I think all Mets fans can take a lesson from my colleague Evan Drellich. Accepting that your team choked while looking at the organization from top to bottom is step one to a long off-season. Accepting that your team is immature and complacent is step two. And step three, this is for all fans, is to realize that character will always outdo talent.

Starting from the top, GM Omar Minaya should step up and accept some of the blame for this year’s collapse. While he made some great moves last season, I don’t know what he was thinking this year. First trading Brian Bannister for Ambrorix Burgos and then relying on Guillermo Mota and Jorge Sosa as right-handed relievers just for starters. The Mets were involved in so many rumors during the trade deadline, yet didn’t pull the trigger and it came back to haunt them. When you are forced to start Phil Humber in the last few days of a pennant race, something is clearly wrong.

But Minaya needs to come out and take some of the blame off of manager Willie Randolph. While Randolph did indeed make a couple questionable in-game decisions, he can only do so much. Yes, he should have been playing Ramon Castro over Paul Lo Duca. And for those who want an in-your-face Lou Pinella-like manager, Randolph is not the type of manager to scream and ‘get a team pumped.’ If you are in the Major Leagues and you need your manager to get you amped up for a game, then you should probably find another job.

Speaking of players, it is them who should garner the biggest blame for the Mets demise. I have never seen a baseball team so immature and complacent. Celebrating a solo home run when the game is well in hand against the Marlins, Lastings Milledge couldn’t care less about the ramifications of his actions. ‘He was mad.’ Well, it also got that team on the other side mad and, in turn, gave the Marlins some extra-satisfaction in beating them on Sunday. How about just running around the bases and letting your 13-0 victory do the talking? Or how about Jose Reyes jarring his mouth at third base starting a fight. This coming from a guy who disappeared when his team needed him, hitting .214/.290/.348 in September. You even made Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez admit that he wanted to beat the Mets so bad, he would play even with two broken legs.

So instead of getting into two brawls and then celebrating the victory like it’s a World Series win, especially after losing five straight, how about just go out and give it your all? The bottom line is the Mets deserved to lose.

Yes, nobody would have thought Glavine would put up the performance he did but they shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with. All they had to do was beat the Philies once in seven games, with three of them at Shea, and that’s an extra one-game lead. Instead they lost all seven. Yet despite this, they still held their fate in their own hands. After taking three-of-four at Florida, the Mets sat 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies with seven games left in the season. And all seven were at home; six of them against the two worst teams in the N.L. East and one against the Cardinals. It was all set up, and they blew it.

And it’s not like they were facing Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb. They lost to Matt Chico, Jason Bergmann, Joel Hanrahan, Joel Pinerio, Byung-Hyun Kim and Logan Kensing.

So this off-season while you are rooting against the Yankees and thinking of what could have been, watch the players currently leading their teams in the playoffs. Watch guys like Eric Byrnes and Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia and Grady Sizemore. You don’t see them sulking and lethargic and complacent.

The Mets had tons of talent; there is no denying that. But they aren’t the only team without pitching. After Cole Hamels, the Phillies rely on Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick to win games. Not to mention both bullpens are awful. And both teams have the offense to do damage. So what’s the difference?

Character.

The Phillies, full of guys like Chase Utely, Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell are in the playoffs, and the Mets, full of clowns like Milledge, Reyes and Lo Duca, are not.