IT'S POLITICS' HEIDI GAME.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

All this fuss over a contest for which nobody will receive a ring, a medal or a playoff share.

Such passion over a game whose winner won't get a Gatorade shower, or the right to tear off his jersey and wrap himself in the flag - at least not literally.

What sound and fury over a competition whose champion will get to visit the White House but will also be required to stay there and work a seven-days-a-week job - for wages equivalent to Kevin Brown's pocket change.

That's one reason we in the world of sports can't get too excited about this election that ain't over till it's over, or even after it's over.

The other reason is that in sports, we see things like this all the time, events in which one team and its fans walk away thinking they're winners, only to be told ``not so fast.''

The New York baseball Giants ran off the field at the Polo Grounds in September 1908 thinking they'd beaten the Chicago Cubs on an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately for the Giants, Fred Merkle, who'd been the seemingly inconsequential runner on first base, ran off the field without touching second. The out wiped out the run and amid a riot, the game was declared a tie. The teams ended the season in a tie for first place. The Cubs won the playoff game in October.

John Beauchamp left the speedway in February 1959 thinking he'd won the inaugural Daytona 500 in a headlight-and-headlight finish. Three days later, Lee Petty was declared the winner after NASCAR officials pored over films and still photographs.

The U.S. basketball team thought it was one second from the championship in the 1972 Olympics at Munich after Doug Collins' two free throws gave the Americans a one-point lead over the Soviet Union.

But an off-court official ordered the clock set back to three seconds after some confusion over the Soviets' attempt to call timeout. The added time was enough for the Soviets to throw a court-long pass and score the winning basket. The Americans bitterly declined their silver medals.

Roberto de Vicenzo thought he was on the way to a playoff for the 1968 Masters title after finishing the tournament tied with Bob Goalby. But playing partner Tommy Armour had mistakenly entered a ``3'' instead of a ``4'' for de Vicenzo on one hole and when the Argentinian signed the incorrect scorecard, he was disqualified.

Dancer's Image went back to his stall at Churchill Downs after the 1968 Kentucky Derby thinking he'd won just because he finished first. Actually, being a horse, he probably didn't think much of anything, but he might have noticed he was getting more peppermints than usual.

Three days later a prohibited drug was found in Dancer's Image's urine sample and Forward Pass was declared the winner. The controversy didn't end until 1972, when a Kentucky appeals court awarded the prize money to Forward Pass's people.

Football fans went to bed thinking the New York Jets had beaten the Oakland Raiders in a late-season game in 1968. NBC television had cut away with minutes remaining to show the movie ``Heidi.'' Fans rose the next morning to find the Raiders had rallied with two touchdowns in nine seconds to win.

George Brett trotted to the dugout thinking his homer had given the Kansas City Royals a ninth-inning lead over the New York Yankees in 1983. But Brett was called out because his bat had pine tar too far up the handle, leaving the Yankees with the impression they'd won. But the American League office overruled the umpires, restored the home run and made the teams play out the rest of the game nearly a month later.

That day, Billy Martin had the Yankees appeal at first and second bases, contending Brett had missed the bag(s) on his home-run trot. But the umpires produced a letter from the original umpires saying he hadn't. The Royals held on to win.

And you think the Florida thing is full of twists and turns?

I'm leaving out the tales of the 9,784 Olympic athletes who have been yanked off medal stands for having the wrong kind of soap under their fingertips.

In all these stories of athletic glory delayed or denied lie lessons for the presidential combatants whose futures are in the hands of the photo- finish judges and the stewards.

It's better not to curse one's fate or seek a scapegoat. Roberto de Vicenzo did not blame Armour for the faulty count. De Vicenzo cultivating sympathy with his memorable reaction: ``What a stupid I am!'' (Insert George W. Bush joke here.)

It's better not to keep demanding the help of the authorities until the result turns out in your favor. The basketball Russians were guilty of that and everybody thinks they were whiners, not winners. (Insert Al Gore joke here.)

It's better not to do anything that will forevermore make your name part of a well-known phrase signifying hapless blundering. That Giants rookie should have thought of this before he was immortalized for ``Merkle's Boner.'' (You don't need my help with this one.)