LONDON -- Milos Raonics serves flew like the fluorescent green pellets in one of those video games Andy Murray once played for hours on end. Deliveries upwards of 140 mph headed like lasers into his body.Raonic was bringing it, just as he had in a semifinal upset of Roger Federer. But all that firepower was proving insufficient. This was going to be Murrays day.It was also his great chance to win Wimbledon for himself, not for an entire (United) Kingdom hungering for its first male champion in 75 years, like in 2013.He wasnt going to let this one go, no way, no how.He wasnt going to let Raonic serve him off the court. He wouldnt bend to the unique pressure he finally commanded as the favorite to win Wimbledon or quake in the face of the renewed expectations of his passionate, partisan countrymen.Murrays resolve was well-founded and hard-earned. And it helped him play a superb match to overpower a first-time Grand Slam finalist in Raonic in a 2-hour, 48-minute 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) win.It is different, Murray, the No. 2 seed, said. I feel happier, more content. You know, I feel like this was sort of more for myself and my team as well.Last time, it was just pure relief. It was such a big thing for a British man to win Wimbledon. Its something you start to think about and put more and more pressure on yourself to do. I didnt really enjoy the moment as much, whereas Im going to make sure I enjoy this one more than the others.Having lost all of those finals to?Novak Djokovic?and Federer prepared Murray for his role as the favorite. He took command of this?match from the start and never loosened his grip. Raonic, one of the two or three most feared servers in the game, managed to whack just eight aces (one more than Murray). He was under constant pressure to hold serve.I think I returned pretty good today for the most part, Murray said. I made quite a lot of returns, second serve returns as well and just tried to build pressure that way.But this was no ordinary day in which Murray relied solely on his superb defense to eke out a win. His offense was no less impressive; he lost just nine points on his first serve and passed with deadly precision. Raonic reached a break point just once in the match, and that was in the third set, when he was already in a deep hole.Raonic acknowledged Murray was all business. Nothing cute. Nothing that could backfire and stoke Raonics confidence.Every single time he had forehands in the middle of the court, he was really trying to hit them, not giving me two looks at a point, Raonic said. I think thats what he did really well.Murrays great advantage in experience paid off handsomely in the late stages of the second and third sets. Raonic, 25, had won 63 percent of his tiebreakers going into Wimbledon.But when the pressure built to nearly intolerable levels in those stages, the release valve blew. Raonic made mistakes and poor choices. Murray won both tiebreakers handily.Knowing how maybe [Raonic] would have felt at those moments, being in his first Grand Slam final, I do think that helped me a little bit during the match, Murray admitted. In those tight situations, maybe I dealt with things a little better because of my experience.Murray is 29 and playing the best tennis of his life. He has been to five successive finals for the first time in his career. He has won a major and an ATP 1000 (Rome). This win was deeply satisfying in ways that none of his previous conquests have been -- much of it a result of his 5-month-old daughter.This time, Murray was not going to celebrate the simplest way.I want to spend this time with my family and my closest friends, Murray said. Thats who I want to be around right now.Then Murray will return to work, keeping up his reputation as one of the most diligent ATP pros. He now has won three majors in 11 tries. He said he would love to have won more but reminded everyone that the men he has spent most of his career battling are accorded, by some, to be perhaps the three greatest male players of all time.Murray will seek ways to find more wins against them, which may not be as formidable a task as it was two or three years ago, when Rafael Nadal and Federer were younger and healthier. Murray knows its been rare to get through a Slam without playing any of his three main rivals. But that might be changing, which would be to his advantage.I still feel like my best tennis is ahead of me, that I have an opportunity to win more, Murray said. Everyones time comes at different stages. For some, it comes in their early 20s, some mid-20s. Hopefully mine is still to come. Black Friday Nike Air Vapormax . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Nike Air Vapormax China . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. https://www.fakevapormaxwholesale.com/ .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Cyber Monday Nike Air Vapormax . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Nike Air Vapormax Outlet . