I'd like to start with a message to Mets fans: I've been there. I feel your pain. You probably walked around Friday in a fog, wondering what you ever did to deserve such an unfortunate turn of events.

You'll think about your team's Game 7 loss to the Cardinals for most of the fall and winter. When it starts to move its way toward the back of your mind, spring training will roll around, and you'll be forced to relive it all. More pain.

I speak from recent experience. In 2003, the Red Sox suffered one of the most crushing defeats in all of sports, losing a three-run lead to the hated Yankees, and one manager's gaffe was impossible to forget about. For a long time.

In your case, you'll think about the bottom of the sixth inning, when the bases were loaded and Jose Valentin struck out with one down, failing to produce the run that may have been the difference. You'll think about the one Aaron Heilman pitch that got way too much of the plate, allowing unlikely hero Yadier Molina to homer. And you'll have endless nightmares about the bottom of the ninth, and all the chances your team had to tie that game.

How long the pain lasts depends on a number of factors. If the Mets win the World Series next year, it'll disappear. If they're regularly competitive over the next half-dozen years or so, you'll stop focusing on The One That Got Away. If it's 2010 and they haven't been back to the postseason, you might have a picture of Billy Wagner on your dartboard and regular sessions

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with a therapist.

For those of us who aren't Mets fans, it's time to move on, and my rooting interest is with the Tigers. I like Jeff Suppan because of his Red Sox ties, but other than that, I have no reason to care about the Cardinals.

The Tigers, however, have my support because a) they're from the American League; b) they eliminated the Yankees; c) their elevation from laughingstock to AL champs is a great story; d) they're not managed by Tony La Russa; and e) two Post sports staffers, Sandy Sulzycki and Mike Cardillo, are actually Tigers fans. Along with being good guys, they deserve this after all the losing they've endured in recent years.

Prediction? Tigers in six.

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(Jeers) To the ego the Red Sox front office seems to have developed. I believe they think they're smarter than everyone else. Here's an example: GM Theo Epstein and CEO Larry Lucchino met with reporters recently to discuss, among other things, Epstein finally signing a contract. It's apparently official. I stress "apparently."

This, according to The Boston Globe, from Epstein: "We have an understanding that I guess was memorialized with a signature."

And Lucchino: "We have an agreement and we have a signature. Do we have an agreement that memorializes an agreement? Yes."

What does any of that mean? Honestly, who says that? Instead of thinking of ways to say nothing, I hope they're focused on fixing a team that memorialized a third-place finish this year.

— — — (Jeers) To auto mechanics who change the position of your seat when they work on your car. This makes me angry. On my driver's license, I'm generously listed at 5-foot-9. Why? Because I filled out the form, and I'd have put 6-5 if it wasn't such a blatant lie. Bottom line is, I'm not a tall guy.

Last week I got an oil change, and when I went to sit in my car to drive away, I nearly hurt myself. I fell so far that I momentarily wondered if the seat had been stolen. Who changed my oil, Yao Ming? Am I asking too much here?

Contact Chris Casavant at c.casavant@yahoo.com