Waiting for Terry Collins to go Ballistic

The day is coming when Terry Collins just can't take it anymore. He is so good at saying all the right things and being positive. He's been a way better manager than I could have imagined, but the time is coming when he's going to snap.

Collins isn't one to hold back his emotions. We've seen a number of times on the positive side like when Reyes won the batting title last year or when Santana threw the no-hitter. He's not afraid to shed a tear or get choked up. And I think the same will eventually be true when times are bad.

We saw a glimpse of it earlier in the year when Kirk dropped an easy fly ball towards the end of a winnable game and even more recently when he barked at Dan Warthen after the BLOWpen blew yet another opportunity to get a W.

But all of these were just small potatoes compared to what's coming. Last night during the post game press conference, you could see the fumes stirring in Collins' head. He's had enough. It's one thing to lose games, but Collins won't accept consistently poor performance, on the mound and at the plate. He's a manager who wants to see effort. If you're playing hard, trying hard and you come up short on the scoreboard, he can live with that. But lazy, sloppy and unintelligent play must be dealt with. And that's what the Mets are putting on display.

Attendance is down over last year and any good will the Mets earned with their first half surprise is now completely erased. Collins should be mad. I know I'm mad. I'm the type of fan that watches every single game, but last night after back to back home runs and then strikeout after strikeout from the Mets hitters against a guy with an ERA over 6...I changed the channel. In fact I forgot to even check the score until this morning which of course was not a surprise because I knew it would be a loss.

That's apathy setting in for the most hardcore of fans and it's the most dangerous thing for a New York sports team. Apathy leads to lower ticket and merchandise sales. It leads to more pressure on management and players to perform. And it takes even longer to win back the good favor of the people.

You think Mets fans have been apathetic before? Things are just getting started.

But a Terry Collins implosion could temporarily stem the tide. I want Collins to unleash his inner-Pinella. I don't even care if it's directed at the umps or his own team. Someone needs to ignite a fire. A cleansing fire, perhaps, to burn away this smog of mediocrity that lingers over this team.

Unleash the beast, Collins. At the very least it will be the most entertaining part of this team that we've seen in months.