Friday, August 18, 2006
THIS IS NEW YORK NOT BOSTON*
We were fading into that 8th inning, “we’re probably going to win at this point so we’re going to relax” glow, when Diamondvision trumpted and the PA announced:
“It’s the XM Sing-A-Long! Stand up and sing along with...”
Just when I’m thinking that this could be cool, the bomb is dropped:
“‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond.”
WHAT THE FUCK?
I’m sorry, I know I usually censor myself here. But this situation calls for drastic language.
I assumed that everyone else would share my outrage. I mean, this is not our tradition, this is BOSTON’s tradition. And while I’ll buy into the whole “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing to some point, this has nothing to do with it.
TBF exploded similarly. Or rather, identically. “NOOOO! This is NOT our song. This is THEIR song!” One of the things that irks him the most is when people at Shea can’t leave other ballparks’ traditions at those ballparks, especially Yankee traditions.
To our horror, people stood up. People sang. Lots of people sang.
To our continued horror, it wasn’t bad enough that they JUST played the song, but they cut it off AT THE EXACT SAME POINTS THEY CUT IT OFF IN BOSTON FOR AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION. Bad enough already that they were playing it in the 8th inning, which is (as you know), EXACTLY WHEN THEY PLAY IT AT FENWAY!
Is the Mets front office so devoid of creativity and imagination they can’t think of anything else to do except blatantly ripoff another ballpark’s and another team’s tradition? Is this another case of “We’re only the Mets and have only been around since 1962 and our ground isn’t sacred and we have no history” abashedness? Because you know, at some point you might want to see a shrink about your inferiority complex and GET OVER IT.
This is exactly the kind of thing we get ridiculed for uptown. We should be making our own traditions, our own customs, our own cool moments at the game. This is one of the top things I L-O-V-E about baseball, the individual traditions of each park and each team. For the love of all that is good and holy, pick different songs. Pick different promotions. If you have no ideas, go hire someone who can help, the team can certainly afford it, and we, as fans, deserve the best, not some other team’s reruns.
My nomination for an alternate would be “Rockaway Beach” by the Ramones (who are from QUEENS!), but I will concede TBF’s point that people might not know the words. His suggestion, “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen, makes perfect sense - everyone knows it, it’s upbeat, it’s about baseball, and if you want another contextual tie in, Bruce played three nights at Shea. I’ll take it.
I would rather hear “Centerfield” than “Sweet Caroline,” and I hate that song so goddamn much I cannot even begin to describe it to you. I would sing along with gusto and enthusiasm.
Get rid of “Sweet Caroline.” We’re entitled to more imagination than that, and so are the Mets. We got rid of “Our Team Our Time” because of shared fan outrage; don’t let them foist this travesty upon us now, especially as we head into the post-season and all eyes will be on Flushing. It’s embarassing.
TBF is sitting in the other room composing his letter to the front office as we speak.
===
We’re not going tomorrow, but we are going on Sunday, and having Breakfast With Mr. Met. No, seriously, TBF finally stepped up.
*There was a punk rock compilation in the 80s called THIS IS BOSTON NOT NEW YORK.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the lack of originality and stealing traditions from others. I love the idea of the Ramones, too...just put the words up on the scoreboard.