What's Worse Than Sweet Caroline? These Nine Other Choices.

I can keep making excuses for failing to post, but really I have none except that I've been too tired, busy, or drunk to focus on it. Plus I spend 95% of my day staring at a computer screen with the other 5% on the phone, or staring at a piece of paper. Shockingly, I've actually received an "application" for an editorial position on the AoF staff. While this potentially ups our staff from 3 to 4, it decreases our readership from 6 to 5. Who am I kidding, it's probably more like 4 to 3 readers as I'm fairly sure that DGD doesn't even check the site let alone attempt to post. TDX probably forgot it even exists. Anyway, I'll repost the contact info, I'm open to adding more staff and are willing to consider any and all applications. Email me.

Anyway, by the way of a bit of background, the Mets last season adopted the Red Sox "tradition" of playing Sweet Caroline during the 8th inning for a sing-a-long. This is about as much of a tradition as the Mariano Rivera/Billy Wagner playing Enter Sandman as their entrance music. A better tradition in my opinion is the Mets playing Lazy Mary after Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh inning stretch.
I just watched Beltran get robbed of a home run on an umpire conference reversing what was originally the right call. This is where limited instant replay should be allowed in baseball. One look at the tape would have clarified that in the fraction of the time it took the umps to fuck it up. At least it wasn't Chuck Merriweather making the call, as he has some personal vendetta against the Mets.
Anyway, there's some asshole working in the Mets stadium entertainment division (I just made up that division - whoever is in charge of the website/in-stadium music) as they have put an internet poll up asking what Sing-A-Long song they should play during the eighth inning. Hey assholes, how about NOTHING. That would be a nice change. Just like when they decided to pipe in the Jose Jose Jose chant - the incorrect chant I might add. I remember in '06, while sitting in K-dro's Korner - another unfortunate casualty of Pedro being injured and the Mets management being assholes for not giving up the $2 bleacher seats - the Jose Jose chant was born, during Pedro's first start of the season. It was an original, naturally occurring, beautiful thing that they stadium PA people (another made up division) stole and bastardized. So here we are with the option of picking from a list of 10 - with one write in vote - songs to sing during the 8th inning.

What Sing-A-Long Song Should the Mets PlayDuring the Eighth Inning in the Final Season At Shea?
Fans, select your favorite from the songs listed below.Your votes will help determine what Sing-A-Long gets played duringthe 8th Inning during the final historic year at Shea.
Fan voting is now open and concludes at Noon on Monday, April 7.Select a song from the list below, or select "Other" to write-in your own suggestion.

Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts (Theme from Friends)
I'm A Believer - The Monkees
Land Of 1000 Dances - Wilson Pickett
I Love Rock N' Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Movin' Out - Billy Joel
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Waitin' On A Sunny Day - Bruce Springsteen
Other

Individually I'll agree, none of these songs are particularly bad or offensive on their own. NONE of them have a place in the 8th inning let alone during the game. We're already following the bouncing Mr. Met head to the lyrics of Meet the Mets during the 4th inning, mumbling the Italian words to Lazy Mary during the 7th, and (hopefully) singing along to Takin' Care of Business after a big win.
Not only do these songs not fit, but they're just wrong. Living on a Prayer? Waitin' On A Sunny Day? Build Me Up Buttercup (just to let me down? - I thought we were trying to forget 2007)...BROWN EYED GIRL?! What the fuck?!
Why not choose between Area Codes and Get Low (the Lil' John version)? Skeet, skeet, skeet motherfucka! The only thing I can think of that would be worse would be having a stadium kareoke competition with contestants primarily from the school of the deaf. Here's my only solution (and this stems primarly from the fact that God Bless America cuts short my enjoyment of Lazy Mary during the 7th Inning Stretch) - move God Bless America to the 8th, OR play the song from the 1986 Mets season "Let's Go Mets Go!" (we got the teamwork to make the dream work)

The video is mostly for my enjoyment - and probably yours as well. My only other recommendation would be Duran Duran - Wild Boys. So I guess this is my endorsement for writing in Let's Go Mets Go! in the ballot, if you are to vote at all.

Really, I think that as this is the last season at Shea, an 8th inning moment of silence is appropriate. Let's see if the PA people can shut the fuck up for 10 minutes and let the fans come up with their own stuff.