Dear Internet: The Prospect Of You Rickrolling Shea Stadium Fills Me With Equal Parts Dread And Delight

noah | April 4, 2008 4:00 am
nevergonnagivemetsup.jpg

Good news, Mets fans: Those of you who are, like me, personally offended at the way the Shea Stadium PA takes “inspiration” from Fenway Park and plays “Sweet Caroline” for the whole stadium to sing along with in the middle of the eighth inning may have a reprieve. Like the Nationals before them, the Mets have launched a balloting campaign where Mets fans can vote on their pick for the eighth-inning singalong, with the candidates including “Movin’ Out,” “Livin’ On A Prayer,” the theme from freaking Friends, and (sigh) “Sweet Caroline.” Given my intimate knowledge of the Mets’ demographics, I was pretty sure that “Movin’ Out” would be the winner of this particular contest–that is, until I received an e-mail with the subject line “RickRolling Shea Stadium.”

Yes, that’s right: Some enterprising group of Internet dudes is planning on bombarding the write-in section of the ballot box with votes for Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” thus pounding the Rickrolling trend even further into the ground than the New York Times did. But even knowing that the joke of Rickrolling is pretty much over, I love this idea the more that I think about it. It works on a personal level, because Rick Astley was a girlhood crush of mine and I’ve been a Mets fan for even longer. Plus, not only would it sound awesome over the PA system, and not only is “Never Gonna Give You Up” better than pretty much any other choice on the ballot (“Brown Eyed Girl”? Oh, come on), the chorus sums up any true fan’s feelings about their favorite team–

Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

–especially given that I’m still believing after last September’s epic collapse and all, and not just because of the Santana acquisition. So I’m going to join the herd and cast my vote for Rick, yesterday’s-memeness of it all be damned. And! I’m going to Tuesday’s Opening Day tilt between the Mets and the Phillies (Pedro was supposed to pitch, but now it’s Oliver Perez instead, which I’m disappointed about but ultimately 100% OK with), so I will report back on who won as soon as the top of the eighth is over. I have to say, I will be right pissed if “Caroline” comes out of the speakers.

8th Inning Sing-A-Long Vote [mets.com via Radio Exile] [Mr. Met photo via AP]