With the baseball season rapidly approaching, we're doomed to hear more and more each day about the 101-year drought since the Cubs' last World Series victory and the curse that supposedly surrounds the team.But the Cubs certainly aren't the only squad believed to be under some magical spell preventing them from reaching the promised land. And, when you compare their mystical plight to that of the Hanshin Tigers, it almost seems boring
After all, the Cubs' problems have nothing to do with Colonel Sanders.
From The Mainichi Daily News:
"A statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders tossed into Osaka's Dotonbori River some 24 years ago by rowdy Hanshin Tigers fans has been discovered.
The Colonel's upper body, minus the hands, was discovered on Tuesday evening by divers checking for unexploded bombs as part of riverside pedestrian walkway improvement works. The figure's legs and right hand were discovered Wednesday morning.
The Colonel ended up at the bottom of the river in 1985, when delirious Hanshin Tigers fans celebrating the team's first Central League title in 21 years decided the figure bore a striking resemblance to Tigers slugger Randy Bass and, lifting it off its base in front of the Dotonbori Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, gave the Colonel a victory toss. The fans put a little too much energy into the toss, and the Colonel Sanders figure went over the railing of the Ebisu Bridge and into the river. Since the statue's victory dive into the Dotonbori, searches for the statue were undertaken, but none with any success.
The Hanshin Tigers have not won the Japan Series since 1985, a fact attributed by some to the "Curse of Colonel Sanders."
The discovery of the chicken-enthusiasts likeness has predictably ignited a flame of intense optimism amongst the Hanshin faithful.
"We'll be number one in Japan this year for sure," they say.
This leaves so many more questions than it answers: Why was there a Colonel Sanders statue in Japan? Why did they need to check for bombs under the sidewalk?
^^^ Because there are more KFC joints in Tokyo than any city in the USA.