Right off the bat, I should say that I am not going to delve into personal attacks against my counterpart. Hailing from the respected (ha!) state of New Jersey, my estimable adversary in this debate is a good man. We have spent many a night together meticulously

crafting sports articles, editing for accuracy and brevity, and designing pages with the utmost care.

So I will not call him an idiot or an imbecile or a fool or a moron, even though in the past few days he unquestionably has exhibited such characteristics when brazenly and

Mistakenly predicting that the New York Mets would overcome the forces of good (read: the St. Louis Cardinals) in the National League Championship Series. No, I will not simply point out

that he is ignorant; I will go the extra step to show him the error of his ways. I want to help Mr. Volonnino help himself.

And, with that in mind, I present my 12-Step Acceptance of Impending Mets' Defeat Program.

If Mr. Volonnino recognizes these factors, there may be hope for him yet.

1. The empirical evidence. The Cardinals thoroughly destroyed the vaunted Atlanta Braves and their even more vaunted pitching staff in a three-game sweep last week in which St. Louis won by a combined 24-10 score. Cardinal hitters shelled Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood, who combined for a 13.09 earned run average.