Why has Tim Tebow's comeback become more than a roster issue?

 By Tony Mangia

The news that Tim Tebow had a familiar new neighbor move in next to him came as no shock to many who know that the the Jacksonville native has always had a close relationship with his former University of Florida coach Urban Meyer. But, after that happy news made the rounds, reports that the new Jacksonville Jaguars head coach was giving Tebow a shot with the team as a tight end hit social media and the controversy began.

Suddenly there was less chatter about Meyer borrowing a leaf blower and more noise about fanning the flames of division, politics and conspiracy.

It didn’t take long for the pundits, prophets and naysayers around the NFL including most fans to voice disbelief that Tebow signed with the Jaguars. The Christian footballer doesn’t have a prayer they say.

Many considered it a publicity stunt and don’t expect someone who hasn't played in a regular-season game since 2012 to even have a chance at making the team. 

It wouldn’t be the first time Tebow — a Heisman winner and one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time — was considered a gimmick or some sort of marketing one-trick pony. Who could forget Tebow replacing Denver Broncos starter Kyle Orton in 2011 and making the term “Wildcat Offense”  almost as popular as the "Tebow Kneel.”

Tebow’s legendary, but brief, NFL career was diminished after an uneventful year with the New York Jets and then spending five years as a minor leaguer with the New York Mets where he was one of Triple-A’s biggest names — albeit without ever getting called up to The Show.

He heard the same derisive screams as an average home run hitter …  but with exceptional gate drawing power.

Besides being a devout Christian, philanthropic do-gooder and all-round nice guy, Tebow is blessed with the size, physical abilities and mental toughness to compete and thrive in many sports.  And the last time I heard, those were all excellent attributes for a professional athlete to have.

So why all of the hate for Tebow?  Isn’t a feel good story about an athlete getting another shot the basis of almost every sports cliche?  How many sports movies would be made if this wasn’t the case?

The question for Tebow seems to be less about if he'll make the cut on Jacksonville's 53-man roster than why is he even getting a shot. It’s like when the name Tim Tebow pops up in various training camps, the social media trolls come out.

It’s one thing to shake your head about someone playing out-of-position, their time away from the game or even his advancing age of 33, but is there some other underlying reason people turn Tebow into a lightning rod of doubt and ridicule?

Maybe it's his Billy Graham homilies or the P.T. Barnum aura — which seemed to have surrounded Tebow his whole life in professional sports — riling people up? Or, more reasonably, the argument that he is taking the roster spot from a younger, position-ready player. 

Some, like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, have gone as far as signaling it as white privilege.

Smith suggested that Meyer bringing Tebow to the Jags is just another example of “someone of a different ilk, a different ethnicity, getting opportunities that we know we would never get.”

“That’s where the words white privilege come in,” he tried to explain before exclaiming, “There’s no way to eradicate white privilege without white individuals giving up some of their privilege.”

The talking head quickly backtracked by mentioning that he didn’t believe Tebow was signed because he was white, but that race still played a role in how it even happened.

“I’m not saying he did it for Tim Tebow because he was white or anything like that. It has nothing to do with their race in regards to that. I’m simply saying when you see an opportunity like that happen, it is clear that it happens for white folks, and it doesn’t happen for everybody else,” Smith said, continuing to stir the flames of division.

Smith insinuated the same thing about the Brooklyn Nets hiring neophyte head coach Steve Nash last year.

“There is no way around it,” Smith said. “This is white privilege. This doesn’t happen for a black man.”

Smith’s point of view might work in the real world, but not in the pre-pandemic, already bubble world of professional athletes.

When was the last time LeBron James was chastised for anything? James seems to get a pass on everything from breaking NBA’s COVID safety protocols, threatening police officers on Twitter to being a complacent shill for the NBA's partnership with Communist China.

Former NFL great, Eric Dickerson, also voiced his opinion of Tebow's comeback as, "Bullshit."

After a gossip site reporter compared Tebow's opportunity to another kneeler's, Colin Kaepernick, the Hall of Famer steamed.

"Of course [Kaepernick] is getting punished," said Dickerson. "He's black."

But how many rants did you hear when 32-year-old malcontent Dez Bryant signed with the Ravens after his layoff?

If anything, Tebow’s comeback should be inspiring.

Even Brandon Jacobs wants to make a comeback … as a defensive end. The former Giants running back tweeted the announcement last week.

"I am really serious about coming back as a defensive end," he posted. “I can still run, I am strong and there's no way Tebow is a better athlete than I am. I just need a shot that's it!! If I can't cut it I'll take it like a man. Just give me one chance that's all!!"

Despite the politicization, who knows where this could lead? Maybe we’ll see a few more 40-something quarterbacks in the Super Bowl?

And all the ranting in the world won’t squash the fact that Tebow has already signed a contract and gained a spot on Jacksonville’s 90-man roster this spring. The next question becomes whether he’ll land on the 53-man team this season.

One NFL player who is excited to see Tebow on the practice field is rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

"I never met Tim until last week, so I didn't really know him," said the new Jaguars QB. "But I was intrigued by his character, his work ethic and what he's been able to do throughout his life on the field and off the field." 

It is doubtful the once Friar Tuck- coiffed Tebow (Bet y’all forgot that timeline) will take any snaps from under the center this summer, but his experience and guidance could only help the rocker-haired rookie. 

The presence of Tebow, a two-time National College Champion, will also draw some of the media spotlight away from Lawrence, a one-time champion at Clemson.  

That could end up being Tebow’s biggest contribution to the team.

Imagining the "new normal" when MLB opens the gates after the pandemic lockdown

By Tony Mangia

In just a few short months the whole world has been tossed upside down by the coronavirus. An invisible scourge which has disrupted our lives in everything from work, travel to sports and leisure time. In the United States we are experiencing what seem like cataclysmic changes to our lives and not only adjustments to our lifestyles, but to our freedoms as well.

We know business closures and confinement are just temporary sacrifices everyone has to make and whether through ingenuity, humor or just plain stoicism, most of us have weathered the hard times with flying colors. 

But exactly how short-term will these precautions be? Nobody seems to know.

Just like post-9/11, our way of life changed dramatically coming out of the ashes, but slightly over the long run when you look back. Airport security had become stricter and bothersome, but a necessary task. Thanks to the shoe bomber, even removing our shoes in line has become routine (Thank you Velcro lacing) and, just like airports, stadium security at public events will see some major changes after Covid-19. 

We’ve been through cultural and personal changes due to recent hardships before and have a history of overcoming adversity through adaption and innovation which someway became the norm.

WW2 brought about rationing, blackouts and other inconvenient precautionary measures, but also begot great advances in medical and technological innovations. 

The terrorist attacks at the World Trade center was the catalyst for many security procedures and similar changes in our way of life.

On a relatively smaller danger scale, even the Tylenol scare of the 80s tamper-proof bottles and the elimination of most capsule-type over- the- counter medicines — something we are grateful and complacent about now.

We coped and we overcame.

But what will the pandemic bring once we are allowed to attend sporting events after we get the okay to gather en masse?

What new patterns of behavior will we have to endure to enjoy the stadium experience again? 

Since Major League Baseball seems about the most logical professional sport which might be reinstated this summer, we’ll start there — and with my hometown Yankees and Mets. 

This is all speculation on a lighter note and a prediction that there will be an opening day with fans this season — albeit with the new precautionary and social distancing guidelines.

Let’s imagine the anticipation of the first pitch as newly set-loose fans file out of crowded subway cars and make their way to Citi Field or Yankee Stadium — both which will have instituted unfamiliar and stricter rules to adhere — after maybe months of isolation. Never mind the logic, but will fans have to line up on little marked boxes six feet apart  ... after they stepped off those mobbed trains. I imagine that the event staff will all be wearing face masks — probably in home team colors — and all ticket punching will be electronic so there is no physical contact. Cash might become obsolete in stadium settings. 

