Why Do We Have To Root For Either Team?

Some people are calling it the Doomsday Series.  Others are calling it the World Series From Hell.  I’m calling it Armageddon.  Regardless of what name you’re attaching to this year’s Fall Classic, the World Series no Mets fan wanted to see between the Yankees and the Phillies has become a reality and is set to begin tonight at Yankee Stadium.

I’ve been reading reactions by Mets fans on this site and on others and one of the common questions being asked is “Who will you root for?  The Yankees or the Phillies?”

Fans have been discussing both sides of the argument.  The ones rooting for the Yankees are doing it because they either want to see a New York team putting the Phillies in their place or because they think it will shut Phillies fans up.  (News flash:  It won’t.  They never shut up.)  The fans rooting for Philadelphia use the reasoning that they’ve hated the Yankees far longer than the Phillies and don’t want to hear Yankee fans sharing that they can now count up to 27.

So I ask those fans who are choosing to root for one side or the other.  Why bother?  Why do you feel the need to root for either team?

Unless you’re a Phillies fan who got lost on the way to Geno’s or a long-suffering Yankee fan who’s never seen them win a World Series (I’m talking to you, all you third graders), you’re probably a Mets fan reading this.  In good times and in bad times, Mets fans are true to the orange and blue.  We should never root for any division rival or crosstown rival, even if we know one of them has to win.

Here’s what I’m going to do if I decide to watch any of the World Series games.  I will root for a good baseball game to be played and that is all I will root for.  Of course, being the Mets-ochist that I am, seeing certain players fail will bring a chuckle to my face (I’m talking to you, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels).  But regardless of who wins the World Series, we Mets fans will still have one fan base rubbing our noses in it all winter long.  Actually, even if the Phillies lose, they’ll probably still be making fun of us for one reason or another.

I’m going to treat the World Series as if I was watching a WBC game between Venezuela and the Netherlands.  I have no interest in either team but I would want a good, crisp game to be played.  I don’t want to see bad baserunning, dropped pop-ups or other mental errors.  I saw enough of that this year.

I’m man enough to be able to face Phillies fans or Yankee fans during the off-season and congratulate either one of them on their World Series victory.  It’s not an easy task to go through a grueling 162-game schedule and three tiers of playoffs to achieve their ultimate goal.

But should I root for either of these teams to win?  Hell, no!  If the word “Mets” is not stitched across the front of your jersey, I have no interest in whether your team wins or loses.  Just play a good game and whatever happens, happens.  And we’ll see you on the field in April when the whole shebang starts all over again.