Spring training is still six weeks away, but, with pro football winding down and pro basketball dragging on, attention is already being turned to America's past time. For Chicagoans, another season brings another opportunity to break the curse of the billy goat. It's been 101 years since the Cubs have won the World Series. And, from the looks of this New York Times article, the atmosphere at the Cubs fan convention, which ended Sunday, has gotten desperate:

"There is an illness about being a Cubs fan," said Jim Greanias, a Greek Orthodox priest who was invited by the Cubs to try to exorcise the team's storied curses before the start of the National League division series in 2008. "In October, you think 'I'm done with them, forget about it.' Then all of the sudden, it comes back at you, starting with the Cubs Convention, you start getting that warm, fuzzy glow and think, well, maybe this year, they'll do it."

Let me just start by thanking God that I get to be a Dodgers fan, which is, usually, less painful. The Dodgers have their own unholy problems these days, but at least they don't need an exorcism.

An exorcism?

Really? Well, I guess if any Major League skipper could turn his head backwards it would be Lou Pinella.

But what exactly did this priest do? That's not clear. The Greanias paragraph exhausts the discussed religion in a story about faithful fans. I know one thing (besides the Cubs poor prospects of breaking the curse this year): I would have love to have seen this exorcism -- or at least read some details about what it looked like.