Eleven years ago, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly watched his hometown Boston Red Sox bust a curse and end an 86-year stretch without a World Series title.
The sixth-year Irish coach quipped on Tuesday that he may have had a hand in ending a different curse and delivering a championship to a long-suffering fanbase. On June 22, Kelly threw out the first pitch and sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field for a Cubs-Dodgers game.
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So is Kelly the reason the Cubs went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals and advance to the National League Championship Series, leaving them eight wins away from ending a 107-year World Series drought?
"There is no question about that," Kelly joked. "No, I was on the mound, I was on that rubber, so it just changed everything."
A day after being at Wrigley Field, though, Kelly -- a Chelsea, Mass. native and lifelong Boston Red Sox fan -- threw out the first pitch before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox finished in last place, though, so whatever powers he has didn't extend to the American League East.