No.

Grown ups "should" do whatever they want:

"Stop being sour.

Yankees fans, you're upset, and we get it. Alex Rodriguez is on Fox Sports in a suit. Masahiro Tanaka just had offseason surgery. The team just dumped its second hitting coach in as many years. In the Bronx, the lights are off.

Meanwhile, Queens has been electric. The Mets own all the headlines and the back pages and they have a legitimate chance to reach the World Series.

And, Yankees fans, you should be rooting for them. Here's why:"

The particulars of the argument don't matter much.

 Fun? Sure. If you're a Mets fan.

Leadership? Sure. Starting in the playoffs when they started winning, they started demonstrating leadership. That's wonderful ... if you're a Mets fan.

The young arms? They're poised for the future it seems. If you're a Mets fan, that's encouraging.

Guts? I mean ... the bold July acquisitions would be dismissed as mercenary rentals if the Mets were losing. But they're not losing.

Sympathy? Not compared to the Cubs ... or the Royals ... or the Blue Jays, for that matter.



As for the question being posed in the first place: I don't recall Mets fans being implored to join the Yankee bandwagon in '76, '77, '78, '81, '96, '98, '99, '00 (well, that one doesn't count, of course), '01, '03, or '09.

Yankee fan allegiance is not a huge storyline around here, and it shouldn't be, but Yankees fans are sometimes being asked to join the party (what is Mike Francesa doing behind home plate at CitiField?).

"It's a New York thing and we should root for the local team."

No.

Some Yankee fans consider the Mets to be their rivals, so they will root against the Mets. Some Yankee fans (yours truly) don't really consider the Mets to be their rivals, so the proper attitude -- the respectful attitude -- is indifference.