As a sports fan, I've become accustomed to mediocrity. So, as I read your talkbacks to Dave Begel's column this week about the Brewers' chances of turning things around this season, I'm reminded of why I like the teams I do. Sadly, I've had to write a version of this blog before, too.

You know by now that I grew up a Mets fan. I started noticing baseball when the game's worst-ever team (in its first year, 1962) had just turned it around and won the 1969 World Series. A few up and down years led to another World Series in 1973, when I was in the thick of my youthful baseball jones. But then began the slide and the eventual return to the top 13 years later.

Because I was a regular visitor to Milwaukee as a kid, I was also interested in the Brewers (I had my Barrel Man T-shirt back in the day) and have become a fan over the years. I need not remind you of the vicissitudes of this team.

This season -- the year in which my soccer team was again relegated to the second division -- has been a tough one and, like you, each loss by my teams makes me wince and frustrates me. 

However, as long as I've been a sports fan, I've had to live with great peaks and deep, deep troughs and I've come to realize that it's a hyper-reality. And that's why I like my teams. They are like life, which is rarely a straight road to the top.

Therefore, the rich teams like the Yankees and Man U, that can buy their way to success year after year (although money doesn't always equal success, we Mets fans are forced to admit), don't speak to me. I can't relate to it. Some days I win, some days I lose and I never have enough money to buy myself constant -- or near constant -- success.

So, if I become a fan of Australian rules football or something, I'll select a team that has had ups and downs and has a tradition of devoted fans despite it.

Because that's the true measure of a fan. The 64-98 Mets of 1977 meant as much to me as did the 100-game winners of 1988. The .500 1989 Brewers (Molitor, Yount, Gantner, Surhoff, Sveum, Plesac, Higuera, etc.) were as fun for me to watch as the heroes of '82, despite the fact that the highs were not nearly as high.

It's easy to glom onto a dynasty team and act like your fandom is from the heart; hey, you've got the numbers to back you up, right?

But show me 40 years rooting for a motley bunch that sometimes rips it up and I'll show what a real fan is made of.

So, this year, like most, I predict ups and downs, some bouts of greatness, some days of futility. Whether or not it's enough to get the Brewers into the playoffs, despite the best predictions, no one really knows until it either happens or doesn't, although time is certainly running out. But you and I can't control it either way. So, enjoy the ride and stay the course devoted Brewers fans.