For 69 years, 11 months and 17 days, the Chicago Cubs have been cursed.
On October 6, 1945, a Cubs fan named William “Billy Goat” Sianis showed up for Game 4 of the World Series with his pet goat, Murphy, in tow. He hoped to bring the Cubbies luck, but instead, he was turned away at the entrance of Wrigley Field – because his goat smelled. As legend has it, an angry Sianis declared, “The Cubs ain’t gonna win no more” and, well, they haven’t: No World Series appearances, no pennants and only six trips to the postseason since. The Curse of the Billy Goat was born.
In the seven decades since, there have been times when it looked like the Curse was about to be lifted, but then something unthinkable happened. Now, with the Cubs looking like a lock for their first postseason berth since 2008, fans are getting serious about putting the goat out to pasture.
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On Monday night, Chicago competitive eater Tim “Gravy” Brown was out on the town with a fellow pro when they had an idea: Eat a goat to reverse the Curse. So they contacted Takeru Kobayashi – a six-time winner of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest – and “Deep Dish” Bertoletti with the challenge. After an initial struggle to find a Wrigleyville bar or restaurant that would host their endeavor, the group settled on Taco in a Bag, a spot farther away from Wrigley Field, and got down to to the very messy business of eating a 40-pound goat (cooked, obviously) within 10 minutes.
Four guys are about to eat 40 pounds of goat. This is happening. pic.twitter.com/hRKTXCnXI5
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) September 23, 2015
5 men ate a 40 lb goat to reverse the Cubs curse @TacoinABag @deepdisheats @Notorious_BOB @FReeKobi0704 @KevLAbeast pic.twitter.com/XND0D2RHyJ
— Val Bromann (@ChoosingFigs) September 23, 2015
Kobayashi with the aftermath. 40 pounds if goat gone in about twelve minutes. That was…disgusting. pic.twitter.com/ACnMgScwxT
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) September 23, 2015
Turns out, it took them 12 minutes to finish the entire goat – slackers! – but they did what had to be done, and left no remnants of the creature. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see if the Curse has disappeared as well. If that’s the case, Kobayashi and his crew will be heroes in Chicago; and seeing as the Cubs wrapped up a historic win against the Brewers last night, they’re off to a good start.
