The Cubs beat the Brewers 4-0 last night, gaining ground toward a wild-card spot in the National League playoffs, and if Chicago wins tonight, they may have a goat to thank. For 69 years, 11 months, and 17 days, the MLB team has labored under "The Billy Goat Curse," which the superstitious believe has kept the Cubs from winning a title in Wrigley Field—and that a group of competitive eaters hoped to break last night by devouring a 40-pound goat, NBC Chicago reports. The curse was supposedly cast during the 1945 World Series, when Billy Sianis, the owner of Billy Goat Tavern, is said to have shown up at the ballpark with his pet goat, Murphy. The goat wasn't allowed entry by Cubs owner PK Wrigley himself because it reeked, the Washington Post notes, and Sianis reportedly screamed in a rage outside the park: "The Cubs ain't gonna win no more!"
The Cubs not only lost that World Series, but they haven't been back to the championships since, earning them the nickname the "Lovable Losers." Past attempts to lift the curse have proven futile, the tavern's website notes. Per the Post, hot dog-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi joined four other competitive eaters at a Chicago restaurant last night to break the spell, and their alchemy involved chowing down on a cooked 40-pound goat in a chowdown one observer said transpired in "about twelve minutes," adding, "That was … disgusting." And if the Cubs don't make the playoffs? As the Post puts it, the goat gorging will just have been "much ado about mutton." If they win the World Series, however, you could have a shot at an $85,000 DeLorean. (Read all about the curse here.)
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