Cheezborger cheezborger cheezborger TM!! (
ad infinitum) is one of the sounds you're likely to hear upon descending
the stairs down to Lower Michigan Avenue and walking through a
big fireman-red door (perhaps for the
monthly Chicago meetup?) into the
Billy Goat Tavern and Grill, where
the bathrooms are confusingly named but not unisex, and where you can get a "
cheezborger" or any one of a number of
vegetarian-unfriendly menu options.
The Billy Goat's been a Chicago tourist attraction since shortly after '
Rev.' Don Novello (a Goat regular, along with Bill Murray) penned the first '
Olympia Cafe' sketch in 1978 — but a staple of Chicago history for far, far longer. Wonder about the mystical meaning behind
Steve Bartman narrowly
grabbing the ball before outfielder Moisés Alou could in
Game 6, Inning 8 of the 2003 World Series? Wonder about Mike Royko's
favorite writing spot, one he immortalized? Read on.
William Sianis emigrated from
Paleopyrgos, Greece to the Windy City when 16 years old, and earned money selling stolen trolley car light bulbs and reselling streetcar transfers, avoiding arrest for the latter by hiding the transfers in newspapers. The Great Depression crashes an initial restaurant venture, but Prohibition's repeal in 1933 results in his purchase (with a check that bounced!) of the
Lincoln Tavern, near
Chicago Stadium (now
the site of the United Center), where it would stay until its move in '64 to the present location. A year later, a baby goat bounces off a truck and is adopted by Sianis. The Lincoln Tavern was soon reborn as the Billy Goat Inn. This would begin a pattern of publicity- and profit-generating
stunts, such as in 1944, when he posted a sign, "No Republicans Allowed", in the window. He promptly was flooded with profitable traffic from the 1944 Republican National Convention.
In 1945, Sianis approaches the gates of
Wrigley Field, where game four of the World Series is about to be played, with
his goat Murphy. He asks the ushers to ask Cubs owner Philip Wrigley Jr. if Murphy can accompany him (Murphy being appropriately outfitted in a "
We Got Detroit's Goat" blanket) into the Park – a request Wrigley denies by replying, "[T]he goat stays out, because he smells." Although reports differ, it's said Sianis declared to all as he walked away, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more."
And, unlike the
Curse of the Bambino, the
Curse of the Goat has remained unbroken, despite multiple attempts from all to lift the
curse. In 1950, Wrigley extended to Murphy
his sincere apologies. In 1969, a year prior to his death, Bill Sianis formally lifted the Curse ... but the Cubs evidently hadn't learned their lesson; on July 4, 1973, nephew
Sam Sianis brought Socrates the Goat to Wrigley, and was
refused entrance at every gate. Sam and Socrates were invited back in 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1998, and each appearance garnered brief spells of good luck for the Cubs – but none were enough to lift the curse completely.
Fans have even tried their own various curse-lifting rituals. In 2003,
Cubs fans Jim Comiskey, David Townsend and Bill Miller – and Virgil Homer the Goat – were denied entrance to Houston's
Minute Maid Park. When refused, they unfurled a scroll and announced the curse reversed. The Cubs had a stellar season, but it's believed by many fans that Steve Bartman's swipe of the ball in the eighth-inning rally was somehow the Curse's fault. In
20071 (GRAPHIC PHOTO) and
2009, butchered goats appeared overnight suspended from the Harry Caray statue in front of Wrigley Field. Neither animal sacrifice garnered any particular luck for the team.
Amongst the crowds visiting the Billy Goat – and both encouraging and documenting the Curse – were its regulars: the newspaper men. Situated between the
Wrigley Building and the Sun-Times Building (the latter demolished by
Trump), the tavern was perfectly situated to serve the late-drinking newspaper crowd. The affection was mutual: the
2005 'funeral' for Chicago's longstanding
City News Bureau was held at the inn.
And it's where legendary columnist
Mike Royko (RIP, Mike) felt he had a second home. In fact, Royko, notoriously private and gruff, gave
a until-recently-unseen interview in 1982 at the Goat that displayed such a relaxed attitude that it amazed his son.
2 (If you've never read him, some of Royko's columns can be read online
here and
here – as well as his famous Nativity rewrite "
Mary and Joe: Chicago-Style" (which was
filmed!).)
The Billy Goat continues to thrive. There are even
bizarro Billy Goat outposts in the West Loop and near the United Center where it's "no cheeps – fries" — as well as a new
D.C. place.
The Billy Goat also is making its way onto the Internet – while the Curse is on
MySpace, the Goat is on
Facebook.
And not only has it made its way onto the Internet, and to the nation's capitol, it's also opened a branch in the DC Comics Universe. John Constantine takes a thwack at the Curse in "
All I Goat for Christmas", one of five stories in
Hellblazer #250 (
intro page), in which he fights
a horned Goat demon in a vividly illustrated Billy Goat.
Proving that even Superman, Batman, and the Phantom Stranger live in a universe where they too can get a cheezborger.
1With a plaque saying: "As of October 3, 2007: let it be known to the spirit of Sam Sianis and all powers that be, I, Leon "Bull" Bartman, have sacrificed my goat life and thereby have reversed the "curse" and have blessed the cubs with "the Holy Cow"!!!! And in the name of Harry, Santo, Woo, Mr. Cub, "The Girls", Sweet Lou, Hendry, WGN, Mr. Wrigley, Tribune Co., all the Billy Goats of the world, and the best fans in baseball I SAY.....GO CUBS GO.....GO CUBS GO...HEY CHICAGO WHAT DO YOU SAY...THE CUBS ARE GONNA WIN TODAY!"
2Comment from David Royko: "My father [...] was rarely truly relaxed on camera [...][w]e don't even have that much home video [...] [i]t's a real knockout for me, because it is my father when he was relaxed, had had a couple but it seems not more, was with friends and softball buddies [...] telling a favorite story [...] [m]y father in this wonderful vein was something preserved only in the memories of those of us who'd been around him, and here's a snapshot, out of the blue."
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Hope you guys like this. It was my 100th Mefi post, and I wanted to do something a little special.
posted by WCityMike at 8:25 PM on October 20, 2009 [3 favorites]