The Cubs and their laughable lack of championships is something every sports fan knows about. In fact, it’s so widely known that even former President Bill Clinton made a joke during his convention speech last night about Cubs fans having to teach him what it means to “wait for next year” - referring to the fact that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 108 years.
We have more about the eternal underdogs, their curse of the billy goat and a smattering of other sports highlights for your reading pleasure.
We'll have a Chicago dog,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about the Chicago Cubs
- The Cubs are known as the lovable losers because they haven’t been in a World Series since 1945 (71-year drought) and haven’t won a World Series since 1908 (108-year drought). In the beginning of the season the Cubs were picked by experts to be the team to beat.
- We’ll give you the abbreviated version but let’s talk about the scandalous Curse of the Billy Goat that has allegedly plagued the Cubs for decades. In 1945 Billy Goat Tavern owner, Billy Sianis, tried to get into game four of the World Series with his beloved billy goat, Murphy. The goat was not allowed in (maybe he didn’t have a ticket)? An outraged Sianis declared the Cubs would never win again and they haven’t been in a World Series since.
- Currently the Cubs have the best record in baseball and must be feeling the pressure to win it all. This week, they traded for the New York Yankees stand out closer Aroldis Chapman, who threw the fastest pitch ever recoded in a game at 105 mph.
- The Cubs’ ballpark - Wrigley Field, wasn’t their first home; the team has had six different ballparks since they were founded in 1876. Wrigley is the second oldest ballpark in the league behind Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. While it was built in 1914, Wrigley didn’t have lights until 1988. The first Cubs night game was played 74 years after it was built.
- Two of their current players have beaten cancer. Starting pitcher Jon Lester (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and first baseman Anthony Rizzo (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) overcame the disease and still play.
F1 (Formula One Racing)
- Taken - call Liam Neeson. The mother-in-law of F1 head man Bernie Ecclestone was abducted from her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The kidnappers are asking for $36 million from Ecclestone for her release. (Ecclestone is worth an estimated $3 billion). This is tragic news for the F1 family but also isn’t sitting well with athletes in Brazil for the upcoming Olympics.
PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)
- This one’s major. The PGA Championship begins this weekend; the last major on the golf schedule. The field is a who’s who of big name golfers, except for one. Tiger Woods announced he would not be playing in this major while recovering from injuries, marking the first time in his career he failed to participate in at least one major in a season.
- The meat sweats. if you are tired of the typical clean cut golfer, check out Andrew "Beef" Johnson who rose to prominence during British Open not only with his play but his jovial attitude. With the nickname of Beef it only seemed natural that he signed a sponsorship deal with Arby’s. Beef will be covering the course this weekend with a newly added Arby’s logo on his shirt. Find out how he received that nickname.
Overtime
- 14-year NBA league veteran Amare Stoudemire announced his retirement yesterday. Stoudemire was drafted straight out of high school and most notably played for Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks. Stoudemire grabbed headlines during his career for soaking in red wine to help his body recover. Wine not?
Sideline stat
- You may recall the infamous ice bucket challenge. The one where the participant stated why finding a cure for ALS was important to them and then had a bunch of ice dumped on their head? Over 17 million people participated in the challenge with over 2.5 million people donating over $115 million for research. Using those funds, a scientist discovered a common gene in people who have ALS; a step toward finding a cure. Pete Frates, a baseball player at Boston College, was the original inspiration behind the challenge after being diagnosed with ALS.
Coaches’ corner
- Don’t put me in coach. The pride of Swiss tennis, Roger Federer, announced he will sit out not only the Olympics, but the rest of the tennis season to nurse a knee injury.