Memo to the New York Mets

Are you actually going to do this again? Are you seriously going to whimp out for a second straight year and forever be known as the definitive choke artists in all of sports? Are you really going to allow yourselves to be the signature punch line for years to come?

Please, for the love of God, do not go down without a fight again. Stand up like men. Stand up for your organization, your fans, and for yourselves. Put forth an admirable effort.

If you lose out to the Phillies by a game but go on a 9-3 run, then tip your cap to them, but please, for crying out loud, do not go down like this for a second-straight season.

It is downright humiliating for your fans—who are ridiculously loyal, by the way—to have to endure this kind of embarrassment again. How many more times do I have to hear that obnoxious Phillies fan call up WFAN and talk about how you are a sorry bunch of chokers, and how Greg Dobbs and Shane Victorino are more clutch than David Wright and Carlos Beltran?

If you are not sure how to play hard, with energy, and with absolute conviction that you’re going to will yourselves to win, than please, watch those fightin’ Phillies play. Maybe you will learn something from them.

Because when the chips are down, and their backs are against the wall, those guys go for it, with a vengeance. They thrive off it. Those are the times when they shine, when they rise up from the carnage like gladiators and unleash a barrage of clutch hits and crucial saves.

Down 7-4 in the seventh inning with 12 games left? Bam! No problem, they’re coming right at ya and shoving it down your throats. Losing 7-0 in the fifth? That’s nothing...They storm right back and steal the game, ripping your guts out in the process. Down by three in the ninth? Piece of cake. They patiently and methodically stage a rally, and before you know it, your three-run lead turns to a three-run deficit, leaving you bewildered yet again and your fanbase in another pile of puke.

If it sounds like I’m jealous, I am. I am so jealous that the hated Phillies, perennial losers in the sport, fight tooth and nail and never give up. I'm jealous that they never wilt under pressure and actually feed off it like it’s oxygen. You guys, on the other hand, react to pressure as if it’s kryptonite.

So how much longer are you going to allow this team to whoop your meek buts into sissy mush? When is it enough for you? When does humiliation—of historical proportion mind you—finally get to you and make you do something about it?

I beg of you, pick yourselves off the mat and grab a big ol' serving of pride and determination on your way up. Dig deep down within your souls and come out swinging. You have 12 games left to do something about it. Are you going to rise to the occasion or are you going to bend over again and say, "Thank you Phillies, may we have another?"