The Mets are back! Or at least that’s what Mets fans will tell you in the midst of a stunning 9-1 streak that brings their orange-and-blue to Philadelphia for an ever-important three-game series in late April/early May.

As if you needed any reasons to hate the Mets, we offer the fact that the Metropolitans now top the NL East by a whopping half-game, thanks to that aforementioned streak. In short, this is a monster series that will likely decide the fate of the division. Or not.

Still, we can’t help but get riled up for a good ol’ fashioned NL East brawl. Both Roy Halladay and Johan Santana will start a game in this series (unfortunately not against one another) and it is likely a Mets fan will be punched at one point or another. To get the juices flowing, we offer the ten 2010 Mets to hate:

1. Ike Davis

Who the hell is Ike Davis? Good question. He is the latest and greatest sensation in New York baseball, taking the throne from Joba the Hutt Chamberlain, and has single-handedly turned around a season that looked lost very early on.

Davis is just 10 games into his MLB career, 10 games in which, coincidentally (or by fate, if you ask a Mets fan), the Mets are a scorching 9-1. He is hitting .355 with one home run and six RBI in just 31 at-bats, and is already the best Mets first baseman since Carlos Delgado (difficult, we know). More impressive than his early numbers, though, is his ability to top this list.

“I Like Ike?” Not you, Phils fans.

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The first round of the playoffs have ended and after what seemed like forever, the Flyers have finally found out who their next victim will be for round deuce. Round one proved to be a confidence booster for the squad. Here’s a look back on some of the things that stood out for me and some of those witty PFC awards that you just all love:

Why They Won

• Limited chances from Ilya Kovalchuk
• Great penalty killing…and there was plenty of it
• Solid defense and a tremendous job of blocking shots (see Lappy) in front of Boucher
• Boucher making the saves he needed to make
• Flyers had the Devils’ number coming into the series
• Marty Brodeur has aged and was haunted by the Wachovia Center crowd (Maaaaarrrtttyyy)

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The first round of the NHL playoffs concluded in dramatic and stunning fashion last night, as the Montreal Canadiens won their third straight game to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to the top-seeded Washington Capitals and move on to the second round. Just like that, it begins all over again, as San Jose and Detroit open their first-round series in California.

Grading the first round

We made our first round picks on the day the playoffs began. Andrew finished five-for-eight, acutely picking up on Jaroslav Halak’s potential to cause the Capitals shame (though he did pick the Caps in six) and saw Phoenix-Detroit going to seven games (though he picked the ‘Yotes). Joe was also five-for-eight, nailing the Chicago-Nashville series (Blackhawks in six) but picking the Caps to sweep the Canadiens.

Moving on to the semifinals

Who knows if it is the first time this has ever happened, but the second round of the playoffs will have one of each eight seeds. In the West, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 advanced, while in the East it was Nos. 4, 6, 7 and 8. The West saw the best four teams move on to the next round, while in the East the conference crown is up for grabs, as three of the four series were upsets.

Eastern Conference

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The Flyers began 2010 in Boston, the visiting team in what has been widely dubbed “Gary Bettman’s Second-Best Idea Ever”, the Winter Classic. (The first being the immaculate conception of one Sidney Crosby and the subsequent rigging of the draft to position him as savior of the Pittsburgh Penguins.) Played at Fenway Park, the Flyers held a 1-0 lead in a generally sloppy game late into the third period, only to allow the tying goal and go on to lose in overtime.

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Ovie or Zdeno?

That’s the question facing the Flyers as they continue their interminable pause in action between the first and second round of the NHL playoffs. By the time they take the ice for the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, set for Saturday at 12:30 p.m., it will have been nine days since they dispatched of the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers were the last team to get in the playoffs, the first team to advance to the next round and, along with the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, will be the last to know their next opponent.

What they do know is that it will either be the Capitals or the Bruins, depending on the outcome of tonight’s Game 7 between the Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. If Washington wins, the Flyers open in D.C. If Montreal wins, the Flyers open in Boston.

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Hello.

We are glad to be back with you at Philly Fan Complex. As you may have noticed over the past two weeks, our content has been lacking. By lacking, we mean nonexistent. Again, this is something you may or may not have noticed in your thrice-hourly visits to our site, but we figured enough of you had noticed that it should be addressed.

If one were to explain the gaping hole left in the Philadelphia sports community by our seemingly sudden and tragic fall from the media landscape, then one should file it under the “Blowing Off Steam” category. Commonly this is known as “Vacation”, or “Temporary Lapse in Sanity”, but this can be accurately chalked up to the seductive lure of greenbacks, distilled spirits and a general longing for sun, water and lounging.

You the reader have made this a profitable venture. Exclusive Swiss banks hound us around the clock, begging for our capital. Rather than stash it, however, we figured the only proper thing to do would be to enjoy it, a small portion at a time. Read: all at once.

Pure and simple, the money went to our heads. We thought there was nothing to do but take off immediately for the nearest private tropical island, gobble up all the available real estate and build private vacation homes for our dearest 50 friends and acquaintances, in which we would whittle away our days drenched in pure agave tequila and shriveling like a raisin in the sun. Don’t ever let someone tell you money doesn’t go to your head. (Except you, Ryan Howard.)

And on a related note, don’t let anyone tell you that money is infinite (Especially you, Lenny Dykstra). Our venture into a lifelong vacation was abruptly cut short at 12 days by the minor hiccup of account overdraft. So we fled, like Ambien zombie Tiger, back to the cruel yet merciful mistress known as the Philly Fan Complex.

In short, that explains where we’ve gone and where we’ve been. But now we’re back, baby, and as Andy Reid always says: “Donovan will be our starting quarterback.” Whoops.

Time’s yours.