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"I Knew It!"

Frayed Knot Jul 15 2005 11:19 AM

So let's change the outcome of last night a bit. Specifically, the situation when Piazza was batting last night: 8th inning / tie score / 2-on / 1-out ... Now what pct of NYM fans would have spent last night and this morning claiming (on internet boards, on radio talk shows, on bar stools, around water coolers, etc) that "they knew" the outcome -- knew it as soon as he came up in fact -- had he'd hit into a GiDP? 30%? ... 40%? ... 110%? And my point is certainly NOT that I knew otherwise. It's just that the "I knew it" claim is fast rising up the charts as the lamest act of the sports fan. Lame, of course, because he's never wrong. Fans often think their worst fear is about to be realized so when it turns out that way (and hitting being what it is - the odds are certainly with them) they can always claim to have known it was going to happen; something they're eager to remind you about right AFTER the fact. There are, every once in a while, claims of impending doom that actually happen in real time. Those are always fun because they put the speaker in the win/win situation of claiming "they knew it" if they were right, and that they're happy when wrong. For some reason I'm getting an Ambler flashback here. No real point gere btw, just ranting. May have something to do with briefly hearing Joe Badabingo's voice earlier. This would have been exactly the spot where he'd go into retroactive "I Knew It" mode for months to come and pass it off an knowledgable analysis.

holychicken Jul 15 2005 11:25 AM

I freely admit that I know things are going to happen that never actually happen. Of course, it is not MY fault that the players don't fulfil their destiny.

seawolf17 Jul 15 2005 11:28 AM

I probably would have been in that percentage, whatever it is. In fact, when Piazza came up, I started scanning b-r.com, looking at his career GIDP numbers. (Which are ugly, by the way.)

holychicken Jul 15 2005 11:31 AM

Kind of off topic. . . but it reminds me of one of my close friends who constantly claims that he can intentionally slice the ball (when, in reality, he can't even intentionally hit it straight and his natural swing makes him slice). Now there are plenty of times when he has said "I am going to intentionally here" and it has gone dead straight, or even hooked. But everyonce in a while he will slice it and say "see?" That always pisses me off. I think he does it just to piss me off. :)

Edgy DC Jul 15 2005 11:32 AM

Only four this year, though. Go figure.

86-Dreamer Jul 15 2005 11:39 AM

I admit that I feared the DP, in fact I turned to my friend sitting next to me at Shea and said out loud "I am kinda pulling for a strikeout here" about a nanosecond before Mike restored my faith in God, country and the Mets' postseason chances. These things happen often enough to me that the one thing I do know is that I know nothing about what will happen next ...

duan Jul 15 2005 12:10 PM

Edgy DC wrote: Only four this year, though. Go figure. Em, well it's not that hard. between the fact that the OBP in front of him's been lousy (Reyes & Matsui) and the fact that ALL of Reyes, Matsui and Beltran a very quick it's a hell of a lot harder to GIDP then the Olerud, Alfonso et al era. Even Floyd is pretty quick.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 15 2005 12:21 PM

"I knew it" is just an exaggerated way of saying "that didn't surprise me" which wouldn't have been all that inaccurate. As far as the HR goes, I literally jumped off the couch because that DID take me by surprise. MP had a ferocious hack at the prioor pitch but fouled it back and I figured he wouldn't get another, especially down 0-2. The pitch was high and hit higher and furtther toward RF than normal even for Piazza, so it wasn't until it was out of the yard for good that I allowed myself to cheer it. My expectations of a good result had also been battered by seeing both Floyd and Cairo fail miserably in cookie RBI situations earlier in the night. I tend to gather those things in the same part of my head that separates "coulda wons" from "shoulda wons" and figureed our chances to have won this game had already left the building, so to speak. So I was surprised and jumped off the couch.