No, I don't believe in curses, so I'm not worried about the Cubs being on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated.

What I like more is that SI sent one of their best writers, Gary Smith, to cover the changes in the team in the 10 years since he was at Wrigley.  For this story, he was at Wrigley over Labor Day weekend.

Here's the story (link), along with a link to an interview the Tribune did with Smith (link).

A sampling from the Tribune Q & A:

Q: The caricature of bleacher fans is that they're brash, loud, drunk, obnoxious. Would you agree, disagree, or is this an oversimplification?

A: I think it's an oversimplification. I actually find Cub fans were much more welcoming of opposing fans. ... Every instance I saw, the Cub fans would give them a little crap right at the beginning, but a moment later they'd be having a nice conversation. Laughing together. Whereas that's a little hard to see happen in Philly or New York. There's a sense of humor about Cubs fans that sets them apart.