You had a bad day. A REALLY bad day

Whenever a sports team wants to build a new stadium, there's the argument as to whether public funds should be spent to benefit a private organization, and the question regarding how much value a sports team has on the local area, not just economically but spiritually.

When that happens, we're reminded that, as sports fans, we forget that we may not be in the majority when it comes to how we spend our free time. That, in fact, there are millions of people in the tri-state area who don't give a rat's patoot about sports -- so why should their tax dollars be used to help an owner build a palace for his club?

I thought about this after Sunday's sports action came to a merciful end. It must be terrific to be one of those people today. The Mets lost 2 of 3 from the Braves, the Phillies swept a doubleheader, and the Jets lost to the Brady-less Patriots. For them, life goes merrily on. For us, it's a dark, dark day.

Luis Ayala, Mets nation turns its pennant-hungry eyes to you, and you bet he's feeling the pressure. Ayala coughed up a two-run lead in the ninth, allowing a three-run PINCH HIT homer to someone named Greg Norton, and then Pedro Feliciano made it worse as the Braves ended up scoring five runs in the top of the ninth. We knew the Phillies had already won once, and sure enough, they beat the sinking Brewers in the nightcap and now trail the Mets by just one game, two in the loss column, as the Mets have 2 games in hand down the stretch.

If you're looking for positives, that may be it.

That's not entirely true. Jon Niese saved the Mets' bacon Saturday with a phenomenal effort, pitching eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 Mets win that was absolutely crucial. Niese was not just good but dominant, so when you're looking at those games in the last two weeks where Santana, Pelfrey or Perez aren't pitching, maybe we can have some confidence that Niese can do the job again.

Johan Santana pitched into the eighth in the first game of the doubleheader and left with a two-run lead but put two runners on before he exited. It was a strong game for Santana and he went as far as he could go, much to the delight of Mets fans who want him to finish what he starts. But the bullpen failed again.

Scott Schoeneweis allowed a single, Brian Stokes allowed a single to tie it, and after a bunt and an intentional walk, Stokes let up the game-winning sac fly. Three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Mets went six up, six down to end it.

The Mets' offense was also to blame in that loss, loading the bases twice with no outs, and managing just those two runs.

So as we deal with Ayala and whoever else in the final, crucial, pressure-packed games of the season, let's hope the Mets reconsider their budget for 2009 and make sure they sign K-Rod, who would only be the second coming of Mariano. Because, as we're seeing first-hand, closers are kind of important.

And, by the way, thanks to Metsblog for posting the magic number, even after a poll showed that the majority of voters didn't want it up at all (44%) or at least wanted to wait until it got down to 10 (41%). Matt Cerrone used some tortured logic to defend putting it up at 14, and cleverly put the Phillie Fanatic in the graphic, stalking Mr. Met.

Thanks, Matt. Well done. Maybe you can post the Phillies' magic number, too.