I’ve tried to be a good Yankees fan. My “fan arrogance” has been kept in check for a long, long time. I have always believed that being a Yankees fan didn’t require arrogance. We don’t need to rub dirt in the eyes of Mets fans who long to feel the breezes of October and watch their team play in meaningful games.

Yes, there are many current Yankees fans who jumped on the bandwagon when the Yankees started winning. They were probably rooting for the Mets way back in the 1980s when they were playing good ball. We let them join our little fellowship because they will purchase lots of tickets and buy YES Network subscriptions to help the Steinbrenners pay Alex Rodriguez $27 Million a year. Why should just true Yankees fans bear the entire financial burden?

The Yankees, who make the playoffs as often as the sun rises in the east, aren’t having the greatest season in memory, but yet they only reside 5.5 games out of first place. With half the season to go, Yankees fans are just sitting back and being patient.

We aren’t laughing at Mets fans who just can’t figure out why their team is playing sub-.500 ball. Oh, they are playing that kind of ball not just this season, but for more than a year (remember, 2007, the Year of the Choke). We true Yankees fans aren’t reminding the Mets loyalists that if the Yankees and Mets were in the same division, it would be the Yankees who would be in first place over the Mets by a comfortable margin. No, we true Yankees fans are sitting back listening TO THE UTTER SHEER ARROGANCE OF METS FANS WHO ARE JUMPING AROUND THIS MORNING LIKE THEY WON SOMETHING!!

This weekend, the Mets finished out the latest rendition of the Subway Series: 2008 Edition, by defeating the Yankees 4 games to 2. Yesterday, Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez, who pretends to be Cy Young when he faces the Yankees but is just a batting practice pitcher against the rest of the league, shut down the Yankees and allowed the Mets to score the rare, in-season games win.

While Yankees fans are more worried about the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays (oh, that hurts to write), Mets fans are so gleeful today, they are literaly wetting their pants with excitement.

Yesterday and this morning, I have received a dozen messages from people I know proclaiming either Mets’ superiority or some kind of rip on the Yankees. One of the messages read:

“Choke-Rod does it again. The Stinkees go down. Now its the Mets time!”

Please. Yes, A-Rod didn’t get it done every game. Oh, my breaking heart. But all is forgotten when he slams a 400 foot shot to dead center field in Yankee Stadium, which, by the way could come tonight against the Texas Rangers.

And the name “Stinkees?” It goes along with a text message I received where my friend lovingly called the Bronx Bombers the “Spankees.”

But my favorite came from a fellow pastor:

“The Yankees losing to the Mets makes Jesus happy.”

My dear Mets fans, get over it. Your team is playing just below .500. They are decent one day, horrendous the next. Your GM put together a team that has no leaders (and I know many Mets fans long in their hearts for a player and a leader like 4-time World Series winner Derek Jeter to come along in their farm system, but they gave away their system to pick up a not-as-hot-as-everyone-thought-he was Johann Santana).

Your team is in a bad division and is clinging to 3rd place. If the Red Sox were in the NL East, the Mets would already be planning for next year. (Good Lord, what did I just write? Something nice about the Sawx?)

Joel Sherman at the Post had the best line about this year’s Mets team, a collection of good to OK ballplayers who just seem to lack focus.

“This is Team ADD…”