The Cubs don’t buy any of this curse stuff. Former manager Dusty Baker dismissed the curse and current manager Lou Piniella has, too.

There’s lots of evidence, though, that Cubs fans take the curse seriously, starting with Web sites with names like “reversethecurse” and “dacurse.” In 2003, some Cubs fans brought a goat to the ball park in Houston to give the Astros, who were locked in a race with the Cubs, a taste of the curse — an effort that worked, by the way.

Given that the Red Sox vanquished their own “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004 and the White Sox ended their own run of futility the next year, Cubs fans might be the most apprehensive in the country.

“Whether you are 13 years old like my son, 53 like I am or somebody’s 80-year-old grandfather, in the back of your mind you’re always thinking, ’Are they going to win the World Series before I move onto the next world?”’ said Lin Brehmer, a popular radio host and devoted Cubs fan.

Given the team’s history, who can blame them? Take 1984 when the Cubs made history when they took a 2-0 game lead to San Diego in the playoffs only to lose the next three games and the series.

Or 2003, when they took a 3-2 lead against the Florida Marlins, and were within five outs of winning the series before fate stepped in yet again.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

All of that was in Rick Brown’s head as the Chicago firefighter watched Wednesday night’s Cubs loss to the Diamondbacks at a tavern that sits right next to Wrigley Field.

“If there is one out left and they have a 10-run lead, you still have that pessimistic attitude,” Brown said. “You have faith and yet they are the lovable Cubbies and inevitably the other shoe is going to fall.”

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