Voting Station

William 'Billy Goat' Sianis

Please vote to see the next celebrity.

Promoter

The Resume

    (1895-October 22, 1970)
    Born in Greece
    Immigrated to the United States in 1912
    Owner of the Billy Goat Tavern (est. 1934)
    Placed the infamous Curse of the Billy Goat on The Chicago Cubs
    Allegedly placed the curse after being ejected from Game 4 of the World Series after refusing to remove his pet goat from Wrigley Field (Oct. 6, 1945)

Why he might be annoying:

    He looked like Colonel Sanders.
    The $205 check he wrote to purchase the Lincoln Tavern bounced.
    He actually earned the nickname 'Billy Goat' prior to waging the curse (he got it from the scraggly beard he grew when he adopted his pet goat).
    He allegedly paraded his animal around Wrigley’s infield with a sign reading 'We Got Detroit's Goat' during the pre-game proceedings.
    He was known for using outlandish stunts to publicize his business (which may have been the case with Wrigley FIeld).
    For instance, the year prior, he had trolled visiting RNC attendees by posting a sign on his tavern door reading 'no Republicans allowed.'
    The stunt resulted in the tavern being flooded by angry Republicans demanding to be served, making him into a local celebrity.
    The actual terms of the curse have never been clear (promising that no World Series games would ever be played at that venue again vs. cursing the franchise as a whole from ever playing in/winning a World Series game).
    It didn't help much that all passers-by claimed to have heard as he left was 'Cubs, they not gonna win anymore! They never gonna be another World Series played at Wrigley Field!'
    There's also a continued debate as to whether he and his goat were turned away at the gate or made to leave after the fourth inning because fans were complaining of the stench (people tend to favor the latter).
    When the Cubs (who had been ahead prior to the outburst) lost the Series, he reportedly sent a telegram taunting the team owner, reading 'who smells now?'
    His last publicity stunt was writing the State Department to get an exclusive food-and-drink license to serve hungry astronauts on the moon.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He taught himself English by reading newspapers, when he first moved to the US.
    He eventually paid back the $205 with the sales from the first weekend.
    He first found his pet goat, Murphy, after he had fallen from a truck (presumably abandoned).
    Until 2016, he caught blame every time the Cubs lost in the playoffs.
    Interestingly, as the Cubs began to slide in the rankings, Sianis' tavern experienced an inverse boost in business seemingly independent of the 'Cubs' incident.
    Rather, the spike in business appeared to be tied more to the Harlem Globetrotters' taking up residency at the Chicago Stadium (which was located across from his tavern).
    His good luck carried into the 1950's, when he started receiving visits from big-name celebrities like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra,Bobby Riggs,Jerry Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Don Budge, Peggy Fleming, and Rocky Graziano.
    He made an attempt to recant the curse the year prior to his death (obviously it didn't immediately take for another forty-six years).
    His tavern now has multiple locations and has attained a new level of fame when Saturday Night Live used it as a model for their famous ‘cheezborger cheezborger cheezborger’ Olympia Café sketch.
    Days before his death, he had written to the Cubs organization to tell them he had rescinded the curse, even suggesting they ‘go out and break bread together’ to celebrate.
    He died unmarried and with no children, but his nephew, Sam, took up management of the tavern, and made attempts in 1973, 1984, 1990, 1994,and 1998 to stop the losing streak (on each occasion the goat now literally received ‘red carpet treatment’).
    Mike Royko eulogized him as 'Chicago's Greatest Tavern Keeper' (he also noted that he died at 3 AM, one of only 5 hours each day that the tavern was closed).
    He and his nephew gradually wore off with Cubs fans as ‘scapegoats’ for their misfortune (especially after Steve Bartman came along).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 18 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying