship with the Jets “an exercise in futility.”  This is because I’ve seen the Giants, a team I probably SHOULD have rooted for because everyone I knew was a Giants fan, win three goddamn Super Bowls in my lifetime.  I had a period of being irrationally angry with my father after the Giants beat the New England Patriots (though in reality, I was happy the Pats lost) in early 2008.  I said, and I quote, “It’s bad enough you made a Mets and a Rangers fan…but making me a Jets fan is the cruelest thing you could have EVER done to me!!”

Eh, it’s a character build.  Certainly the tide has shifted, as my friend Dee who also goes by “Mets Writers” in the sports communities sent me the pic I have posted above.

Four years ago, you couldn’t find this much Jets stuff in this town and surrounding areas.  Now she says, the true tragedy is that she couldn’t find a Jets pillow pet.  I think you could find a Jets bath mat though.

I made it a point to go to a game last year in the new stadium, what Jets fans christen “JetLife Stadium.”

Go Gang Green, Troop 16H lives…and

J! E! T! S!  Jets! Jets! JETS!!!!!

My Second Language

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I am a born storyteller.  I don’t just like talking about stuff that’s happened to me, but I have a photographic memory (sometimes anyway) and if you tell me something that is not prefaced by “You cannot tell a single SOUL about what I am going to tell you,” then consider me a proxy for repeating your information.

Baseball is a language that has shaped my narrative of a lot of these stories.  In fact, that’s me to the left, speaking at an event hosted by Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing and Jon Springer of Mets by the Numbers called “Amazin’ Tuesdays,” where the baseball literati congregated once a month and we did some readings from our respective blogs or books (sometimes both…in my case, just my blog, My Summer Family).  I have been a lifelong Mets fan, but my stories are baseball-wide.  I’m a little pitcher with large ears (no pun intended, with that “pitcher” thing), and I’ve borne witness to many funny stories over the years just by observing not only what’s going on with the field, but in the stands as well.

That very night at the gathering, I spoke of how I would yell, “Just Forfeit!” when an undesirable pitcher would come in for middle relief with a six run lead (shows you how much faith I’d have in whoever that was).  This was borrowed from a gentleman I sat next to in Baltimore in 1998.  The Orioles were playing the Seattle Mariners, and the game went into extra innings.  Former Met Jesse Orosco came into a tied game, and I believe there were men on base.  But when the dude in back of me started yelling, “Just forfeit! Just forfeit!” while throwing his hands in the air in futility, I knew I had to take that line as my own.  (PS The Orioles actually won that game)

I also told the story of how my friends whom I called the “Woodside Crew” (Frank, Tommy and Kim) would be done with the Mets in 2002, in their own exercise in futility, and in the 6th inning, Frank would stand up, and say, “Fuck these guys, I’m goin’ to Donovan’s.  Who’s comin’?”  Donovan’s is a famous pub in Woodside, right off the 7 line and the LIRR of the same stop, with a great burger.  My team can drive me to drink sometimes.  Donovan’s was a great watering hole.

The guy behind me in Mezzanine 22, Richie, would say things like “Hey, it’s the bottom of the 5th, we’re down 6-0.  WE GOT ‘EM RIGHT WHERE WE WANT ‘EM.”  Not even a hint of irony in his voice.  Meanwhile, my dad and I will STILL call or text each other at times during games where similar situations have occurred.  Ten years or so later, it’s still as funny as it once was.

This site is new.  I had my own blog for four years, and I write for several other Mets blogs still, trying to craft my voice and how I wanted to tell my stories.  However, it’s tough to share my experiences with different focal points who want to flog a certain player or just want to disagree with how the team is being operated.  I started doing podcasts because I wanted to get my sense of humor back.  I had lost the reason WHY I followed these teams, why I root for them and why I am a fan.  Sometimes, you need to laugh, and get back to our roots as to why we enjoy it.  It hasn’t been easy for us in the last few years.

Then I thought, wait a minute.  I also like to talk about hockey and football.  Baseball is my first language, so I may have a few broken sayings here and there as I write about hockey and football.  Especially football.  I have a feeling though, there’s going to be a lot of passion driving that narrative this year.

This is why I have started a new site, after staunch refusals and saying “NEVER. AGAIN.”  I have many stories to share, and I hope you enjoy reading/listening to them as much as I like telling them.

Introduction

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I’ve spent the better part of a year figuring out what next steps to take since I shut down my signature site, My Summer Family, my passionate narrative from a Mets season ticket holder point of view.

Things got to be too much…plus I wanted to do some side projects such as writing for Metsmerized Online, Daily Stache and Kiners Korner (and the podcast Kult of Mets Personalities)…but I never gave up the idea of having my own site again.  This time, more content, more fun stuff, and stopping taking myself so seriously.

Those of you know who know me as a Mets fan…welcome back!  But just to be clear, this offshoot of My Summer Family is now going to include my fan viewpoint of the New York Jets and the New York Rangers. I have a feeling I won’t be at a loss for content this year, for sure.

I attend several games per year for those sports…why not write about them?

I’m getting back to my roots here.  So please be patient as I figure things out on WordPress, and as I take my next direction in the creative side of being a fan.