Writes Ben Schwartz,
It’s not bad enough that the Cubs have to borrow the Red Sox now-defunct “Curse of the Bambino” by importing Babe Ruth’s daughter to Wrigley, now Cubs b’caster Ron Santo is promoting the Cubs “curse” due to Derreck Lee’s fractured wrist. What is it with the Tribune Co. and their official embrace of their team as lovable losers? Apparently, the Cubs’ official “Road to October” talk ends by April.
From the Miami Herald’s Kevin Baxter :
‘When (Derrek) Lee went down, I said, `What’s going on here?’ ” said Santo, who has spent 30 seasons with the Cubs as a player and broadcaster. “You have to. It’s been 98 years.”
Santo knows better than to taunt the curse. After all, it’s only April.
”The goat thing . . . it’s always haunted us in a sense,” he said. “I know that goat is dead. Somewhere. I know it is. And the curse, I feel, is dead.
“But if we don’t get there by the time I pass on, I am going to find that goat and kill it again.”
Carlos Zambrano allowed 7 earned runs over 4 innings on Sunday, including a Carlos Lee solo HR (his 10th of the year) in the Cubs’ 9-0 loss to Milwaukee.
Ron Santo added, “Please put me in the Hall of Fame, pleeeeeease!”
If any mystical force can account for Carlos Zambrano pulling a Victor this year, it’s karma, not a curse.
In its latest SEC filing, the Tribune Co. blames the Curse of the Billy Goat for losing a $1 billion tax judgment, declining newspaper circulation, and the box-office failure of “The Weather Man.”
Well, I hope today Ron Santo found that goat and killed it for the second time.