As you pass through the turnstile an event staffer will stick a hand-held thermometer to your forehead — checking each person’s body temperature — before allowing you to pass. A cough will never be looked at the same way as before.  God forbid you clear your throat before spouting off how the Astros cheated the Yankees out of a World Series or the Mets have once again been duped out of real ownership and are whisked off to a tent with a big red cross on its side where you will  be further questioned by people in haz-mat suits inside about your physical history.  

The surreal apocalyptic environment will continue once inside inside the arena or stadium.  There will probably be those six-foot spacing boxes at every concession stand and in the souvenir shops where over-priced Purell and official licensed team face gaiters will be big sellers. No more communal condiment tables to pump your ketchup and mustard anymore. Can't have more hand contact spots or any mingling areas than you need. And in the men’s room, every other urinal will sealed so there is no close contact or chance of spraying your neighbor. Oh yeah, thefts of toilet paper will become rampant.

Every other seat or more will be closed off, so there will be plenty of elbow room in the stands. The empty seats will be filled with cutouts of Jerry Seinfeld at Citi Field and Chazz Palminteri at Yankee Stadium. Sorry Spike, your face will relegated to Knicks game — whether you are boycotting them or not.  And in The Bleachers, like those metal pigeon repellers, the aluminum planks will be proportionately spiked to keep fans at acceptable distances. It's not like barbed wire ever kept the Creatures from doing anything they wanted anyhow.

So now with the fan attendance cut down more than half, the roar of a crowd will become a low murmur — sort of like every Tampa Bay Rays home game at The Trop.

Fan behavior will also be monitored. High-fives after a score or good play will banned. So will fist and chest bumps. Fan celebrations will be restricted to rapid blinking at each other.  There will be staff on hand — with six-foot rulers — to discipline drunk social-distance offenders and fans reviving The Wave, making sure they don’t make contact with anyone in the seats around them. And the time-honored ritual of fans passing down a hot dog or a beer from a vendor over to that poor soul seated in no-man's land will also be a big no-no.  

Baseball stadiums will be netted around the entire field to prevent fans from throwing an opponent's home run ball back onto the field. And, sadly for Mets fans, Mr. and Mrs. Met broke up during the quarantine period together. She got tired of listening to him excitedly talk about the possibility of J-Lo becoming a team owner and his joke about Miss A-Rod pole dancing to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” thus giving the 7th inning stretch a whole new meaning.

There will still be fun. Mascots will fire rubber gloves — with official licensed MLB team logos — from t-shirt cannons over the nets and there will be Lysol Spray Giveaway Night. Although it's too bad the Kiss Cam will become the I’ll Just Look Endearingly At You From Six-Feet Away Cam. 

But god forbid some wiry teenager does manage to get onto the field. That will entail a complete shutdown of the game because MLB has to protect those players.

When this whole lockdown confinement is over and things get relatively back to normal, many of us will have profoundly changed forever — probably a little more introspective and lot more cautious. The idle time gave us more time to think about family, relationships, finances, politics and health. I see a kinder more grateful fan who won’t let little things bother them as much ... except maybe how the cheating Astros robbed the Yankees of a World Series.

And then we can all wait for the first NFL touchdown celebration where players act out pandemic social-distancing.

McNeil's acrobatic catch brings back memories of Jeter's dive into the stands — without the net

By Tony Mangia

Last week, in the fifth inning of the Mets’ 4-0 win against the White Sox, Jeff McNeil made the kind of wild catch that just might become pretty common in the future. The Mets rightfielder hopped a low wall into the fans' protective netting to stop his momentum after running down a foul ball, making the catch and flopping around like he was inside a kid's bounce castle.

And, in the kinder, gentler world of sports these days, nobody was harmed in the making of this play.

“That’s instincts taking over,” McNeil, who goes by the alias "The Flying Squirrel," would say later.

The catch was fantastic and deserving of all the ESPN Top Ten airplay it got that night, but the hustle and intrusion into the stands also brought back memories of another foul catch by a certain shortstop in the Bronx 15 years ago and how that scenario played out without today's safety precautions.

On July 1, 2004, Derek Jeter made one of the most memorable catches of his career, diving into the third-base stands at Yankee Stadium to catch a Trot Nixon pop-up in the 12th inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees ended up winning the game, 5-4, in 13 innings.

