Cursed

Taylor Crum
Taylor Crum

The Curse of the Bambino. The Curse of the Billy Goat. The Curse of Bobby Lane.

These are three curses in professional sports that some superstitious fans still believe in today.

The Curse of the Bambino came about when the Boston Red Sox traded the king of baseball, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees. Following that trade, the Red Sox have gone 83 years without seeing a championship title.

The Curse of the Billy Goat began because a goat and its owner, William Sianis, were ejected from a 1945 World Series game at Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs have yet to see the World Series since then.

The Curse of Bobby Lane commenced in 1958 after the Detroit Lions traded quarterback Bobby Lane to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Prior to the trade, Lane led the Lions to three NFL championships within a six-year period.

Lane, angry because of the trade, reportedly said the Lions would not win for 50 years. During those 50 years, the Lions had the worst winning percentage of any NFL team.

On the 50th anniversary of his trade, the Lions became the first team in NFL history to go 0-16.

These curses seem very real when looking at the statistics, but do curses really exist?

In my opinion, yes, they do exist, because I don’t believe in coincidences.

The odds of the Red Sox going 83 years without a championship, the Cubs having yet to see a World Series game since the goat was banned from Wrigley Field and the Lions being the first team in NFL history to go 0-16 on the 50th anniversary of Bobby Lane’s trade all seem to be more than just a fluke.

To this day, fans of cursed professional teams believe in the curses more than the teams they root for.

Just this month on Wednesday, April 10, an unidentified man dropped off a package containing a severed goat’s head at Wrigley Field. Many are still caught up in the Curse of the Billy Goat, even after 68 years.

There are more than 50 different curses that have reigned over professional teams, and these curses are not biased to any sport.

Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, you name it, there’s a curse over it.

The Madden Curse, the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx, the Curse of Billy Penn, the Curse of Coogan’s Bluff, the Curse of William Bedford; the list goes on.

Although these curses are detrimental to a pro team, it does not mean the curses cannot be broken.

The Curse of the Bambino was eventually abolished in 2004 when the Red Sox finally snagged a World Series win. Oddly, it seemed as if the curse had been reversed, not just ended.

The Red Sox traded their best player, Nomar Garciaparra, and the curse had died. The curse started by trading their best player, and the curse was reversed by doing the same.

Unfortunately for the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Lions, it seems as if the curses will never fade.

According to the goat owner’s nephew-in-law, Sam Sianis, the curse can only be reversed if the Cubs show a genuine love for goats, allowing them back into Wrigley Field.

The end to the Lion’s 50-year curse is long overdue, but the team has yet to prove their worth with a winning season.

So the question still remains, are curses real? Just ask the Cubs and Lions.

Column by Taylor Crum, Assistant Sports Editor.

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