Post by JMHO on Nov 3, 2016 12:13:01 GMT -7
The goats are dead, the curse is broken, and the sky is Cubs blue. What a spectacular game 7, as the Cubs take the World Series by defeating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in an incredible 10-inning marathon that included a rain delay.
The curse actually began in 1945, when William “Billy Goat” Sianis, then owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, bought two tickets to Game 4 of the Cubs’ World Series game against the Detroit Tigers: one for himself, and one for Murphy, the tavern’s Billy goat mascot. But – so goes the legend – Murphy smelled so bad that other fans complained, leading to the eviction of Billy Goat and his Billy goat. Sianis, incensed, is reputed to have declared on his way out: “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more!”
Further, according to “Chronicles of Old Chicago,” a 2014 book by Chicago historian and author Adam Selzer, Sianis went so far as to send Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley a telegram after the game — which the Cubs lost, along with the series — promising: "You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat.")
Many attempts were made over the decades to lift the curse, which Sianis, himself, rescinded before his death in 1970. And his nephew Sam, the tavern's current owner, has shown up at Wrigley Field with a goat on Opening Day several times to show that there were no hard feelings. In 2009, a Greek Orthodox priest blessed the Cubs' dugout with holy water. Then, in 2012, five Cubs fans calling themselves Crack the Curse walked more than 1,700 miles — with a goat named Wrigley — from the team's spring training camp in Mesa, Arizona, to Wrigley Field.
Cubs bury curse
I must admit, I could not take the pressure and went to bed with the rain delay after the Indians had just tied it up in the 8th, waking up this morning to the joyous news.
Like this, with only marginally less jumping.
So are you a Cubs fan, an Indians fan, or cared not one way or the other?