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CHICAGO -- The spiritual home of the curse, which has always been a headline writers shorthand for a century of poor front-office decisions and horrifying choke jobs, is an underground tavern beneath Michigan Avenue. Ramon Laureano Jersey . Tavern is a mannered word often used by hipsters (and, um, writers ... ) to describe bars, but in this case, the Billy Goat actually is a tavern, a place where the Tribune editors used to bring page proofs between editions, back before newspapers lost their mojo and ended up staffed by people who did silly stuff like jog and eat fruit and maintain loving relationships. It still manages the difficult juggling act of being a tourist destination while nurturing its regulars; one of the bartenders, for instance, will run a credit card if he knows you, even though the signs say cash only.On Tuesday night, for Game 6 against Cleveland, the place was about three-quarters full, with some after-work people, some out-of-town fans and at least one group of totally oblivious tourists from Sweden and Denmark.About an hour before the game began, the place felt calm, even a little reserved. The stress of the past week has all been too much. Every game is a kind of torture, down to the last innings and outs.People read things on their phones and stayed quiet, waiting for the first pitch.A stuffed goat hangs above the bar; the founder of the place, William Billy Goat Sianis, supposedly got kicked out of Wrigley during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series and said -- again, supposedly -- Them Cubs, they aint gonna win no more. The team didnt make it to another World Series until this year. The bar has done good business since then from Cubs fans, and from a John Belushi Saturday Night Live skit making fun of its Greek fry cook and their surly attitudes. Those fry cooks still stand behind the flat-top griddle night after night.With two outs in the top of the first, and the Cubs again looking like they might not hit the ball, Kris Bryant crushed a home run. Marco, the bartender, turned on the siren in the corner, which blared and whirred as people cheered. A guy at one of the red and white checkerboard tables took a sip from his mug of beer and looked happy, and a bit relieved. Rizzo hit a single and, as people cheered, you could hear the old and finicky cash register ding. People leaned against the faux white marble bar top. On the wall around the goat, famous old Chicago newspaper bylines hung, many yellowed and worn: Mike Royko, David Condon, Roger Ebert, Herb Lyon, Rick Telander.Zobrist singled.Nice inning! someone said, audibly giddy.A man carried a burger to his table on a piece of wax paper, cradling a pile of pickles. Marco poured a few fingers of Titos vodka into a high ball glass.Addison Russell then hit a fly into center, which the Indians played about as poorly as a fly can be played. The ball dropped and Rizzo scored easily, and then Zobrist just wrecked the catcher at the plate, giving him a forearm shiver, indicating that somewhere in his past life he must have played football. Marco hit the siren again, and people cheered and clapped and pounded on the bar and the tables and seemed finally at ease, ready to watch every stress free pitch of the 9-3 blowout.The inning ended one batter later, and the game felt over practically before it began.Marco poured a draft Schlitz and a Billy Goat Lager into two heavy mugs, sending them down to the end of the bar. He opened two bottles of Miller Lite, and the fry cook scraped the griddle clean, waiting on the next round of orders. The pink neon glowed through the front window, and the red neon lit the corner of the bar. Up above, cars rushed down Michigan Avenue, while in the bar, people smiled at the televisions on either side of the ratty stuffed goat. Sean Murphy Athletics Jersey . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Yusmeiro Petit Jersey . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. https:///...ersey-athletics.html .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Two weeks ago, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr broke into the top 10 for Total QBR for a season?for the first time in his career. After Monday nights thrilling finish in Mexico City, hes now entrenched, ranking seventh overall in Expected Points Added (57.6) and QB plays (464), good enough for an adjusted Total QBR score of 67.0, ranking 10th overall in the league.That puts Carr, whos been whispered as a darkhorse MVP candidate, leaps and bounds ahead of where he was his first two seasons in the league:Per the Eliias Sports Bureau, last night was also his 12th career start without being sacked, most in the NFL since he entered the league. Tony Phillips Jersey. .Carr is on pace to shatter the best Total QBR by a Raiders quarterback since ESPN began tracking the metric. Carson Palmer holds the current record, posting a 57.7 score in 2011, when the Raiders went 8-8 in their only season under head coach Hue Jackson. ' ' '