Not to take anything away from McNeil's highlight gem, but Jeter's dive into the hard-backed seats and fans' cold beers — not to mention against their hated division rival in a game that had playoff implications for both teams even that early in the season — was way superior.

McNeil's play came during what will probably shake out to be a meaningless regular season game where he calmly walked back to high-fives in the dugout unscathed two outs later.

Jeter, meanwhile, was slapped on the back by the stunned fans he just crashed into and dramatically escorted back onto the playing field by trainer Gene Monahan — bloodied and a bit bruised.

While McNeil's trampoline catch might become more commonplace because of fan protection becoming a priority inside baseball stadiums, it's Jeter's hard-nosed play that will live on in MLB lore forever — if not only because of the lack of those nets.

Jeter's catch wins this debate, but McNeil does have a better nickname.

Tim Tebow looks ready for Mets after taking triple to the head

Tim Tebow might want to give serious thought to donning the old football helmet again, but not so much for playing on the gridiron as much as prowling the outfield.

On Monday, the Mets Binghamton RumblePonies' minor league star looked almost Cansecian — and not in a powerhouse Jose Canseco good way. 

Tebow, a newly named Eastern League Double-A All-Star, misplayed a ball bouncing off the Portland Sea Dogs' imitation Green Monster (Adorably called The Maine Monster) in left field and took a few seams to the face in the process. The ball ricocheted about 40 feet off his forehead and gave the batter an RBI triple.




At least the ball didn't bounce over the wall for a home run like Canseco's infamous play. And Tebow had the last laugh by going 3-for-4 with a couple of RBIs anyway.

It wouldn't be the first time a player had trouble with one of these left-field monsters so considering how lousy the Mets are this season — and decent Tebow has been (.265/.335/.394, 5 HRs, 32 RBIs) — it wouldn't be a shock to see him move up to Triple-A before being called up to Citi Field in the fall. 

If Tebow's MLB shot isn't for any reason other than the publicity and drawing power he brings, at least he's entertaining — unlike the Mets.

Tim Tebow adds wall crashing catch to his minor league highlight reel

Tim Tebow continues to simultaneously blur and highlight his reputation as minor league baseball's most intriguing player — making it hard for anyone to hate the guy.

Since being called up to the New York Mets' Single-A St. Lucie team — and on the same day Mets GM Sandy Alderson admitted Tebow was more of a gimmick than a latent talent — the former NFL star is starting to look like he deserved the promotion even though it might be better suited to the gridiron than the diamond.

On Friday night, a day after Tebow homered in his second game, the bruising outfielder went Wildcat and can now add a wall crushing catch to his baseball reel.

Just call him 5-Tool Tim Tebow 😮 (via @AMcDevittTV) https://t.co/H9QmzlMRge pic.twitter.com/sWn8207nsE

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 1, 2017

Alderson was pretty blunt on the Tebow signing claiming the Mets didn’t sign the former quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner because they saw some hidden talent in him. It wasn’t a “baseball decision,” as Alderson said at the time.

“Look, we signed him because he is a good guy, partly because of his celebrity, partly because this is an entertainment business,” Alderson said. “My attitude is ‘Why not?’ ”

Despite his paltry .220/.311/.336 stats and only three home runs in 64 games with Single-A Columbia, Tebow was conspicuously promoted last week. 

Tebow went 0-for-2 last night but, like Alderson said, it's all about the show.  And if the losing Mets continue to be as entertaining as they are now, expect to see Tebowing (remember that?) at Citi Field this fall.

Mr. Met fired after giving middle(?) finger to fans at Citi Field

The unwanted drama at Citi Field continues to unfurl and even the New York Mets baseball-headed mascot has gotten caught up in the losing and frustration.

On Wednesday night, that four-fingered freak, Mr. Met, reached his own breaking point and flipped what must be considered his middle digit at some fans during the 7-1 loss to the Brewers. The loss halted a modest a three-game winning streak for the Mets and ended one costume wearer's career for good.

