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Is it better to have hoped and lost or never to have hoped at all?

As you wake up in these hot, humid days of late July, is it more depressing to remember you're a Nationals fan mired in the middle of a season that never was (and never will be if they don't get Stephen Strasburg signed) or a Mets fan watching a season that was supposed to be fall apart like an Omar Minaya press conference?

As recently as a month ago, voters still viewed the Mets as serious playoff material, but as injuries continued knocking star player after star player out of the lineup, the season unraveled. Things hit rock bottom in Monday's press conference about the dismissal of Tony Bernazard when Minaya managed the nearly impossible feat of making a member of the New York media into a sympathetic figure.

As for the Nationals, well, consider that it took them until June 19 to win 20 games -- and even that required a three-game winning streak in which the team scored a grand total of seven runs. So you celebrated Opening Day, saw the Capitals through the playoffs and watched the first two rounds of the U.S. Open before your team won 20 games. That's a lot of miserable baseball to suffer through.

All we know for sure is the best place to be is stuck in the middle of the I-95 corridor, where Phillies fans must be reveling in the misfortune to the south and north.

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BTW, as a Phillies fan I am really enjoying this, but also a little sad. I liked the little rivalry the two teams had going, and feel that it only works when both teams are on the same level. Ah screw it, I'll take more titles and the Mets fans can keep the circus.

” -- RealSportsFansLiveHere

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As a Mets fan, I am just inclined to bury my head in the sand in utter and absolute shame. I am truly embarrassed to be fan of the New York Mets.

” -- BirishB

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Hindsight is always 20/20, but Minaya started looking bad to me with how he handled Willie's firing. When I heard about how Bernazard undermined Willie and then stabbed him and Petersen in the back, I blamed Minaya too, because that was his guy. Willie has always been nothing but pure class and didn't deserve to be treated like that. I don't wish for anyone to lose their job, but I'm not going to cry when Omar loses his. Also, what was it that Bernazard did to justify his lofty status within the organization? The Mets have turned into a soap opera, unfortunately.

” -- JPMDeportes