One of my favorite songs by The Strokes is called "Ode to the Mets". According to an article by Sports Illustrated, drummer Fabrizio Moretti mentioned that the Mets and the song evoke "something that you set your heart to and that you love unconditionally but that continues to disappoint you".

That is precisely what I'm feeling as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wrap up their 2025 season, starting the season 6-2, looking like actual playoff contenders, to finishing the season 8-9 and missing out on the playoffs to the Carolina Panthers due to tiebreakers.

I remember early in the season there were MVP chants for Baker Mayfield and all the hype that comes with being 5-1, on top of the league. If you told me at that peak that we'd miss the playoffs, I would've called you crazy! As the season went on, it became a freefall as the team started losing games and the magic that was there originally was not there anymore. Injuries started piling up, the close games won initially became close games lost. I wish I knew what caused such a collapse with this team but I am just a very passionate Bucs fan that is yapping because I'm sad. How the X's and O's work is completely beyond me.

It makes me think about how I handle disappointing others and how to bounce back from being disappointing. Knowing that you've disappointed someone is a tough pill to swallow but I feel like accepting that you've disappointed someone is the first step to coming back from it. I'm sure the Bucs will learn from this and come back from next season fresh (at least I hope they will).

All of this to say if you haven't listened to the album "The New Abnormal" by The Strokes, definitely give it a listen! Ode to the Mets is one of many great songs on the album.