Hide Your DeLoreans!

Bill Crittenden
21 October 2015

Chicago Cubs fans are a superstitious lot. Even if you're not a fan, you've probably heard of the "Curse of the Billy Goat."

For those who don't know the history, the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908. Yeah, back when the Ford Model T was a newfangled invention.

Since 1945 fans have blamed a goat for their bad luck, in particular Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis' beloved goat, which got them kicked out of a World Series game. Recently fans have tried to "break" the curse with everything from blessing goats with holy water to eating them to possibly mailing a dead goat's head to Wrigley Field addressed to the Cubs new owner in 2013, but we can't be 100% of that last nut's motives.

In 2003 Cubs fans thought the Curse of the Goat was at and end when they were up 3-0 and just five outs away from the World Series. However, spectator Steve Bartman reached out and deflected a foul ball from the glove of Moises Alou. The Cubs went on to lose the game, and the next game, and the Bartman Curse was born. The ball was sold for over $100,000, then blown up in 2004 and steam from the boiled remains used in pasta sauce at Harry Caray's restaurant in 2005.

This is some creepy shit, honestly.

Well, this year might have brought about the most recent Cubs Curse. The 1989 movie Back to the Future II featured main character Marty McFly going to what was then the future, specifically October 21, 2015. In the future, Marty sees that the Cubs have just won the World Series in a best-of-nine with a team from Miami.

When the Cubs made the playoffs, there were Back to the Future jokes and references all around: Marty McFly jerseys, Christopher Lloyd offering to throw out the first ball of the Cubs made the World Series. Everything.

Outside of the Cub fandom, October 21, 2015 became a bit of a holiday for pop culture geeks, getting called Back to the Future Day with lists of various "predictions" from the film and whether they have come true or not.

And when the two converged, just what did the real-life Chicago Cubs just do on the real life Back to the Future Day? They got blasted 8-3 and swept out of the playoffs by the Mets. At home.

Given the history that Cubs fans have with goats and the Bartman ball, please pass along the advice to DeLorean owners to not sell their cars to anyone from Chicago when the Cubs are in first place late in the season. Treat prospective buyers like the creepy kid who wants to buy a black cat the day before Halloween, y'know what I mean?

Also, given the aforementioned history of Cubs fans, if they happen to get their hands on a DeLorean while their team is in the playoffs, they're probably going to eat it.