Today is a huge day for sports, both here and abroad. First up is the final round of qualifying matches for the 2004 UEFA Cup - the Greeks, who are currently at the top of their Group (miracle of miracles!), need a win against Northern Ireland to clinch a guaranteed berth in the tournament. A tie or a loss will force Greece into a playoff round against the other nine runners-up to compete for the right to join the group winners in Portugal next summer. I also have a soft spot for Germany's national team, owing to the fact that one of my oldest friends hails from that country, and also because both my supervisors here at Widener Circulation are also German. Deutschland is in an almost identical situation as Hellas for its own group. A win and the Germans automatically move on; tie or lose, and it's to the playoffs for them as well. They play Iceland, with a start time of 11 a.m., and the Greeks will play at 1 p.m.. Good luck to both of them.

And of course, the Yankees are coming to town this afternoon. At four o'clock another episode in the greatest rivalry in sports will be played out, with two of the best pitchers who have ever lived - Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens - taking the mound for their respective teams. This is the kind of postseason match-up that baseball junkies dream about. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs have pulled ahead by one game with their 11th inning win over the Florida Marlins last night, making the series 2-1 in their favor. Now for those of you not up on your baseball lore, the Cubs are laboring under a curse of their own, similar to the one that's kept the Boston Red Sox from a World Series victory since 1918, the Curse of the Bambino. For the Cubs it's the Curse of the Billy Goat, which dates back to 1945, when local tavern owner William "Billy Goat" Sianis attempted to bring his pet goat to the fourth game of the World Series, in which Chicago was squaring off against the Detroit Tigers. When the folks at Wrigley Field told him that he could stay but his goat would have to leave, it is said that Sianis, a Greek immigrant, cursed the team and said that they'd never win another World Series again; they haven't even been to the World Series since that fateful day.

The moral of this story? Never say no to a Greek and his goat. Especially when the goat has his own ticket!

It gets even better: Sianis' establishment, the aptly named Billy Goat Tavern, was later immortalized by John Belushi and Bill Murray in a series of skits ("CHEEZBORGER! CHEEZBORGER!") on Saturday Night Live, and to this day is the number one purveyor of Schlitz beer in the city, which it has kept on tap for over forty years.

Mmm. Schlitz.