A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Succos and The Mets: Days of Yore

Originally posted October 9, 2006

It's 6 A.M. on Sunday morning, early on the second day of Succos.

I'm in my parents' Boro Park home. My wife and son are asleep. It's still dark outside, and shul doesn't start for three more hours, but I won't be going back to sleep.

I need to know whether the Mets won Game 3 of the NLDS.

I check to see if the newspaper has arrived. It hasn't, as I expected.

When I was younger, in situations like this, I'd walk to the Arab-owned newsstand about an 8 minute walk away, where the newspapers are conveniently placed outside.

But I'm too old for that now. Instead, I'll just wait. Doesn't matter. Mets either won or lost and I'll know soon enough.

I keep myself occupied by reading an article about elephants in the New York Times Magazine.

The Times finally arrives at 7:40. My father takes the sports section.

"They lost," he says.

I know he's referring to his Yankees, whose season has come to a shockingly swift end. I feel bad, but this is good for the Mets. They weren't going to beat the Yankees. The Tigers and A's? Those teams are far from invincible.

But did the Mets win Game 3? I know not to ask.

I wait for a few minutes while my father goes through the ritual of absorbing the bitter details of his team's demise.

He relinquishes the sports section. Nothing about the Mets on the front page. Nothing in the rest of the sports section either. Late edition of the Sunday Times must print pretty early.

I very quickly get dressed and walk even more quickly toward the newsstand. There's a cool breeze and the streets are almost empty.

Three minutes later, I see the word "sweep" on the back page of the Post.
posted on 10/01/2009