Here is what I wrote the morning after, in the Daily Quickie -- note that "Steve Bartman" wasn't yet known as the name:
Two Words For You:
BLAME. GAME.
He will forever be known as "That Fan," short for "That Fan Who [Nearly/Totally (TBD)] Cost The Cubs The World Series".
That Fan is an obvious (and worthy) scapegoat, but let's spread the responsibility around: Dusty, Gonzalez, the radio announcers, Prior, Farnsworth, Derrek Lee, the headset manufacturer, Pudge, Beckett, the masses on Waveland, Dick Jauron, Ernie Banks, Andre Dawson, the fans sitting around That Fan, Paris Hilton, Bernie Mac, Harry Carey's ghost, the media.
Whether the city has a complete meltdown depends on how Game 7 plays out tonight (understanding that Kerry Wood is as hot as they come right now, but on the flip side, so was Prior):
If the Cubs win:
All is forgiven ...
If they lose:
Yikes ....
Then I had an item asking if Alex Gonzalez was the new Bill Buckner:
Lost under the "That Fan" pile-on is Alex Gonzalez's Bobble -- this generation's Leon Durham moment, improbably from a shortstop who led the NL in fielding percentage.
What irony in his trendy name-shortening: "A-Gon." Because his error? Pure "AGony."
Rally-kindling instead of rally-killing: The Bobble doesn't quite rise to the mythic level of Buckner-esque proportions, but That Fan was merely guilty of amateurish behavior; what's the pro's excuse?
10 years later, Gonzalez's role in the debacle is still vastly underrated.
Yeesh: Whenever I read back through an old Quickie -- especially something from that first year or two -- I am reminded how tight I wrote, as compared to now. I got worse as I took more space....
Also: 10 years later, the Quickie is so mobile-friendly -- a decade ahead of its time, I guees.
-- D.S.