I've never made it a secret that I feel a kinship with Joe Benigno, WFAN radio host since 1995. Joe is almost 30 years older than me, yet he may as well be my crazy uncle. We root for all the same sports teams, so we have shared in a lot of losses, failures, heartbreaks, and pain.
Oh yes, pain. Joe has many famous sayings, but maybe the most famous is "Oh the pain." I still remember the first time I heard him say it, after one of the Philadelphia Phillies scored from 2nd base on a ground ball to the pitcher against the Mets.
So with all going on in the world, and live sports being canceled, Joe's co-host, Evan Roberts, decided to create a March madness style bracket of 69 moments of pain. Over the next couple of weeks, they will be going through the bracket and Joe will decide which moment has caused him more pain until there is only one moment remaining. On a side note, Evan did a terrible job with Rangers moments, he left out the horrible playoff losses to Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and Ottawa.
And now I have filled out the bracket myself, and my final 4 moments were Carlos Beltran getting caught looking in 2006 vs the Jets losing the AFC Title game in Indianapolis on one side, and on the other, I have the Victor Cruz game and the Knicks losing the NBA Finals in 1994.
We'll start with the Overnight Region. Clip my championship match in that region is the Jets losing in Indianapolis edging out the Rangers losing the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. It's amazing how for a lot of these moments, I was not home. For Game 5 of the Finals, it was played in Los Angeles, but I was in a hotel room in Mystic, Connecticut. The Rangers had a fantastic run to get to the finals. But that LA team was just too big and physical, they would wear the Rangers down in every single game, the Rangers did not score one goal in that series in the 3rd period or in overtime. And when Alec Martinez scored in double overtime, I just flipped the TV channel and collapsed back on the bed. It is an absolute tragedy that Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers of that era did not win at least one championship.
But oh I will never forget Indianapolis. Nobody ever expected the Jets to make the playoffs that season, let alone be one of the final 4 teams remaining. But after they beat Indianapolis and Cincinnati to close the regular season, then beat Cincinnati and San Diego on the road in the playoffs, they were only 60 minutes away from going to the Super Bowl. Indianapolis was about 4 hours from where I was living in suburban Chicago, i knew this might be the only opportunity i would ever have like this, I scored a ticket for about $90. I drove into Indy, parked in a hotel garage, and found a Jets tailgate. I wasn't much of a drinker at the time, but I must have down 5 or 6 beers in the parking lot, we were just having an amazing time huddling, dancing, and drinking. That looks so, we go inside, and I'm feeling pretty bullets to. The jets jumped out to an early lead and while I was feeling pretty good, it felt very tenuous against Peyton Manning, the best quarterback of this generation by far. And when Indianapolis scored late in the 1st half to pull within single digits, I knew it was trouble. And I was right, midway through the 3rd quarter, I knew the game was over and I left the stadium nearly getting arrested for yelling and cursing. I stormed back the 6 blocks to my car only to realize I did not have my keys. So I called my mother, and she drove 4 hours with my spare set of keys so that we can both drive home separately. Meanwhile I had to wait for her in a hotel, too depressed to eat or drink anything. And 5 minutes before she arrived I actually found an extra car key that would have worked, though I have never told her about it. I think we got home around 2:00 in the morning.
Let's go to the Midday Region. Losing in the regional final is the Jets choking away a playoff spot in Buffalo in 2015. Ryan Fitzpatrick had had a magical season as the Jets quarterback, but the clock struck midnight on him. He could not throw a pass accurately, Chris Ivory was glued to the bench at running back, and Darrelle Revis kept playing about 15 yards off Sammy Watkins, who caught short passes against him all day long. That was the day when I knew Todd Bowles was not going to work out as a head coach. And and the Jets have never come close to a playoff spot in the 5 years since.
Now Game 7, 2006 NLCS. That may have been the best Mets team of my lifetime. That lineup was loaded, the bullpen was stacked, the starting rotation was decent enough. They won 97 games, took the division by 12 games, and then swept the Dodgers in the first round. Even though Orlando Hernandez getting hurt was a blow to their rotation, I never doubted they were going to make the World Series.
October 19. Game 7. Oliver Perez versus Jeff Suppan was not exactly a marquee pitching match. But Suppan decided to pick that night to become Greg Maddux and hold down the Mets. And Perez, who was one of the most wild pitchers ever, did a fair job. He did throw the pitch that Scott rolen would have had slammed for a home run if not for the legendary catch by Endy Chavez. But the Mets had several excellent chances to score after that catch, and both Chavez and Jose Valentin failed. So when Yadier Molina hit the go ahead home run off Aaron Heilman, it was a bad blow, but I don't vilify Heilman because it never should have come to that. Oh and Cliff Floyd struck out in the bottom of that inning with 2 runners on. And when that curve ball broke in across the plate against the great Carlos Beltran for strike 3, it was if somebody took a sledgehammer to my solar plexus. I snatched the tape out of the VCR and began destroying it in the garage with a hammer. I literally went outside on the porch and screamed at God. I had a qualifying test from my new job the next day and I absolutely did not give a shit. Although the Mets have won a pennant since that time, that is the one year I can remember when they were the absolute best team in baseball and should have won the World Series. And factor in that they didn't get back to the playoffs for another 9 years, it hurts even more.
Franklin College Region. It's a layup. Victor Cruz ruining my Christmas. That beats out the Kenny Rogers bases loaded walk in 1999, as the Mets fell in Game 6 to Atlanta in the NLCS. For that moment, I was terrified, watching on NBC, on a tiny 15 inch TV in my dorm room at Gordon College in Massachusetts. When Al Leiter gave up 5 or 6 runs in the 1st inning, I was absolutely convinced the game was over and I turned it off. But of course, the Mets battled back to tie, they had to give me one last tease. They took the lead twice, and blew it both times. Finally, it was Rogers and from the beginning, it did not look good. Andruw Jones drew the walk, Gerald Williams scored, and that was it. Pure heartbreak.
But that son of a bitch, Viktah Croooze. It's Christmas Eve in 2010, I'm in San Diego hanging out with about a 100 jets fans. It was such a huge game for both the Giants and the Jets that day. The Jets had the better of the game going to the end of the 1st half. But when Eli Manning threw that short pass to Victor Cruz and he took it down the sideline 90 plus yards as he avoided tackle attempts by Eric Smith and the immortal Kyle Wilson, the air went right out of all of us in Henry's bar. The Jets offensive game plan was comical, they made Mark Sanchez throw pass after pass after pass. The Jets lost the game, have never been to the playoffs since, while the Giants went on to win yet another Super Bowl. Oh and I was dating a Giants fan at the time...
In the Food Delivery region, the Knicks edge out the Revis trade for me. Darrelle Revis was perhaps the best defensive player the Jets have ever had. And for him to leave, wind up in New England and win a Super Bowl with Satan, I can never truly embrace him again. But the Knicks had such a good 15 year run and this was their best chance to win it all. Michael Jordan was gone, they'd finally vanquished the Bulls. Then they held off Indiana in the ECF, though we got a glimpse of the misery Reggie Miller would inflict on us for the next 7 years. And then losing games 6 and 7 of the Finals in Houston, blowing a 3-2 lead. They've never been that close to a title since.
So what is my final? Mets 2006 season edges out Victor Cruz for the win.
For Joe, I predict his Final 4 will be Mike Scioscia, Bill Belichick quitting, the Jets losing in Cleveland in 1986, and the Charles Smith Memorial. Jets vs Cleveland over Scioscia in the finals
