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. 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.nike vapormax plus Προσφορες . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. 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The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.WASHINGTON -- Washington police chief Cathy Lanier, the first woman to lead the department permanently and one of the nations longest-serving and most popular big-city police chiefs, announced Tuesday that she is stepping down to become head of security for the National Football League.Lanier, 49, started her career with the Metropolitan Police Department as a patrol officer and rose through the ranks. She served as chief for nine-and-a-half years, under three mayoral administrations, overseeing reductions in crime as the nations capital experienced an influx of wealth that transformed once-troubled neighborhoods.Lanier said at a news conference that she has rejected numerous offers to lead other big-city police departments, but she saw the opportunity to handle security for the nations favorite sport to be too good to pass up.To women who think that there are limitations to what you can do and where you can work, the NFL reaching out to me for this position says that there are not limitations for where you can work because of your age, your race or your gender, Lanier said.In her new job, Lanier will oversee the security of all 32 NFL teams and their venues, working with federal, state and local law enforcement and handling security for the Super Bowl.We are excited to welcome to our team an individual of Cathys talent and extensive record of accomplishments, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. Cathy joins us with a well-deserved reputation of being a tremendous communicator, innovator and relationship builder.Lanier, a Maryland native who dropped out of high school in 9th grade and became a mother at age 15, was an inspiration to many as she rose to the departments top job. She came from a family of police officers and joined the department after earning a high-school equivalency diploma. She later earned a bachelors degree and two masters degrees.Lanier was head of homeland security and counterterrorism for the department when then-Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty called and offered her the job of chief, without an interview.This city gave me an opportunity when many would not have, Lanier said. I owe my life to this city, to the residents and to the department. ... Its bittersweet, its heartbreaking to leave the city I grew up in.Polls consistently ranked her as the most popular public official in the cityy, and she had a frank, easygoing manner on television and in testimony before the D.dddddddddddd.C. Council. She was an early advocate of officers wearing body cameras, saying they would increase transparency and promote good policing. The department is in the process of outfitting all patrol officers with cameras.Washington was dubbed the nations murder capital during the crack epidemic of the 1990s -- with more than 300 slayings a year in the city of roughly 600,000 -- but violent crime had already decreased significantly by the time Lanier became chief amid the citys booming post-9/11 economy. Homicides continued to drop to a low of 88 in 2012, although, slayings increased last year by more than 50 percent, and killings this year are continuing at 2015s pace.Lanier said she was most proud of restoring the departments commitment to community policing.The most important legacy is we have a community that supports us, she said. People will talk to us now and give us the information we need.Lanier clashed periodically with the citys police union, particularly over a wave of retirements that some officers said left the department -- which now has 3,700 officers -- dangerously understaffed. Union treasurer Gregg Pemberton said nearly 1,000 officers had fled the department in the past two-and-a-half years.Lanier should be ashamed that shes leaving the department in disarray, Pemberton said. Morale has never been worse.Laniers last day will be Sept. 17. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser said she will appoint an interim chief in the coming days, and she said its possible the next permanent chief will be promoted from within.The National Football League, youve got a good one here, Bowser said. She leaves the department and the city in very good hands.Lanier made $253,000 annually as police chief. Because her departure is considered a retirement, she will receive an annual pension of roughly $177,000. She declined to disclose what her salary with the NFL will be.---Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols.---This story has been clarified to reflect that Lanier was the first woman to lead the department permanently; the department previously had a woman serve as interim chief. ' ' '