Silly question, but is there a "curse of the Billy Goat" on the Cubs?

[lander]

I've always heard they were cursed, but assumed they caught it from the Sox in the series way back. Some guy on the radio was talking about the Cubs "curse of the Billy Goat"? Is this real? What is it?

Or was this sportscaster using some expression that I'm not familiar with?

Thanks Cubbie fans.

 

[Jazz]

from someone's site:

being a cubs fan, i have (quite often as of late) mentioned the infamous curse of the billy goat that seams to still cast its vexing powers on the lovable team. i could never quite exactly remember the story, in its entirety, and so i got to doing some research.

i found a good reference, here, but i'll just snag it anyway.

As for the actual billygoat mentioned above, its notoriety does not end with the Billy Goat Tavern. I wish it did. You see, the Chicago Cubs haven't been in the World Series since 1945, and haven't won one since 1908. Many attribute this misfortune to the "Curse of the Billy Goat." The alleged curse was placed on the Cubs during the 1945 World Series by Billy Goat Sianis himself. Sianis happened to be a rabid Cubs fan and attempted to bring his goat, "Murphy," into game four. Murphy even had his own ticket. As Sianis walked into Wrigley Field, the ushers prevented his entry, telling him that no goats were allowed. When Billy Goat asked for an appeal directly to owner P.K. Wrigley, P.K. told them to allow Billy Goat in but not Murphy. When Billy Goat asked why, they said, "Because the goat smells." In retaliation, Sianis cast a "goat curse" over the Cubs by saying, "Cubs, they not gonna win anymore." Subsequently, the Tigers won the series and the Cubs have never been back. The Cubs' loss prompted Billy Goat to send a telegram to P.K. Wrigley asking, "Who smells now?" Billy Goat supposedly lifted the curse in 1969, but the Cubs blew a nine game lead that year to the lowly Mets, causing some to believe that the curse remains in place.

Billy's nephew, Sam Sianis, now owns the tavern. To lift the "remnants" of the curse, Sam twice pulled up to Wrigley Field in 1972 and 1983, in a white limousine with a red carpet, a goat named "Socrates," and a sign that read, "All is forgiven. Let me lead the Cubs to the pennant. Billy Goat." Sam was denied entry by Cubs management both times. The curse was then lifted in 1984, when Cubs management finally relented and Sam brought the goat to opening day. The Cubs won the division, but lost to the Padres in the playoffs. Sam again brought the goat to Wrigley in 1994 after the Cubs lost their first 12 home games. The Cubs won their next game, but the season was cut short due to the players' strike. The goat made its last appearance in 1998, a year that saw the Cubs win a wild card berth in the playoffs but then lose to Greg Maddux (former Cub) and the Braves. Because the Cubs continue to show occasional promise but always lose in the end, some still believe the hex remains in place. There was even a recent Old Style television commercial, in which the stuffed goat head mounted above the bar offers to lift the curse if a patron gives him a sip of his Old Style

 

[5teamparlay]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8677735

Local
Cubs fans, goat, to arrive at Wrigley
Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Curse of the Billy Goat began in 1945 after the Cubs refused to allow the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern to bring his goat inside the game. Legend has it the man then told the Cubs they would never win a World Series again. "Hopefully they'll let Wrigley in, but that's up to the Ricketts family and the Cubs organization," said fan Matt Gregory.
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**
May 26, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Six Chicago Cubs fans who set out to crack the curse by walking cross country with a goat are expected to reach Wrigley Field on Saturday.

In February, the fans started walking from Mesa, Arizona, to Wrigley with a goat.

Besides cracking the curse, the fans also raised money for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. ESPN reports they've raised more than $11,000.
*
(Copyright ©2012 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

 

[FairWarning]

Bad don't need a curse.

 

[Betallsports]

No, They just Really Really Suck :>(

 

[5teamparlay]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=9158055&city=chicago

Goat's head sent to Wrigley Field
Jesse Rogers [ARCHIVE]

ESPNChicago.com | April 10, 2013
A goat's head was delivered to Wrigley Field on Wednesday addressed to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, a team spokesman confirmed.


No note was included, and it was turned over to Chicago police.


"We got a call at 2:30 p.m., responding to 1060 West Addison, Wrigley Field," a Chicago Police Department spokesman said. "We're investigating it as an intimidating package."


The package was found at Gate K near the field, the team spokesman told the Chicago Tribune.


It's possible the goat's head is in reference to a "curse" placed on the team during the 1945 World Series. Restaurant owner Billy Sianis brought his goat to a game, but was asked to leave and he vowed the team would never win again.


