• After the now-infamous Steve Bartman pop fly, Florida still only had a man on first and were down 3-0. Makes it kind of hard to pin the Cubs collapse-and-gag routine on this hapless kid. And it will only get worse as time goes on. People still think of Bill Buckner when they think of the horrifying collapse of the Boston Red Sox in the ’86 World Series; what people rarely remember is that the Carmines had a two-run lead, two outs and two strikes on the batter before the whole thing started and that the tying run had already scored before Buckner’s gaffe. If anyone should be blamed, it should be Calvin Schiraldi for giving up the first run to the Mets, Bob Stanley for wild-pitching the tying run home, and the BoSox for bringing Stanley in in the first place. Not to mention that the Red Sox also blew a three-run lead in game 7 of that series. • Interesting that the whole series seemed to turn on the Cubs at the same time that the weather turned on Chicago. Monday-- bright and sunny and warm, Tuesday—raining, windy, cold and miserable. It was like a meteorological portent. • As a White Sox fan, I watched much of the playoff games between the Cubs and Marlins with a sort of amused detachment. One thing I’ve learned as years progress is that the satisfaction I derive out of my teams’ successes is rarely in proportion to the emotional energy invested. I recall when the Bears won the Super Bowl that it, obviously was fun, exciting and great to watch. But it is also very fleeting. It’s not worth getting into too much of a twist about and certainly those folks crying in Wrigley Field last night need to get a grip. • Incidentally, why do Cubs fans feel the need to have the world pulling with them? Is this like some kind of weird insecurity? Several times people have asked me about the playoffs and I’ve said (honestly) that it doesn’t mean that much to me, I’m a Sox fan. Generally I am read the riot act or accused of pulling against the Cubs. I was even harangued by a bunch of Atlanta Braves fans in New Orleans while watching game 3! “You should be rooting for the Cubs, you’re from Chicago, why aren’t you rooting for the Cubs???” Well, the same reason you aren’t rooting for say, Anaheim or Milwaukee--they just ain’t your team. Just out of curiosity, how many people would insist Cubs fans pull for the White Sox if the situation were reversed? Frankly, I don’t care. Just let me pull for my team and leave me alone. • Enough talk of curses already anyway. Out of the three teams that lay claim to the longest streaks of futility—the Cubs, Red Sox and White Sox—only the Red Sox have any claim to a curse. They have had some odd things happen to them and they have been much closer to a championship many more times. That they have been that close and not managed to pull it off at least once is certainly odder than failing to get there at all. Ninety-five years without a World Series victory? That’s not a curse, that’s just incompetence.