Mets Heads

Spelling Bee Results

2009-05-29T00:45:00-04:00

Last night was way more fun than I expected it to be, or should I say "bee".

There were 37 participants, and we were held in a green room of sorts away from the general population. I was the first person to sign-in so I was awarded the dubious honor of going first.

Some people were taking it very seriously, and others, like myself, not so much. Good vibe all around though.

When it was time to start, the first 10, me being first, were led from the room upstairs. It felt like we were being marched to either death row or to a rocket launch to the moon. Fortunately for us, it was a row of chairs in front of about 200 people, including my 8 loud supporters, with a R-E-G-I-S sign! Muy nervous.

I got up...easy round here we go. "Joseph Addai...spell Addai" the moderator said. I was relieved because I knew it, and got it right.

I took a seat, then after a few people were eliminated, the correct spellers went back upstairs.

Then after everyone had gone, the next 10 went back down. Medium difficulty was next, and I was #1 again. "Benny Agbayani...spell Agbayani" PHEW, again I was relieved and spelled it right.

Back upstairs until the others went, then back down again for the third, "difficult" round. "Something babineaux...spell babineaux". I said Babanou. Game over.

BUT we stayed until the end and it was tons of fun. Then our crew went upstairs to the game room at ESPN Zone. I had received a gift card, so we spread the wealth and celebrated my moral victory.

I really knew about 75% of the names so don't be surprised if I do it again next year, and so should you!

Click here for pics.

ESPN Spelling Bee Tonight

2009-05-28T15:39:00-04:00

I am participating in the ESPN Spelling Bee at ESPN Zone in Times Square tonight at 7 p.m. so come root me on!

I will be asked to spell the names of sports figures (coaches, players, broadcasters, etc), alive or deceased. They may ask me to spell either the first name or last name. I fully expect to get bumped in the first round but who knows, it's luck of the draw if I remember my 3rd grade spelling bee correctly.

Want to battle against me? If so, email your name, address, phone number and birth year to this address: SportsSpellingBee@espnzone.com.

Walk-up entries will be accepted if space is available. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m.

5/23 B-Mets Game

2009-05-26T12:44:00-04:00

We went to the Binghamton Mets game on Saturday night, then drove all the way back to Queens afterwards. Thank God for Starbucks Doubleshot or I would have crashed into the median on several occasions.

Anyways, here are a few observations:

*You can never have enough mascots - Ballwinkle, Buddy the Bee, and Bingo.
*$10 front row seats are great. There is even an upcoming game that is free with a Kraft singles wrapper - Remember the days of the Pepsi Picnic Area and its free tickets on Wednesday's when you brought a Pepsi can? Seems like decades ago, and will probably never happen again.
*It's nice to enjoy baseball without truly caring about the result.
*They have fan activities in between every inning, including allowing the kids to run in the outfield while the opponent warms up.

Check out all my pics here, and the best shots are in my Flickr slideshow in the right sidebar.

NY NY Sports Sports

2009-05-15T08:50:00-04:00

Watch out ESPN, SNY's new commercials are giving you competition. I think they're great and you can watch them all here.

A sample:

Fan Patience is Thin

2009-05-14T09:58:00-04:00

The Mets have won 8 of their last 10 games and are in first place, but you would think the sky is falling.

When they win, articles I read are positive, and people I talk to are pleased, but they have this raised-eyebrow kind of look. Almost as if they are surprised as they say things such as, "Yeah, I know, crazy right?"

When they lose however, a flood of pent up angst is spewed, as if everyone expected it to happen, even amidst a streak such as this. Scapegoats are appointed, and the person emits a "here we go again" type attitude.

I attribute this to the results of the last two seasons. No matter what Carlos Beltran does, the memory of his frozen bat against Adam Wainwright unfairly won't be forgotten. No matter how good Johan Santana pitches, he is overshadowed by the dark cloud surrounding Oliver Perez's currently squandered contract and uncertain future.

It is almost as if the media, and we as fans, are just waiting for Collapse 3.0 to happen. And this time when it does, we will be ready. Our coping mechanisms have setup the expectation of failure so that we don't get as upset this time around. We always blame the team for being mentally weak, lacking confidence, and belief in themselves. But I think it is us who suffer from those same insecurities.

Every game has become like a mini-series. Are we overreacting, or is that just baseball?

Here's the bottom line. Only a championship will satisfy us because personally I am tired of reminiscing over one from 23 years ago. We have seen the team coast in first place all year, just to miss the playoffs. We have chanted MVP to Wright and Beltran, and booed them during slumps. Nothing will be good enough for us until they win it all.

Wins keep us quiet, losses frustrate us, and we try to have faith. I know the media needs something to talk and write about, so it is easy to pick on what is not working, plus it generates more discussion. I must try to not get sucked into that vortex of negativity. It is a long season and I am an optimistic fan, but even I can admit that patience is thin.

Baseball is funny. You have to let each day go, good or bad, or it will affect you the next day. Maybe, in order to get through the season, I need to do the same.