The Cubs lost that series and have never been back. They last won a championship in 1908, the longest drought in professional sports.


The Cubs are currently locked in a tense negotiation with the city and neighborhood regarding the renovation of Wrigley Field and the desire to play more night games. A deal was hoped to have been reached by the start of the regular season but is still being negotiated.

 

[5teamparlay]

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015...gn-cubs-mlb-baseball-postseason-superstitions

[h=2]Cardinals fans taunt Cubs with ‘Mount Chokemore’ sign[/h] By Alysha Tsuji
<header> @AlyshaTsuji on Oct 10, 2015, 9:58a 6
</header>






Tweet (25) Share Pin


St. Louis Cardinals fans had no chill for the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS.
The actually very well drawn "Mount Chokemore" sign features the billy goat curse of '45, the black cat curse of '69, poor Leon Durham who missed a key ground ball in '84 and Steve Bartman (everyone has been going in on Bartman).
The Cubs, attempting to break a 106-year World Series drought, wound up losing Game 1, 4-0.
(h/t Yahoo! Sports)

 

[5teamparlay]

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160306/news/160309225/

Columns updated: 3/6/2016 11:45 AMCubs at Wrigley give fans no ringsbut 100 years of storiesIn the 100 years that the Chicago Cubs have played baseball at Wrigley Field, the iconic ballpark has yet to hoistone world‐championship banner. But, since the Cubs beat the Reds in the inaugural game on April 20, 1916, theCubs and Wrigley have fueled plenty of stories.In "Cubs 100: A Century at Wrigley ﴾https://www.facebook.com/100WrigleyStories/?pnref=story﴿," authors DanCampana, 39, of Streamwood, and Rob Carroll, 37, of Rockford, reveal insights from Cubs greats and not‐so‐greats, broadcasters and reporters, ushers and fans.Video: 100 Years, 100 StoriesBurt Constable3/6/2016 Cubs at Wrigley give fans no rings but 100 years of storieshttp://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160306/news/160309225/ 2/4"It documents what being a Cubs fan is all about," says Carroll. While the book's 100 tales include stories fromfans such as Liz Gumprecht of Hawthorn Woods, who married her husband, Kris, at Wrigley Field in 2009, it alsofeatures stories from former Cubs Andre Dawson, Burt Hooton and Jody Davis, and baseball legends such asformer St. Louis ﴾and White Sox﴿ Manager Tony La Russa and pitcher John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves."We wanted to focus more on the players this time around," Carroll adds, noting that he and Campana teamedup in 2013 for a book about the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field."The players have the most interesting memories because this is their workplace," Campana says. "This is theiroffice."Some of that work was produced by Cubs Hall‐of‐Famer Ryne Sandberg who, naturally, talks about that game in1984 when he slugged two home runs off St. Louis closer Bruce Sutter. But he also tells of getting his first hit atWrigley Field as a rookie for the Philadelphia Phillies.Fellow Hall‐of‐Famer Fergie Jenkins talks about his 20‐win seasons at Wrigley, but he also talks about hisWrigley Field debut with the Phillies, when he gave up a ninth‐inning home run to Ron Santo. "Well," the rookieJenkins told reporters after the game. "I'd hate to pitch my whole career in this ballpark."Former Kane County Cougars Manager Mark Grudzielanek remembers the 2003 playoff collapse, infamous for afoul‐ball incident involving a fan. As the Cubs second‐baseman that season, Grudzielanek saw that controversyunfold, but says he still thought the Cubs would preserve the lead thanks to a routine grounder to short twobatters later."I'm sitting at second base, ready to turn this double play and get out of the inning, and…," Grudzielanek says,recounting how generally smooth‐fielding shortstop Alex Gonzalez dropped the ball."You would have thought this happened last week," Campana says of getting Grudzielanek to relive thatmemory. "It still devastates him. His eyes dropped as he was telling it, almost as if he watching that ball again."Not to dwell on a dropped ball, but the book includes a story from former outfielder Brant Brown. He might bebest remembered for inspiring radio legend Ron Santo's anguished "Oh, noooo!﴾http://www.northtonorth.com/pages/soundclips/santoohno.mp3﴿" wail as Brown dropped a flyball in 1998 withthe bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, costing the Cubs the chance to clinch a wild‐card berth.Instead, Brown's story is about how earlier in that same season, he hit a walk‐off homer at Wrigley to give theCubs a sweep in the inaugural Crosstown Series against the White Sox.Campana made sure that story made the book, because he was at that game. But the author's story is about thefirst time he took his future wife, Jen, to a game. "I never enjoyed myself at Wrigley so much with baseballhaving so little to do with my mood," he recalls.He comes by his fondness for the Friendly Confines naturally."My parents met in the bleachers," says Campana, who grew up in Hanover Park and graduated from HoffmanEstates High School in 1995. Campana and his wife also have an 11‐year‐old son now, whose name ispronounced Ryan, but spelled Ryne, just like Sandberg."Guess who won the coin flip for that?" Campana says. "About a month before he was due, we did a best‐of‐seven coin flip to decide the spelling. I won four to nothing, a sweep."3/6/2016 Cubs at Wrigley give fans no rings but 100 years of storieshttp://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160306/news/160309225/ 3/4Even though the surprising young and talented Cubs were swept in last fall's National League championshipseries, and had to watch the hated New York Mets celebrate on the Wrigley Field infield, both Carroll andCampana have high hopes that the 2016 Cubs can provide a happier end to the season. But they've seenenough of the Cubs and Wrigley to shun any predictions."I'll never say, 'They are going to win it all this year,'" Campana says.But if the Cubs do become 2016 World Series champs, it will add a memorable 101st story to the lore of theCubs and Wrigley Field.