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. CHICAGO -- Chuck Logan heard about it from his dad for years. Bill Sianis was born into it. And Lennie Merullo was there the day it happened and lived with it for the rest of his life.The it is the Curse of the Billy Goat, the story of a Chicago tavern owner who supposedly put a hex on the Cubs after the team refused to let his pet goat into Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series -- despite the fact that the goat had a ticket.The memories of those three men are about a real event that has turned into an enduring tale that has only grown taller throughout the years -- one that may not explain why the Cubs are returning only now to the World Series after 71 years, but one that does get at what it means to be a fan of a team with the longest championship drought in major American sports at 108 years.This story begins with Logan. His dad was a Wrigley Field usher and he mentioned a few times over the years that he refused to let a tavern owner named William Sianis into Wrigley for Game 4 of the `45 World Series, but he never made a big deal out of it.I just assumed he was one of 20, 30 guys saying, `No, you cant come in with that goat, said Logan, 73. A few years after his father died in 2001, Logans cousin spotted a newspaper photograph of a lone usher standing between William Sianis and Murphy the goat at a Wrigley turnstile, and called to say he thought the usher was his dad.The usher was, in fact, Olaf Logan.The photo dovetailed into the popular story about the curse: Sianis, hoping to bring the Cubs luck, showed up to the game with Murphy, with the goat even sporting a We Got Detroits Goat blanket on his back.There, in the photograph, the 32-year-old usher stood at the turnstile apparently telling Sianis he cant come in. Murphy is standing on its hind legs, its front legs draped over the railing, a look of apparent disappointment on its face. The Cubs, of course, lost Game 4 and the Series in seven games. They havent been back until now.The usher story is what Logan told Lennie Merullo, the last surviving member of the 1945 Cubs team, when the 97-year-old Merullo returned to Wrigley to celebrate the ballparks 100th anniversary.Merullo, his son said, ran with it.My dad was giving him all kinds of grief, telling him if he hadnt done that theyd have won, said Len Merullo Jr., who watched his father, who died last year, tease Logan.A Cubs historian tells a slightly different story. According to Ed Hartig, Sianis actually got into the ballpark with a goat, which is strange enough. Even more aamazing, once inside -- and Hartig said there is a photo of this -- Sianis and Murphy somehow got onto the field to stroll among the players warming up for the game.ddddddddddddUltimately, they took their seats. The problems started when, after a rainy morning, the sun came out. That was good for the players but not so good for fans sitting near a drying goat.People started to complain about the smell, Hartig said. Sianis and his goat were shown the door.Bill Sianis, who backs the story about his great-uncle being turned away at the gate, said that whatever happened, his namesake was miffed and made sure he told the Cubs owner just that.He went back to the tavern and after they lost the Series he sent a telegram to P.K. Wrigley that read simply, `Who stinks now? said Sianis, whose great-uncle died in 1970.As the Cubs plummeted in the standings over the next few years, reporters asked Sianis if hed put some sort of curse on the team.He said as long as they dont let the goat in, they will never win the World Series, Bill Sianis said. And with that, a curse was born.Whatever happened at the gate was not captured by a photographer. Logan said the original photograph he saw showed his dad but did not identify him. A few weeks ago, he said, the same picture ran in the paper -- this time with his fathers name below it along with the words re-enactment.Hartig contends that what Sianis really wanted was publicity for his tavern and he recognized that getting kicked out of the ballpark could accomplish that goal just as much as being allowed to stay.Maybe, Hartig suggested, he told the Cubs, `Hey, take my picture and Ill go quietly.There have been many chapters since then, from black cats to fans eager to reverse the curse .Merullo said his dad didnt talk about the curse much, but he suspects he thought there was something to it. He was Italian, theyre all superstitious, he said, chuckling.Logan, who played football at nearby Northwestern, doesnt believe in curses. But, like many Cubs fans wistfully remembering the loved ones who died without ever seeing the team win it all, he finds himself thinking about his parents and siblings hes lost.I wish I could enjoy this story about my father with them, he said.As for Sianis, hes not about to let go of a curse thats been anything but a curse for business.We could say that its over, but whats the point if they dont win it? he said. ' ' '