Baseball: CURSE OF THE CUBS; Chicago fan falls foul of his own crowd after clanger.

Byline: Alan McKINLAY

NEWSPAPERS across the USA dusted off the headline yesterday and, albeit reluctantly, blared out the most-repeated phrase in American sport: Cubs lose.

The much-loved but hapless Chicago team usually make for a good story, even if the ending is guaranteed to be an unhappy one for long-suffering fans.

And with two games to clinch a place in baseball's World Series for the first time since the Second World War at their own sold-out, ivy-covered shrine of Wrigley Field, the Cubs blew it yet again.

The Florida Marlins became only the second National League team ever to get to the World Series after trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven-game showdown.

But that achievement has been somewhat forgotten in the extraordinary way the Cubs found to lose this time.

The Curse of the Goat (see below) is legendary in the Windy City, but this year, there's a new goat.

In Game Six, with Chicago five outs from reaching baseball's Holy Grail, (they have not won the World Series since 1908), Cubs fan Steve Bartman tried to grab a foul ball as a souvenir, preventing outfielder Moises Alou from catching it and making a crucial out. That helped the Marlins rally for an 8-3 win to tie the National League Championship Series.When the the Marlins also won the deciding game 9-6 on Tuesday night it cemented Bartman's gaffe as a key moment in the Cubs' long, sad history.

Bartman had to be smuggled out of the ground as fans abused him and pelted him with beer and debris. The 26-year-old youth baseball coach has become the Alpay of the USA, Public Enemy No.1.

The Cubs, partly because of their loveable losers tag, have fans across the whole country, and few seemed inclined to forgive Bartman.

"I am so truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart," he said in a statement. "I ask that Cub fans everywhere redirect the negative energy that has been vented towards my family, my friends and myself into the usual positive support for our beloved team on their way to being National League champs."

The appeal fell on deaf ears. Broadcasters castigated him. A local newspaper found in a Web poll that thousands blamed him for playing a role in the Cubs' loss. Even the governor of Illinois weighed in.

"Nobody can justify any kind of threat to someone who does something stupid like reach for that ball," Governor Rod Blagojevich said.

In Florida, home of the Marlins, Governor Jeb Bush said an offer of asylum to Bartman might be a good idea, and an ocean-front retreat near Miami offered him a free three-month stay if he needed to get out of Chicago.

As Cubs loyalists search for any crumb of comfort, at least they can console themselves with not having to change their all-too-familiar 94-year-old motto: Wait 'Til Next Year.

CAPTION(S):

WHAT A BALLS UP: Cubs fan Steve Bartman's attempt to grab the ball as a souvenir stops outfielder Moises Alou from making a crucial catch (see left)