I got nothing. Say it ain’t so.

Sorry it’s been so long between posts. I spent a week attending a sportscasting class on Long Island, where I actually got to spend a significant amount of time calling Mets highlights, play-by-play, and dissecting the team as a color analyst.

After 6 days of intense tutelage and practicing, I have a gained a tremendous amount of appreciation for what Gary Cohen and Hernandez/Darling do, but even moreso what Tom Mccarthy and Howie Rose bring to the airwaves. There is so much more responsibility in calling a radio play by play, as you don’t have the video as your background.

Sportscasting, or play-by-play, at least, is all about preparation. You have to know teams in and out- you have to know statistics, injury updates, and farm reports. You need to have nuggets on all these players, and you need to know all of this like the back of your hand. Sure, you can have notes, but if you look down and miss a pitch- well, it’s kind of hard to explain that on the radio.

It’s also takes an imagination, expression, and an unbelievable command of the English Language. A lot of the technique comes with practice, and you get used to the speed of the action. But you never know what’s going to happen at a baseball game- yet as a the radio play-by-play man, you can never find yourself at a loss for words- it’s your job to put the words in your listener’s head. And man, is it tough.

After a week of intensive sportscasting, fun homerun calls (”John Maine makes that pitch his MAIN course”) , I’ve fallen in love with the profession. I always thought I wanted to be a sportswriter, and part of me still does, but man, is it fun to be a broadcaster. I’m not talking about the fancy suits and personal assistant celebrity broadcasters either- because those jobs are few and hard to come by. In reality, its a long, hard road to the top, and not very glamorous.  If you don’t love the craft and love the lifestyle, then you weren’t cut out for the gig. Now that I found out it’s for me, the long journey begins.

That’s all for now. Sorry about the drawn out tangent, I know we should be talking Mets tonight, but despite the nice road trip, I’m going to gag if I think about Chipper Jones one more time. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him make an out at Shea. If the man has another kid (he’s named one Shea after his success in the ballpark), he better name him “Citi.” It’s the only way the man can redeem himself in my book.

I’ll get back to you guys tomorrow, and maybe we’ll talk playoff rotation- or is it too soon?

Well, I finally finished the seventh and final edition of Harry Potter, and already I’m starting to wonder what life will be like without that once-every-two year fantasy novel fix. As a way of transitioning back to real world, or at least the real sports world, I’ve decided to use all that I’ve learned from Harry Potter to blossom into a greater Mets fan. Some of the things I’ve learned:

1. There’s good and bad in everyone, and everything - Harry is the imperfect protaganist. He isn’t the best or the brightest student at Hogwarts, he was often socially awkward, and he had to learn to trust the ones he loved most, and not push them away. The series is not about “Harry the hero,” but about an average boy who grows into a hero by making the right decisions. Often, Harry failed to see the good in people, and it almost led to his demise. Potter thought his father was inherently good, and Snape inherently evil - it didn’t quite work out that way. As a lifelong Met fan, I’ve come to the realization that I have no right to hate the Yankees, the Braves, or even Roger Clemens. Sure, all Mets fans are sick of the Yankees always stealing the spotlight, just like Ron was sick of Harry. Rivalries will always develop in sports, and it’s all in good fun. But the important thing to remember is that we aren’t fighting wars here. When the final battle ensued at their Hogwarts school, most wizards united against and overcame the evil dark lord, who failed to see that absolute power was not more desireable than the greater good. Though I love baseball as much as anyone, and I’m dying to see the Mets win a World Series, I refuse to let it lead to developing mortal enemies. So the next time you hear a “Yankees S-ck” chant at Shea, just remember there are more important battles to fight than starting wars over personal allegiances.
2. Have some faith in you leader- Metsblog.com sells a t-shirt that reads “In Omar We Trust.” I think we’d all be wise to follow the advice of the shirt. One of Harry’s personal anguishes in book seven was that he almost lost faith in the deceased Professor Dumbledore’s character and leadership. Harry often wondered whether Dumbledore was as wise and sincere as he previously thought him to be, and grew increasingly frustrated when he had to piece together Dumbledore’s plan to defeat the dark lord. We should reach the same conclusion that Harry does, and show the same patience and loyalty that Omar Minaya deserves. He has made good trade after good trade. He has robbed teams of untapped talent (Oliver Perez for example) and pushed all of the buttons at precisely the right time. As fans on our couch, we often think we know it all. The truth is, there are a lot of factors in personnel decisions that as fans, we never thought to consider. If Minaya can’t land a front-line starter by the end of July, there just might not be one out there. Everyone loves a juicy deadline trade, but sometimes the best ones are the ones you don’t make. With Milledge starting to blossom, and Alou, who can fall out of his bed in the morning and hit a line drive, on his way back, there’s plenty of offense to go around. Let’s trust in Omar, and Willie too. They have the team’s interests at heart.
3. Enjoy Shea while it lasts- I think most of us take a look over the Centerfield wall at the new CitiField and beam with excitement, as well we should. It is going to be a beautiful modern ballpark. Let’s face it, Shea’s a dump. A severly outdated Stadium that probably wore out its welcome a decade ago. But Shea is still the park we all grew up in, where all of us became Met fans. Everyone has memories at Shea, and I suspect we will all miss the suprising hospitality and cheerful nostalgia that the tacky blue monstrosity brings us every time we go through the turnstile. It was only when Harry was leaving Hogwarts did he most appreciate the school that was his only home. Shea has been our only home as Mets fans, and time is running out. Cherish it.
4. Age is overated- Harry Potter has taught us that young people can do incredible things, and can mature right before your very eyes when afforded some responsibility. The Mets are young at some positions, and aging at others, but I think we’ve learned from Dumbledore’s incredible strength and Harry’s incredible courage that as baseball fans, we shouldn’t worry so much about age. After last year, I doubt anyone will be happy with anything less than a World Series appearance, so maybe now is not the time to worry about the future. The Mets have enough bats to carry them once Beltran and Delgado start to hit again, and arguably have the best starting rotation in the National League. This team has enough talent to win it all. We’ll worry about ages in the off-season. In the meantime, let’s trust Gotay and Milledge, and see what they can do for us.

It’s been a fantastic road trip, and with the Mets consistently hitting, I think the club will begin to pull away from the pack in the NL East. Hopefully Glavine will get his 299th tonight, so we can all stop hearing about it. I expect an easy and convincing sweep over the sinking pirate ship.