Yeah, but Adam Smith was fortunate enough to have died before the Cubs came into existence. He never knew true suffering.

There's one fan in particular who might want to take the advice to "live among strangers." Yeah, we know who it is. The WaPo says "headset man" has been offered a vacation home in Miami for three months, gratis. I'd take 'em up on that one.

Personally I'd advise him to join the Navy and go to sea for a few years.

Ok, I knew I was a free marketeer 10 years ago when I was 14, but this passage describes me to the "T". I seek the company not of my fellow free marketeer, but the company of Stalinists, Leninsts, Marxists and Maoists alike that demand control over the market.

I should read more Smith.

On occasion, one reads rhetoric so lyrical, so elegant, so clear that one is blinded to the worthlessness, or even the poison of its philosophy. It happens often in sports (think of Al Davis's famous "Just win, baby" -- great rhetoric, until you remember his assassination of Darryl Stingley. But I digress). It seems to me this just such a case. The "indulgent sympathy of intimate friends" is the only thing that gets you through those first horrible days. And the shared experience of sorrow, even years later, is a powerful antidote to melancholy. I know whereof. I'm a Red Sox fan these past 41 years. (Although the Cubs have endured a long drought, the horror they're now experiencing is a novel experience for them, since the Cubs have been abysmal and out of contention for approximately 89.3745692% of the 98 seasons. The BoSox, though, inflict this sort of torture on us with soul numbing regularity. So take it from those who know, not a long dead Brit.)

I feel sorry for that poor schmuck. They only way you could pin the loss on him was if he'd jumped out of the stands, taken the pitcher's mound and given up eight runs.

Three words: Witness Protection Program

This piece gave me quite a chuckle: I am a firm believer in the maxim which says that, "A Chuckle a Day Keeps the Doctor Away".

No doubt that Adam Smith was a pretty clever person!

At least "headphone man" was awake during the game, unlike Dusty Baker, who must have been asleep to leave his pitcher in that long.

Depressed? Hah! Wait till next century!

I also feel sorry for the scapegoated fan. Read Ron Rappaport's column yesterday and note that Moises has forgiven the fan, as should we all. The previous poster had it right. The fan did not commit an egregious error at shortstop, did not fail to hit the cutoff man, did not strikeout, did not throw walk after bone-crunching walk and did not give up 8 runs in a single inning. The Cubs, in the final analysis, were beat by a better team.

Although it pains me as a long-time Cubs fan to say it, the Marlins were magnificent to watch. Even I had to marvel at their tenacity and their obvious athleticism. This certainly is a team of the present and future.

Cubs fans, take heart: Your guys were there because of the pitching, and the pitchers will return with the swallows in spring (around July 1st if I recollect Chicago weather patterns). Next year could be even better. And when was the last time anyone honestly told you that?

Now dry your tears and restock your fridges because the Red Sox can still carry the banner of the underdog all the way and wipe the floor with the stinkin Marlins. Who's with me?

I'm not sure a team with a payroll of $100 million (Red Sox) could be called an underdog against a team that spends half as much (Marlins), despite the Sox's stunning history of monumental collapses.

Yeah but aren't the Sox slated to lose tonight after a late-inning bullpen crash? Isn't it written into the Constitution or the Bible or something?

Uh, the sox still have 1 game to go against the heavily FAVORED yankee's. That makes them an "underdog". ;) :b

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."
-A. Bartlett Giamatti

Kelli - you meant "return with the chokers in the spring", right?

Well, maybe the Red Sox will win.

"Waiting for the Cubs to win the World Series is like leaving the porch light on for Jimmy Hoffa."--Bob Costas

The Cubs’ series streak--who would match it!
But an ‘out’ would have gone far to patch it.
    'Til a fan caught the foul,
   Raising such a great howl.
And the fan? He continues to catch it!

"Cubs fans, take heart: Your guys were there because of the pitching"

Right, and if they get some decent RELIEF pitchers in there...

To paraphrase Senator Moynihan,

There is no point in being a Cubs (or Red Sox) fan if you don't understand that, in the end, they will break your heart.

And I can't wait for Pitchers and Catchers to report.

Or as Neil Young, put it, only love can break your heart.

A Twin Cities sportswriter, and life-long Cubs fan, gave "The Fan" this bit of advice if confronted by upset fellow Cubs-fans who can't move on... Tell them:

"If I made a spectacularly bad play at the worst possible moment, don't blame me. I was raised on Cubs baseball."