By ,
Published May 03, 2016
The Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series in 107 years, and those who believe the team has been cursed by an infamous billy goat have taken a new approach in an effort to shake the hoodoo.
The Wall Street Journal reports two Chicago restaurant owners who are also competitive eaters, along with three friends from the competitive eating circuit, made their best effort on Tuesday to break the curse by eating a 40-pound goat. Around 70 fans were there to cheer the five men on.
“It was awesome. I wanted some of it,” said Alice Chiu, a co-owner of Taco In A Bag, the North Side restaurant where the eating took place.
The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908, and haven't won a National League pennant since 1945, when they lost to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. The alleged “curse” was placed on the Cubs when a Chicago bar owner tried to bring his goat into Wrigley Field for Game 4, but was denied. The man allegedly swore the Cubs would never win a championship again, and the rest is history.
The closest the Cubs have come to the World Series since was in 2003, when the team lost to the Florida Marlins in seven games in the National League Championship Series after being up in the series three games to two.
In Game 6 of that series, Cubs fan Steve Bartman was sitting in the stands in the eighth inning when a foul pop fly seemed to drift out of play and headed right toward him. As Bartman went to go for the ball, he hit the glove of left fielder Moises Alou. The ball bounced off Bartman’s hands. The umpire said the play wasn't considered fan interference because the ball was up for grabs.
The Marlins would score eight runs in the eighth to win the game and went on to win the pennant the next night. Florida would go on to win the World Series that year over the New York Yankees.
This year's Cubs are on the verge of making the MLB playoffs for the first time since 2008. Chiu, along with Taco In A Bag co-owners Patrick Bertoletti and Tim Brown came up with the idea of eating the goat in hopes to reverse the curse, according to The Journal.
Bertoletti invited his friends, legendary Nathan’s Hot Dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi, Kevin Strahle and Bob Shoudt.
The entire animal was consumed in 13 minutes and 22 seconds, according to The Journal.
Bertoletti said the goat was delicious, if a bit gamy. Strahle was the most adventurous of the diners.
“He ate the head and all the other stuff,” Bertoletti said. “Whenever we found organs, we just passed them to him.”
Should the Cubs somehow win the World Series this year, Taco In A Bag won't hestiate to take credit,
“If it works, we’re the smartest people in Chicago,” Bertoletti said.
Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/competitive-eaters-devour-goat-meat-to-break-chicago-cubs-curse