Culture

Competitive Eater Takeru Kobayashi Is Trying To Help Chicago Break The Famous Billy Goat Curse

Takeru Kobayashi Photo Modified: Flickr/Michael/CC 4.0
Samantha Neudorf|

Superstitious fans of the Chicago Cubs will readily tell you that their Cubbies have been cursed since 1945 by the famed "Billy Goat curse." The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 and haven't even won a World Series game since 1945, but Chicagoans are determined to change that and have turned to none other than competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi to help break the curse.

The Billy Goat Curse came about when William "Billy Goat" Sianis, owner of the Chicago bar Billy Goat Tavern, bought tickets to the game and wanted to bring in his pet goat. The stadium ushers did not want to let the owner in with his goat because they said animals were not allowed in the park. Sianis was frustrated that the ushers were giving him a hard time and said, "The Cubs ain't gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field."

Chicagoans have long tried different things to see if they can reverse the curse, like the times Sianis's nephew Sam brought a goat onto Wrigley Field on Opening Day in 1984 and 1989.  Their latest endeavor involves tapping competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, who you may remember as the winner of the 2001-2006 hot dog-eating contest (he was banned from competing in that contest 2010). On September 22, Kobayashi teamed up with Taco In A Bag to eat a 40-pound cooked goat at Lincoln Square in one sitting, the idea being that if he eats the goat, the curse would go away

Kobayashi had help from three other friends to eat the goat, and they were able to eat the whole thing in an impressive 12 minutes!

Will this finally be the key to overturning the Billy Goat curse? We'll see. The Cubs will have to make the playoffs first if they're going to make a run at it. They're currently in second place for the National League Wild Card.

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