 

[5teamparlay]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cubs-curse-is-now-more-likely-to-end-than-to-continue/Oct 21, 2016 at 12:43 PM [h=1]The Cubs’ Curse Is Now More Likely To End Than To Continue[/h]
By Neil Paine
Filed under MLB Playoffs

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<!-- .has-bugs --> <figcaption class="caption featured-image-caption"> Kershaw is up next. Jeff Gross / Getty Images
</figcaption></figure><!-- .single-featured-image --> With an 8-4 victory in Los Angeles Thursday night, the Chicago Cubs took a 3-2 NLCS lead over the LA Dodgers and now head back to Chicago just one win away from the World Series . According to FiveThirtyEight’s Elo prediction model, the Cubs have an 81 percent chance of capturing the franchise’s first pennant since 1945. And with a 51 percent probability of winning the World Series, Chicago is now more likely than not to end its 108-year drought and celebrate a title for the first time since 1908.
Of course, Cubs fans have heard some version of this before. The team entered Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS under the same conditions — up three games to two, needing only to win one of the next two games (both at Wrigley Field) to clinch the pennant — but then disaster struck. They also led the 1984 NLCS two games to none, needing to win only one of the next three games in San Diego to advance (back when the league championship series used a best-of-five format). That advantage conferred an even greater pennant probability[SUP]1[/SUP]84 percent, according to a basic calculation that just looks at home-field advantage and the number of games remaining at each location. than Chicago has now or had in 2003,[SUP]2[/SUP]79 percent in both cases, according to the same measure we looked at for 1984. and they still managed to blow it. So Chicagoans can be forgiven if they’re not booking travel to Cleveland quite yet.
More Sports
And if the Cubs’ championship dreams end up being deferred to a 109th year, it’ll probably be because of the Dodgers’ pitching trio of Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill. According to Elo’s starting-pitcher rating component, Kershaw is the best starter in baseball by a mile — he boosts LA’s Elo rating by a whopping 71 points when he takes the mound — and he’ll try to help the Dodgers stave off elimination Saturday night. Hill, LA’s starter for a potential Game 7, is no slouch either: He ranks 14th among starting pitchers in our ratings. And for his part, Jansen, the Dodgers’ closer, has completely shut down the Cubs when called upon in the NLCS so far, notching 16.2 strikeouts per 9 innings over a couple of multi-inning appearances.
The Cubs will counter with their own aces — Game 6 starter Kyle Hendricks ranks seventh in Elo, and they’ll likely send 18th-ranked Jake Arrieta to the hill in Game 7 — but Chicago’s fate might come down to how well its lineup hits LA’s star pitchers. Although the Cubs’ offense has been incredibly uneven in this series, scoring eight or more runs in each of the team’s three wins and zero in each of its two losses, the common threads in those scoreless games have been that either Kershaw or Hill took the mound as the starter, and Jansen (who appeared in both games) came in to close it out. Before Chicago can pop champagne in Wrigley’s spacious, newly renovated locker room, they’ll probably have to score some runs off the Dodgers’ aces.
But for now, the Cubs find themselves in a good spot. They’ve been the talk of baseball all season long; now they’re closer than ever to fulfilling their potential and ending the franchise’s absurdly long dry spell.

 

[HarryCaray]

You're obsessed.

 

[HamGlaze]