Crazy Keith's Corner: Why Should Anyone Pay Attention?

"I wasn't watching...I was just looking at the crowd. Sometimes I drift." --Keith during Sunday's game

We've come expect this from Keith over the years, but its not what we expected from this Mets team. Since the calendar changed over to summer (let's say Memorial Day for our purposes) this team has played as if the division title was already theirs and all the little things don't matter. Last night Gary and Ron said basically the same thing, pointing out tiny mistake after tiny mistake that this team made on the field and at the plate that added up to another loss. I can't believe I'm going to write this, but I am rooting for the Mets to fall out of first on this trip out west. Maybe that will wake them up and restore some sense of pride or something.

And here's chilling thought--what if 2006 was as good as it gets for this group?

And what if April and May were the anomaly for this team, and June and July is actually what they're supposed to be--a team that has no passion, doesn't pay attention to the small details and doesn't mind laughing and celebrating with elaborate dances when they haven't won a damn thing? (Shudder.)

In a way, I don't even feel guilty that I haven't been able to watch as much as I did at the beginning of the season because this summer has been packed with other great stuff. If the players on this team (and there are no exceptions) don't seem to care about the season, why should I? I don't feel that bad missing all of the Reds series (well except the Ralph Kiner tribute, which I did tape and plan on watching soon), even if Keith was in rare form like he was on Sunday. And since I have plans during every game of the Dodgers series, it won't bother me if Keith suddenly joins Gary and Ron in Los Angeles and I miss it.

On the plus side, hearing Gary do his Lerch imitation on Sunday ("you rang") during the absolutely bizarre chat about The Addams Family was pretty sweet. I wish I could say that much about this team of underachievers.