A video posted by @adelucia35 on Twitter captured the moment when Mr. Met flipped the bird to a group of shouting fans as the mascot walked toward a tunnel through Citi Field.

The incident came on a night that marked the 53rd anniversary of Mr. Met’s debut as the team mascot. 

When even Mr. Met has enough...pic.twitter.com/HMxpaalU3v

— Scott Bisang (@sbis85) June 1, 2017

"We apologize for the inappropriate action of this employee," the Mets said in an email from the organization. 

"We do not condone this type of behavior. We are dealing with this matter internally."

A Mets official told The Associated Press more than one person wears the Mr. Met costume during each season, and the person who wore it Wednesday night will not work in the costume again.

All kind of funny considering the real middle finger to fans is the 23-28 record the team is holding up to them. 

Mets already selling Tim Tebow gear through MLB loophole

It's Tebow Time at the New York Mets Instructional League camp even though he hasn't even made the roster.

Tim Tebow reported to the camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on Monday where there was a brand-new Mets jersey waiting for him. There were also blue and orange Tebow jerseys waiting for 400 or so fans who showed up with enough cash in their pockets — specifically $128 for a jersey and $28 for a cap.

The new Mets signee has the best-selling jersey on Mets.com Monday afternoon, his white, pinstriped Mets jersey even out-selling Noah Syndergaard’s blue jersey. A Tebow t-shirt was also the best-selling overall item on the site earlier.

Traditionally, MLB teams are forbidden from selling a jersey with a player’s name and number on it until that player makes the 40-man roster — which explains why custom jerseys are always among the top-sellers. But, ESPN reports, Tebow signed a “bridge agreement” with Majestic Athletic, which is MLB’s official uniform provider, that allows the company to sell gear with his name and No. 15 on it before he makes it to the Bigs.

Nothing like some divine intervention to get this whole new Tebowmania going.

Teixeira goes off on Mets and Matz after getting plunked (VIDEO)

No doubt about the fact that Mark Teixeira has been having a rough outing this season. Actually the oft-injured Yankee has been quietly limping around the Bronx for the past few years but Wednesday night the Gold Glove first baseman finally used his bat and his mouth to shut up his critics.

Tex jacked a three-run homer in the second inning off Mets starter Steven Matz before firing up his Yankees’ teammates by yelling at Matz when the lefty drilled him in the left shin the next time up at bat.

Teixeira's reaction to getting hit by Matz was punctuated by him screaming at Matz, “You’ve got to be kidding,’’ as Mets catcher Rene Rivera escorted Teixeira to first base while players from the dugouts and bullpens came out onto the field and puffed out their chests.

Tempers flare in New York, as Mark Teixeira gets plunked by Steven Matz after his 3-run homer. #Yankees #Mets pic.twitter.com/LRhWKnmZ1g

— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) August 4, 2016

Firing his shin guards into the air as Teixeira was escorted to first might have been a funny sight but maybe not as comical as the pumped up Mets bullpen standing around waiting for some action.

Teixeira's home run helped the Yankees to a 9-5 Subway Series victory over the Mets in front of a sold-out crowd of 48,339 — the largest Yankee Stadium crowd this season.

Enough with all this madness about Bartolo Colon's home run

Not since Hank Aaron's historic No. 715 has baseball seen a home run as widely celebrated as the one Bartolo Colon dumped into the left field seats at Petco Park Saturday night.

Even Padres pitcher James Shields — the pitcher who gave up the shot — has self-appointed himself "President of the Bartolo Colon Fan Club."

The 19-year MLB vet is a likable enough guy, but it's time for the madness about a single long ball to stop.

We get it. A 42-year-old fat guy lofts a ball into the stands for his first career dinger, wobbles around the bases and all hell breaks loose. And now we get to hear Mets announcer Gary Cohen's now immortal "the impossible has happened" ad nauseum until blood runs out of your ears.



