I really do feel a bit of sympathy for Cubs fans.

I am a Cardinals fan, so I guess I am not shedding tears over my divisional rivals Cubs' collapse in the National League Championship Series.

And frankly, I can't count myself as a huge baseball fan.

I rarely, if ever, watch a game from beginning to end.

I look at box scores once in a while and the standings once a week or so.

But when the playoffs come around, I find it a little more interesting and actually start watching a little more.

It was painful to watch the Cubs. That's saying quite a lot coming from a Cardinals fan.

I really am beginning to believe the Cubs are cursed, although I am not taken to believing in curses, spells, incantations and such things.

But come on.

How can you lose three games in a row with two of them on your home field? On top of that, the Cubs were throwing Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, who are inarguably two of the best pitchers on the planet.

How can that happen if there is no curse?

And the way they lost.

How bizarre.

Especially the game six fiasco.

I really feel sorry for that Cubs fan who interfered with Cubs outfielder Moises Alou in the eighth inning.

You know, maybe Alou could have made that catch. Heck, I'll go so far as to say he would have made the catch if the fans had stayed in their seats.

But come on.

Anybody who has been to a ball game knows in the heat of the moment, nobody thinks to step back out of the way of a foul ball.

If you look at the pictures that graced the front pages of sports sections all over the country, you will note that there were literally a dozen or so fans reaching to catch the now-infamous foul ball.

There were people three rows away who had no chance of even coming close to the ball who were standing up with their outstretched arms straining.

I believe it would have been virtually impossible for a fan in that situation to restrain himself.

If it wouldn't have been that fan, it would have been another.

So to me, the death threats and criticisms of this poor guy are way off base. I mean really, give the guy a break.

And then there are the media. How very professional of them to publish the guy's name, address and place of employment.

Do they want somebody to beat him up or burn his house down?

The poor guy had to be escorted from the game by security because people were threatening to pull him apart, limb from limb.

He was pelted with beer, cursed and derided by angry fans.

And then, on the way out of the stadium, the guy put his coat over his face to keep the cameras off him and somebody actually reached out and pulled it down so the world could see him.

How ludicrous.

You know, after that play along the left field bleachers, you could just see the Cubs lose focus.

I saw that Prior guy looking agitated and mouthing something to the fan. I couldn't make it out, but I don't think it was, "That's OK, little buddy, shake it off."

Prior's focus was shifted away from the Marlins batters to some nobody in the left field bleachers.

And it showed.

The guy had a three-hit shutout through seven innings.

Prior took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning. The official book gives Prior credit for 7-1/3 innings and five runs.

You want to blame somebody for the Cubs losing game six by a score of 8-3?

There's plenty of room to spread it around without involving some hapless fan.

How about Alex Gonzalez? He's the shortstop who booted the fairly routine double-play grounder.

How about relievers Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Remlinger and Antonio Alfonseca who couldn't seem to get anybody out?

Or how about Cubs manager Dusty Baker, who waited until the game was tied before pulling Prior? Although, frankly, that probably wouldn't have made much difference given the performance of his relievers.

But you know, I haven't heard anybody threatening any of those people - you know, the ones responsible for losing game six.

I guess it's more comforting for Cubs fans to talk about black cats, goats and now the ever-immortal fan in left field.

I don't know who to blame for game seven. It was kind of strange to see Wood give up three runs in the first inning.

In a bizarre sort of way, I felt almost like rooting for the Cubs. After all, the Marlins, who have been in existence only since 1993, have already won one World Series.

And there is just so much history and mystique surrounding the Cubs.

But sorry, I have to say, I cracked a slight grin when the Cubs failed to cash in.

Not to worry, though, Cubs fans. There's always next year. [[In-content Ad]]