Early Giants fan angst is seen on ancient cave walls in, of all places, the Los Angeles Zoo. The significance of this is probably best unexplored.

Somewhere out there, Charlie Brown and Linus are sitting on a curb, staring fixedly into space, before Charlie Brown jumps up and shrieks, "We had it in the bag. We had it in the freaking bag!" Still, as we all know by now, being a Giants fan pretty much equates to the saying, "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." We can enjoy the team's stirring, playoff-series-clinching victories over the Braves and Cardinals; we can enjoy the first five games of the 2002 World Series, losses and all; we can even enjoy the first six and a half innings of Game Six -- but that, apparently, is where the Baseball Gods draw the line.

So here to remind us of our lot are Tom Austin, David Beck, Jamal Bernhard, Richard Booroojian, John Broesamle, Grant Brisbee, Adam Coutts, Todd Hawley, David Malbuff, and me.

• "Why Does It Matter So Much?" by Gregg Pearlman: A tiptoe through the tulips of the mind of a sports fanatic, especially one who knows he's pretty much the reason the Giants have never won a World Championship.
  
  
• "The Sixth AnniversarEEEEEE! Romp" by Gregg Pearlman: When EEEEEE! hit the Web in 1996, the Giants were terrible. Now they're damn near the defending World Champion. Coincidence? Ha.
  
  
• "A 2003 Premortem, of Sorts" by Gregg Pearlman: Well, if nothing else, at least it's not a whole article devoted to Tsuyoshi Shinjo.
  
  
• "Like Candy for Chad" by Tom Austin, who, in his own colorful way, exposes his pain and lets you know that it's your fault.
  
  
• It's Still About Free Agency, by Contributing Editor David Beck -- because it's still about free agency.
  
  
• "The Sports Fanatic: Evolution at its Finest" by Jamal Bernhard, making his EEEEEE! debut --a different approach to the exploration of the psyche of the sports psycho.
  
  
• "Cruel Fate Taunts the Giants Yet Again" by Contributing Editor Richard Booroojian, who blames himself for Game Six, even though it's clearly Gregg's fault.
  
  
• "Well, At Least Now We All Know..." by John Broesamle, who also, insightfully, blames Gregg in his EEEEEE! debut. That's John's debut, not Gregg's.
  
  
• "Asparagus, Boiling Lead, Canada..." by Grant Brisbee, whose angst over the World Series knows no bounds (which, in itself, doesn't exactly make him unique).
  
  
• "A Walk Through All The Players I Had Time To Write About: The San Francisco Giants 2002 In Review" by Adam Coutts, who follows up his first venture into EEEEEE! with a three-month stay at a Buddhist monastery -- and you think we're kidding.
  
  
• "So Close" by Todd Hawley -- hard to get nostalgic about this one.
  
  
• "Here We Go Again: A Giants Fan's 2002 Journal" by David Malbuff, who starts with the stretch run and takes us all the way through the debacle that is Game Six, and then the next debacle that is Game Seven, all while failing, unaccountably, to blame Gregg.

Strangely, this has been a fun Postmortem to put together, if not necessarily an easy one under the circumstances. My heartfelt thanks to Tom, David, Jamal, Richard, John, Grant, Adam, Todd, and David for their time and effort, as well as the other EEEEEE! writers for everything they've done in the past. You are the wings above my wind. Or something.

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