And we've have heard Mets Spanish station WEPN's broadcast clip so much it makes hearing GOOOOOOAAALLLLL sound like sweet music:

Bartolo Colon home run called by the Mets Spanish station WEPN: pic.twitter.com/eRdyvgI13U

— In Mets We Trust (@InMetsWeTrust) May 8, 2016

Now Topps has even turned the image of Colon's dinger into a baseball card:

Bartolo Colon hitting his 1st HR is newest #TOPPSNOW card. Get it here: https://t.co/tpN4j99mUZ pic.twitter.com/KjexVVdPA9

— Topps Company (@toppscards) May 8, 2016

So all you chubby-chasing baseball fans compose yourselves. It was so fortuitous a swing that even the 19-year MLB veteran almost carried the bat all the way to first base with his helmet over his eyes. So get over it.

And if you didn't figure it out by now... I'm a Yankees fan who fondly remembers when El Barto squeezed himself into slimming pinstripes.

Yankees and Mets players close to being banned from using chewing tobacco

One of the most iconic, and disgusting, sights in Major League Baseball — a player chomping on a wad of chewing tobacco and spitting the brown goo wherever — may soon go the way of games of pepper if New York lawmakers get their way.

Officials for both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field have backed calls for banning chewing tobacco after the Health Department backed legislation calling for chaw to be kept out of both venues — by players and fans alike.

Democratic councilman Corey Johnson sponsored the legislation, and told the New York Daily News he hopes it will be in place in time for the start of the 2016 season, which begins on April 4 when the Mets play the Kansas City Royals.

"I couldn’t imagine us being OK as a city or society as a whole with a baseball player standing in left field smoking a cigarette while the game was going on, on national television," he told the News.

"But it seems to be, just because of culturally what has existed for a long time, it’s OK for professional athletes to stand in left field or in the dugout and chew wads of smokeless tobacco."

Health experts say young sports fans are repeatedly exposed to the practice on TV and at stadiums, making it seem "socially acceptable," despite it being linked with cancer and mouth disease.

The legislation is almost certain to pass as it has the backing of Mayor Bill de Blasio, and higher-ups for both the Yankees and the Mets.

Similar bans have already gone through at Boston’s Fenway Park and stadiums in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The practice has been completely banned in the minor leagues, but a deal still needs to be reached with the players' union to bring the practice to major league baseball.

Legal counsel Kevin Schroth said rates of young people using chewing tobacco surprisingly doubled between 2007 to 2013, with 4.4 per cent reporting using the substance — despite a decade-long policy drive in New York to cut the rates of tobacco use, which saw smoking rates fall to their lowest on record in 2014, at just 13.9 per cent.

While the Yankees and the Mets brass have said they support the ban, according to city officials, it remains to be seen how the players who stuff their cheeks with the stuff will react.

MLB has tried to slowly phase the practice out of the game by banning the substance in the minor leagues — but still hasn’t reached a deal with the MLB players’ union.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is pushing cities with teams around the country to bar the product.

“Ball players aren’t just indulging in a harmless habit when they use smokeless tobacco — they’re damaging their health with an addictive produce that causes cancer and other serious diseases,” said Kevin O’Flaherty, the group’s northeast director. “And they’re endangering the well-being of millions of kids who look up to them.”

I'll spit to that.

Matt Harvey admits to having 'three-way' and sex on the diamond (VIDEO)

Remember the days when a sit down with a sports star usually meant stats and offseason training?

Well, kiss those days goodbye.

Matt Harvey appeared on the Bravo talk show "Watch What Happens: Live" on Thursday night and the New York Mets pitcher titillated hosts Connie Chung (remember her?) and Bravo reality guru Andy Cohen with naughty tidbits about his sex life.

New York's new man about town not only told the former TV news anchor about doing it on a baseball field ("in college" yawn) but admitted having having a three-way — and we're not talking about about contract discussions with Fred Wilpon and Sandy Alderson.

This just keeps getting better pic.twitter.com/GjV64hYvSs

— Brendan Clancy (@BrendanClancy) January 29, 2016

After claiming he uses women's deodorant, the talk actually got to baseball — or at least the locker room — when he was asked which Met had the biggest member.

"Can I plead the fifth on this one?" he asked his hosts.

