Oh, how generous of you, selected Cubs fans. After merely five years, you've decided to "forgive" Steve Bartman for totally ruining your life with his precocious grabby hands in 2003. Thank goodness you've come finally around to this momentous decision.
Unfortunately, you're way too late.
See, most Cubs fans, the reasonable ones, forgave that poor little turtlenecked guy years ago. Some (like me) did so immediately after the game. Some did so immediately after the play. Anyone able to process cogent thought and reason would have either admitted a) This is baseball, and, while disappointing, not that big of a deal; b) This is a big deal, but it's not Steve Bartman's fault; or c) This is a big deal, but the Cubs lost the game, and curses don't exist.
To forgive the guy now, after he can't reveal his whereabouts, after he got death threats and whatever else goes along with his whole fable, is incredibly disingenuous. If I were Steve Bartman, I wouldn't want Cubs fans' hollow "forgiveness" any more than I would want to sit down the left field line at Wrigley on Thursday. If you couldn't spare empathy for the guy in 2003, you shouldn't spare any for him in 2008. Just keep his name out your mouth, and drink your beer. Do they still say that at Wrigley?
