This blog post is dedicated to my friend, James Eterno. James is a great guy and true blue
Mets fan.

In my blog post of May 20, I kind of lamented how the town hall question and answer period has become somewhat predictable. There about 14,000 callers and probably a few thousand people waiting in the que with questions. Maybe, just maybe, questions should be emailed ahead of time. Perhaps questions can be selected to answer by Mike Mulgrew or he can pick the questions randomly out of a drum.

I know what you are saying, "But wouldn't Mulgrew just pick the softball questions?" That is a possibility, unless he follows what Ron Swoboda did in 1975.

I was 11 years old in 1975. I was on Tracey's Shoe Shoppe in the Ardsley Little League. Our annual father-son dinner was being held at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle and Ron Swoboda was to be our guest speaker.

This was the first time that I was to seat alone with the team. I talked my dad in sitting at my brothers table. My reasoning was that it was my brother's first year in little league (He was 8) and that my dad was co-manager. I would not have to worry about my dad all night.

The dinners always had a question and answer period of the player (Unfortunately, it was always a Met as the guest. I had to sit through Ray Sadecki, Jim McAndrew, and Bob Apodaca to this point). It was always mayhem hundreds of boys raising their hands at once. Except 1975 was the year of the new Q&A format. We would now write our questions on a piece of paper which would then be collected and given to the guest.

Now mind you, at this time in my life I only knew of Ron Swoboda of having played for the Yankees, having come over in a trade during the 1971 season for Ron Woods. And frankly, in the 2 1/2 seasons Swoboda played for the Yankees he kind of sucked. The Braves even cut him during spring training in 1974. Again, I did not know of his 1969 World Series heroics. I am sure some of the more mature readers he do.

I decided on a question. Of course me being me I wrote: "Were you a scrub?"  The boys, and even the fathers, at my table said there is no way that Swoboda would read the question.

Guess what? He did!

Swoboda is up at the dais and going through the questions and just blurts out, "Were you a scrub?" He pauses, and decides to give a life lesson. He tells us how the 25th man on the team is just as important as the 1st man on the team and yada, yada, yada. Looking back on that answer it makes sense. Hey, he got to play Major League baseball and be a hero in a World Series.

About 10-12 years ago he was at a card show at the Westchester County Center. I took my son with me and he got an autograph. I also took the time to apologize to Ron Swoboda and, he graciously accepted (He had ZERO memory of that night).

But you know, looking back I was impressed that he didn't take a softball question. He faced that obnoxious question by an ADHD 11 year old and he met it head on. Sometimes answering the hard questions, the questions that people might not like the answer for is the way to win converts and have people come to your side.

Next UFT Town Hall Q&A let's keep on wishing for less ""What gave you the idea for Flat Stanley?" questions and more questions, to use a baseball parlance, that are knuckleballs.

We are in this together. UFT should always be aware that actions are better than just words.

Remember when we were children and would play make believe? Or wish we were someone else? Or pretend we were someone else?

When I was 6 I had a kiddie Mets uniform (I wasn't yet a Yankees fan. I was a year removed from living in Flushing). I remember wearing it along with my dad's black dress socks and pretending I was Art Shamsky.

There is a photo somewhere of me when I was about 4 years old dressed up in my dad's suit and dress shoes pretending I was going to work.

When I was 8 years old my family and I went on a trip to Washington, DC. We met with our then congressman, Peter Peyser. He gave us a quick tour of the Capitol Building and showed us the vice president's ceremonial office. My dad took a photo of me sitting in the chair pretending to be Spiro Agnew.

When I was a little older and playing wiffle ball in my friend's backyard I would do a mean imitation of Bobby Murcer's batting stance.

When the 1973 baseball season opened and Thurman Munson was sporting a mustache for the first time I knew I had to have one when I was old enough. Sure enough I grew one in high school.

Heck, I had a friend who told me that he had tunnels in his house which led all the way to the Concord Road School in Ardsley. But he was only 7 years old when he told me.


But remember, these are all done as a child. Fantasy and make believe and imitation is part of the growth process. When we become adults, the days of fantasy and make believe should end.

So when one goes to a UFT function honoring retirees and can't but help make it about oneself, one must wonder where one is coming from and why.

Hey, want to go up to the podium and satisfy some primal Freudian shortcomings, fine go ahead, play make believe. But the continued desperate need for self delusion and adulation by the naive sycophantic minority by posting the photo on Facebook, well...it's weird. Really, really weird (Click to enlarge).

It's time to remove oneself from fantasy land.

It's not going to happen. Ever.

So here I am last Sunday sitting in a McDonald's parking lot in Little Neck, Queens eating my Egg
McMuffin, reading the Daily News and listening to Mike Francesa on WFAN while my son is down the road at Americana Manhasset at a car show.

Francesa on Sunday morning is mainly about the NFL but this Sunday he was all Mets. He took a call from Will in Queens, a die hard Mets fan. How was I able to tell he was a die hard Mets fan? He was crying. Yes, an adult Mets fan calling Francesa and crying that the Mets are only ties in the NLDS 1-1 and through his tears exclaimed, or was it threatened, that Matt Harvey better come through tomorrow (game 3).  That this is Harvey's "one chance," and exhorting Harvey to put the team on "your shoulders and then you got my faith back in you.”

I always knew that Mets fans were a squirrelly bunch and a little off (apologies to James Eterno) but this was too much. Crying? Intimidating the Dark Knight? Crying?

The Post picked up on the story and wasn't too kind to the Sports Pope Francesa. Francesa as we know likes to mock the Mets fans said;

“Will, you crying?” an incredulous Francesa, ever the charmer, offers. “Not really crying over this I hope, jeez. … That sounded scary. Will, come on. Calm down, it’s Sunday morning. He’ll be all right, jeez.”

So what happens? 

The next day, Monday, I'm listening to Francesa and he gets another call from Will in Queens. Will is a lot calmer this time, more level headed. Francesa is apologetic (Wish he talked to Mad Dog this nicely) and was talking up Will.

Turns out that Will lives for the Mets and does not have cable and is only able to enjoy his team through the stylings of Howie Rose on WOR 710. Will also lives alone. I know, a true Mets fan.

Francesa asks Will his age and Will tells him that he is 42 years old and has yet to attend a game at Citi Field. Yes, we know, a true Mets fan. Mike asks Will what he does for a living. Ready for this?

Will is a math teacher for the DOE at Russell Sage Junior High School in Forest Hills!

I spit my coffee out! But wait, it gets better.

Francesa asks Will if he is busy that evening and if he has the means to make it to Citi Field. Will doesn't know what is coming but I could tell already.

Francesa invited Will to the Mets NLDS game 3 at Citi Field as his personal guest. He told Will to wear his Matt Harvey jersey and his Mets hat and to meet him at the Gil Hodges gate at 8 PM.

Sure enough, Matt Harvey pitched OK and probably failed to heed Will's demands. But it was great to hear a positive thing happen to a NYC teacher, read positive media coverage about a teacher, and sadly the DOE is too dumb to pick this story up and run with it.

So many possible lessons could have come from this and we here at SBSB are sure that Will shared this 15 minutes with his students. I guess a city wide lesson could have been...hmmm, let's do this with an essential question,"What's the deal with Mets fans?"

Mets got a good team this year. I wish the Yanks could have been put together as they were. Enjoy the run.

If the Giants make the Super Bowl this year I am calling Francesa bawling my eyes out.