No questions about Ms. Met's rack though.

Anyway, Harvey was finally quizzed on if he regretted asking to be put back into Game 5 of the World Series last year.

"Not for a second," he said.

But when Chung asked if Harvey thought Terry Collins regretted putting him back in, he said "You'd have to ask him."

Harvey's going to need a case of Lady Speed Stick after this stink fest. 

And at least Derek Jeter gave out gift bags ... probably.

Jerry Seinfeld takes some credit for Yoenis Cespedes signing with Mets

Nobody was happier that the Mets signed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a three-year, $75 million deal on Friday night than the team's most famous fan — Jerry Seinfeld.

And the New York comedian summed up the Metsies' enthusiasm over the news with a pair of tweets: 

Yes-pedes! @Mets

— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) January 23, 2016

It even sounded like he helped seal the deal with the Cuban star.

"I reached for Cespedes, but so did another team. As I rained money upon him, I realized there had to be another way. A one-year opt out."

— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) January 23, 2016

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Mets replace ‘Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow promo with Matt Harvey (PHOTO)

After the HBO hit show “Game of Thrones” sent the Twitter world into a frenzy Monday by including a photo of Jon Snow — a popular character who was presumably killed at the end of the last season — in a promotional tweet for their own upcoming season, the New York Mets answered with a copycat tweet of their own.

Only the Mets’ tweet features pitcher Matt Harvey in place of Snow.

APRIL. #Mets #LGM pic.twitter.com/JKoCkrtgef

— New York Mets (@Mets) November 23, 2015

And whether or not the Snow character is dead meant nothing to Mets fans who fought like the Starks and Lannisters over who should have been featured in the promo:

@Mets Cool graphic. But I feel like this should be deGrom... I am excited though. 😆😄 #LGM

— SAM (@MetsMama18) November 23, 2015

@Mets It really should be @Noahsyndergaard in the photo since he is a fan of the show.

— mariamb18 (@mariamb18) November 23, 2015

While other fans, they just wanted some more realism in their fantasy world:

@Mets why didnt you do a bloody nose pic

— Alan Duda (@alanduda) November 23, 2015

And, coincidentally, didn't the Mets try and kill off Harvey last season too?

Oops. SPOILER ALERT.

New York mayor's heartfelt tweets about Mets were actually written by staffer

It turns out that all those sincere, heartfelt tweets from New York City Bill Mayor de Blasio’s Twitter account in the midst of the team's failed World Series run weren’t coming from his heart at all.

De Blasio, who with his wife Chirlane McCray dressed as Mets "fans" for Halloween, appeared at a news conference Monday, and summed up the Game 5 loss by saying “Eight good innings. And some tough luck thereafter.”

And before that, the mayor's Twitter account made de Blasio sound like a sensitive Metsie.

The only thing was these gooey tidbits from de Blasio were actually coming from a member of his staff.

PHONY! Mayor Bill de Blasio admits staffer wrote his New York Mets tweets https://t.co/zRFV2XeJyc

— Kyle (@kyleraccio) November 3, 2015

Even the most teary-eyed Mets fans could see behind Twiitter slop like: “Something happens when you’re a Sox fan living here for a few decades. You slowly fall in love with the Mets.” as the avatar mayor tweeted just before the first pitch of Game 5.

Wicked bad.

New York. You elected a Red Sox fan. You got a Red Sox fan.

Mets come out of clubhouse to salute Citi Field fans after losing World Series (VIDEO)

Still chanting "Let's Go Mets" long after the final out of the World Series, hundreds of Mets fans asked for and got a curtain call from their team after losing Game 5 to the Royals — putting an disappointing end to their fantastic season.

It was a heart-wrenching loss Sunday night, but that didn't stop David Wright, Jacob deGrom, Wilmer Flores and most of the team from coming out of the locker room to say farewell to the Mets faithful until next season.

The gesture won't eliminate the pain of losing, but it reminded everyone of the great ride this team and their fans had this season — together.

Mets players salute their fans. Pure class. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) pic.twitter.com/W9NoNdSKz1

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) November 2, 2015