Loser walks.

As the old saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." When it comes to the New York baseball universe, however, the phrase should be something more like, "When the going gets tough, the Yankee fans get out their Mets gear."

I have worked in or around Times Square in the middle of Manhattan for the majority of the two years I've spent in New York City, and one of my favorite activities has been observing the ratio of "Yankee success vs. amount of Yankee hats in Midtown."

The most striking round of this game occured during the summer of 2005, when the Sox held a lead in the AL East for several months until they were finally overcome by the pinstripes in late August. The first morning that the Yankees took the lead, the number of "NY's" easily and shamelessly quadrupled.

Today is no exception, and the prestigious New York Times will serve as my Exhibit A. In today's Sports section, the front page features articles on the Mets, video replay in hockey, Barbaro, De La Hoya/Mayweather, and Nadal/Federer. Page 2 covers the Giants and a pair of articles on the NBA playoffs. Page 3 has some insight into the NHL playoffs and a half-page feature on Ornskoldsvik, Sweden (i'm not making this up), a hotbed of young NHL prospects. Page 4 has the box scores and standings from the Majors (headline: "Beckett Powers the Red Sox And Gains his Sixth Victory") and an article on NCAA basketball. Finally, on Page 5, right above an article on Tiger and MJ, is a mention of that other baseball team in the Big Apple who play in the American League.

In my personal interactions, I've met fans here of all eight major franchises. They all have one team in each sport that is their team. The problem lies in the way they handle the runner-up. A lot of Mets fans say they hate the Yankees...but then the next week they show up wearing a Yankees hat. A die-hard Giants fan may bleed blue...but their ears perk up when the boy genius with the Gang Green makes a big move. I suppose you can't blame these people for liking both teams, as they are still representing their city. I do, however, think less of them as sports fans because of this blasphemous bigamy.

Sports bigamy in a situation like this makes an individual less of a fan, in my opinion, because they never have to suffer the truly dark times. For example, the Celtics and the Bruins suck right now, so I basically am on the outside looking in regarding the NBA or NHL. If I were a Knicks fan, I'd probably be watching Jason Kidd and the Nets seventy times a year, and when the Knicks resurface as a professional franchise, I can jump right back on their bandwagon.

I suppose I shouldn't complain. I should really savor the Bronx's silence while I can. As we've seen time and time again, the Pinstripes will be back...and their fans will remind us how little we've missed them.

And even if the Yankees are sunk for good, it just means that the Metropolitans will aquire a bunch of obnoxious free-agent fans during the heart of the pennant race.