The Sports View

By Sun Advocate

Why is it that a sporting event can be composed of a thousand plays and yet people can only remember one?
Tuesday’s baseball game between the Cubs and Marlins was a terrible example of the need to point a foam finger at single events in the athletic arena.
In the eighth inning of the game, a Chicago fan interferred with Moises Alou’s attempt to catch a foul ball.
The Cubs followed the play up with an error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez and went on to give up eight runs in the inning to lose 8-3 and let Florida back into the series.
In my opinion, any team that gives up eight runs in any game deserves to lose, let alone eight runs in one inning.
Was it really so significant that a fan interferred with a catch that was on his side of the bleachers?
I will concede that home fans usually want to give their fielders every chance to make an out.
But, if I were sitting in the stands at the game which would potentially send the Cubs to the World Series, you can believe I would be a little excited at the idea of taking a ball home.
Fans are a part of the playing field. We don’t curse the the fences that line the field and prevent many foul balls from being caught. We shouldn’t curse the fans, either.
If fan interference is such a big deal, maybe teams should move everybody one row back and give up the enormous payoff they get from those front-row seats.
I think I am done cheering for the Cubs. Yeah, they are the underdogs and it would be great to see them win for the Series for the first time in 95 years.
But if they can’t close a series after being up 3-1 and have innings where their opponents score eight runs, maybe they shouldn’t be there, anyway.