The story goes as follows: In 1945, a gentleman named William Sianis tried to bring his billy goat to the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. Now, while this might seem unusual, given that Mr. Sianis was the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago one can see that this was a brilliant marketing ploy. Due to personal hygiene problems (presumably the goat was the offender) Mr. Sianis was denied admission. Not a man to be taken lightly, he stood outside of Wrigley Field and uttered a curse that the Cubs would never win another World Series.

I am not superstitious--usually. But given that the Tigers went on to win that World Series, having watched the Cubs lose Game 5 of the 1984 League Championship series despite having Rick Sutcliffe on the mound as a ball went through Leon Durham's legs, having watched the Cubs blow a three-run lead last night on a fan-interference non-call and an infield error, given that bad luck seems to plague the Cubs every year, maybe they need to rethink their position.

What ever became of William Sianis? There are now four branches of the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago. The late John Belushi parodied the restaurant and its owner in his "Cheezeborger, cheezeborger" sketch on Saturday Night Live. All in all, I think that it would be fair to say that the Sianis family has done better than the Cubbies.

This morning, I learned that the Sianis family actually has a goat at one of their branches. Given the way that things have gone, I say that the Cubs should invite them to tonight's game...........and ask them to bring the goat.