Cubs Curse

It’s that time of year, October, the end of the MLB season and the beginning of the enthralling playoffs. Yet, like usual, it’s another year where my team, the Chicago Cubs, are absent from the playoff picture. You’d think by sheer probability that they were due for a MLB championship, having not won one in over 100 years. But the team manages effortlessly to continue its championship draught and have cubs fans say but not always believe that “There’s always next year”

In the book that we are reading for English, Poisonwood Bible, we gather the evident and important role of religion in the lives of the Prices, the American Missionary family living in a Congolese Village, and the Congolese themselves. In the recent chapters, there seems to be a little rivalry between Catholicism, represented by Nathan Price, and the local traditions led by Tata Kuvudundu. Each character desires a larger following and is willing to denounce the other in order to grow. In order to prove to the people that their religion is the truth, they label any occurrences as an act of God, or having religious intention. For example, the perceived death of Adah, who was thought to be eaten by a lion, was originally called a vengeful act of God against the Price family due to their study of a false religion. However, after the news was discovered that she lived, the story was turned into “God saved this girl from the lion because of their loyal devotion to him”. It’s a natural human tendency to want to know why things occur the way they do and for the answer to this question, they turn towards religion/myth.

This need to religiously rationalize experiences is a trait we also see in sports. Feeling the need for an explanation as to why the Cubs have defied the odds and are so good at losing, many fans have blamed lack of a championship on a curse: The Curse of the Billy Goat. Myth has it that during the 1945 World Series game against Detroit at Wrigley Field, Billy Goat Tavern owner, Billy Sianis, was asked to leave due to the odor of his pet goat. Sianis later sent Cubs owner, Phillip Wrigley, a telegram saying “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again.” Since that point, this curse has only gained believers, especially after the heartbreak and epic demise of the NLCS series with the Marlins in 2003. I still remember sitting in my kitchen watching game 6 in which the Cubs were up in the series 3-1. Prior, one of the best pitchers at the time, was on the mound and only had given up three hits in the evening. Cubs were up 3-0 with one out in the eighth and no one on. Then a double, followed by a catchable foul ball interfered with by a fan, then a wild pitch walk, an error by Alex Gonzalez, and before you knew it, the score was 7-3. The Cubs went on to lose this game and the next, and the Marlins went on to win the World Series. It was a painful implosion by the Cubs that had many fans asking “Why?” Just as Greek myths and religious mythology were created to explain natural phenomenon like the creation of the human race, sports fans created the “Billy Goat” myth to explain the reason for the Cubs struggle. Religion plays such a pivotal role in Poisonwood Bible, sports, and even society in general because it explains things nothing else can.