I've gone over it over and over again for exactly 7 years now...
The fact is, the moment the Cubs fell apart in game 6 in 2003 was the exact moment when I thought, "Holy shit! We're going to do it! We're going to the World Series."
And I'm fairly sure most Cubs fans were thinking that exact same thing at that exact moment during the top of the 8th inning on 10/14/2003.
And it is our fate as Cubs fans to know that when it comes to pass that we truly, full heartedly believe something good will actually happen to us, it will all fall apart and we will be left in misery.
I didn’t return to Wrigleyville the next day for game 7. I knew what was going to happen. Moises Alou and Alex Gonzalez brought me to my senses. They kept me from getting my hopes up again after Kerry Wood hit that homer in the bottom of the second inning during game 7.
The people I worked with couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to go down to Chicago again for game 7. “They’ll come back…they can win game 7. It was just one game…it’s a new day.” Wrong. The Cubs could never have won that game 7. Those people just didn’t understand. It wasn’t possible.
People call me an eternal pessimist. After something like game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, who can blame me? And I also know that the longer I hold out believing that this team will never make it to the Promised Land, the more likely it will be that it might actually happen someday. It’s a defense mechanism. It keeps me sane (or saner than if I was optimistic and hopeful).
A lot has been said about Steve Bartman this week. It’s interesting that the whole situation is being brought up a lot more this year at than in Octobers over the last few years. This is probably due to the fact the Cubs as a team are in turmoil right now and we really have no idea when they might have a chance again to get that close to winning the pennant again like in 2003.
Whose fault is it that this team fell apart in game 6? It's my fault. It's your fault. It's everyone's fault who actually lost their senses and believed that we were going to go to the World Series. Steve Bartman can only be blamed so much as he probably thought the same as all the rest of us. Did he interfere with the ball? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Fate would have ensured that Alex Gonzalez would have still booted that ball or that something else would have happened to blow that game.
It is our burden as Cubs fans. The moment we truly think our suffering has finally ended, fate strikes us down and punishes us worse than ever.
Game 6 of the NLCS in 2003 wasn't the Bartman game...it was Our game. We were to blame. And don't ever forget that.
