The 2026 New York Mets season is one of the most soul crushing for fans. Fans seemed willing to believe despite being skeptical of the offseason, we all seemed ready to believe after the offense knocked Paul Skenes out in the first inning on Opening Day.

Since then, Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr. suffered major injuries. Juan Soto would also be hurt for a stretch.

The pitching has completely fallen apart. Unless you’re named Luke Weaver, you’re worse than you were last year. Really, everything is worse than it was last year.

It’s so bad Carlos Mendoza was fired. Worse yet, rather than watch, Keith Hernandez would rather talk about how his family line is dying than this Mets team.

Just about the only good thing about this Mets season has been Carson Benge and AJ Ewing That’s it. Well, that, and we haven’t really had to watch.

The New York Knicks captivated us with their first championship since 1973. It was an epic run we will be talking about for years to come.

Discussions for the 1973 parallels for this Mets season will have to wait for another day. Whatever the case, we have 13 years until the Mets hit the Knicks 53 year title drought, and 14 to match the New York Rangers 54 year drought.

After the Knicks run, we got the World Cup. The USMNT captivated the country until their disappointing exit against Belgium. Still, soccer has captivated this country in a way we never believed soccer could.

The World Cup Final is July 19. The All Star Break is upcoming, and when the World Cup ends, we will be one series into the second half of the season.

That means all the attention can then be shifted to the Mets.

Yes, we all watch every game. We’ve had the Mets game on in another screen during the Knicks and World Cup. Mets fans love this team even when they don’t deserve it.

However, we have been able to mentally get away. Instead of focusing on the Mets pitching, we got to watch Jalen Brunson. Instead of focusing on how the Baby Mets have regressed, we got to fall in love with Folarin Balogun.

Very soon, that’s all away. The Mets will be out complete unfettered focus. We check back in with our full attention ahead of the Mets being one of the few sellers at the trade deadline.

The distractions were very much needed this year much like in 1994, the last time the US hosted the World Cup. However, no Mets fan wants to want a distraction.

We need this team to be run well and be competitive in an era where nearly half the league makes the postseason. This season should have been better, and the Mets should have been ready to take the mantle from the Knicks and/or the USMNT.

This as depressing a Mets season as you can have. It’s about to get worse because we will have nothing else until the NFL season begins.