Cubs Fan Gets Tattoo Proclaiming World Series Win; Will He Be the New Steve Bartman?

CHICAGO, IL — If the 2016 season for the Chicago Cubs ends without the team celebrating its first World Series championship in more than a century, fans know who specifically to blame:

Noel Brown, a 45-year-old health insurance underwriter and high school baseball coach from Des Moines, IA.

This week, Brown won a local radio station contest trying to find the biggest Chicago Cubs superfan, beating out 40 other participants. But what Brown needed to do to prove his team loyalty created a great disturbance in Cubs fandom, as if millions of voices cried out in terror upon learning of the unthinkable horror one of their own had committed.

As the contest winner, Brown received a free Chicago Cubs tattoo that sports the team's logo, a billy goat and the following (hopefully) prophetic statement: “Holy Cow!! Curse Broken World Series Champions.”

"As a Cubs fan, you've gotta be optimistic," Brown said before getting inked in a video posted on the station's Facebook page. "They will win. Statistically, this is the best year they've had since 1945. They're set to win, they will win.

"If they don't, I still have a pretty awesome tattoo," he added.

RELATED: Bernie Sanders Wasn't Born the Last Time the Chicago Cubs Won 100 Games

When asked how his wife and kids — who are also Cubs fans — reacted when they heard about the tat, Brown said they've been happy and supportive. His wife, however, did think he was "a little nuts" for doing this ahead of Chicago winning the championship, Brown added.

So has Brown and his new tattoo jinxed the Chicago for the postseason? Will the name Noel Brown join Billy Sianis and Steve Bartman in the annals of Cubs history, synonymous with a seemingly endless stream of soul-destroying, superstition-fueled disappointments that have hung over the team and its fans like Eeyore's little black rain cloud?

Those answers are right around the corner for the Cubs. The regular season ends Sunday, Oct. 2, and the earliest the playoffs will begin for Chicago will be Oct. 7.

photo via Patch archives

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