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Just about this time last year, it seemed the only thing people could talk about was Y2K. Would your life savings go poof as digits dashed themselves to dust? Would candlepower replace kilowatt-hours come Jan. 1, 2000? Nah. But little did we know that the year 2000 would make us wait until its final quarter for something to get really worked up over. And a double dose, no less.
Here's how I'll remember the first year of the rest of the millennium: The Subway Series, followed by a too-close-to-call Presidential election. Nothing in common, right? After all, the Yankees beat the Mets in five games, while we still don't know which candidate will occupy the White House, George W. Bush or Al Gore. But while the events might seem to have nothing in common, look again. The similarities are striking:
--Two once-in-a-lifetime contests less than a month apart.
--Two contests that polarized the populace, splitting families down the middle. (My Brooklyn Dodger-loving dad still wonders how he raised a Yankee fan.)
--Two contests so close that it's hard to believe someone had to lose.
--Two contests that kept millions of otherwise straight-living folks up past their usual bedtimes, eyes glued to TV sets or bouncing around to Web sites searching for the latest info, or both.
--Two contests with major national titles at stake, the World Series and the U.S. Presidency, both waged within the confines of two smaller enclaves of America, New York City and Palm Beach County.
--Two contests that had been hopelessly hyped, yet somehow went on to make the hype sound understated.
--Two contests where human error held the key to the outcome (remember Timo Perez' baserunning flub in Game One? How about the inability of 19,000-plus Palm Beach County residents to follow the arrows on their butterfly ballots?).
--Two contests that promised to leave the losing side forever harboring hatred and dreams of revenge against the villains who snatched the victory.
--Two contests, played out over what seemed like an eternity with the fate of the world seeming to ride on the outcome. (You think the earth's destiny didn't depend on who won the Subway Series? You clearly weren't anywhere near New York in October.)
LIFE WILL GO ON. O.K., there are differences, too. At least we didn't have to listen to that projected-winner nonsense during the Subway Series. Each game went down to the final at bat, and only after the fifth and final game could a winner be safely declared. Too bad the TV networks' political analysts didn't heed the immortal words of legendary Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, who once declared, "It ain't over 'til it's over."
And where the heck does Ralph Nader fit in all this? You'll never see a three-way slugfest in the World Series. Maybe next time we choose our White House Champion, we oughta make sure all the other pretenders have already been eliminated. Nothing like the purity of a one-on-one final.
But here's one more similarity. During the Subway Series, whether you were a die-hard Yankee fan or Mets fan, the thought of life in a world where the wrong team won was unbearable. But as the Yankees paraded their way up Broadway amid all the ticker tape, Mets fans discovered that the sun still came up in the east and set in the west. They survived. They breathed, ate, went to work, and went to sleep, already looking to next year and the hope that they would finally get their turn to shower their heroes with confetti. Wait 'til next year.
Likewise, after the votes in Florida are finally counted, recounted, hand-counted, uncounted, and perhaps recast and counted yet again, life will go on. As the new President's inaugural parade strolls up Pennsylvania Avenue, all Americans, no matter whom they voted for, will go about their lives, knowing that for at least two years, maybe two-and-a-half if they're lucky, they won't have to endure any campaigning by Presidential aspirants.
Lastly, a tip for both Governor George and Veep Al. Should you guys ever come up against each other again, the surest route to victory next time will be having someone on the team who can get the job done in the final innings, a "closer," if you will. My recommendation: Get Mariano Rivera on your side -- you'll win, no recounts necessary.
Mercurio, Business Week Online's managing editor, still holds out hope that his dad will forgive him for rooting for the Yankees Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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