It may be time to get gruff at Wrigley

In Chicago, it appears that some baseball fans are taking the Cubs’ Billy Goat Curse far too seriously.

Early Monday, police were called to Wrigley Field, where they found a dead goat hanging from a rope attached to the arm of a statue of former Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray. Police disposed of the remains. No arrests were made.

There is no “no trespassing sign” in the area and no surveillance camera around the statue. Perhaps team officials might want to reconsider that strategy.

Trivia time

What is the origin of the Billy Goat Curse?

Easy pick

In a feature it is calling “The Ultimate NFL Draft,” NFL.com has named what it considers the top picks of all time at all 32 draft positions.

Its selection for the best No. 1 pick goes to the Denver Broncos’ choice of John Elway in 1983 -- a pick that should come with an asterisk. That year, the Baltimore Colts held the No. 1 pick but were forced to trade the choice to Denver after Elway said he would refuse to play for the Colts.

Colts fans would prefer the ultimate No. 1 draft selection go to their team’s selection of Peyton Manning in 1998 -- the year the Colts guessed right on the Manning-Ryan Leaf pick-’em.

Roundabout injury

Sometimes, a team’s choice of hotel can be hazardous to a ballplayer’s health.

Cincinnati Reds left fielder Chris Dickerson was sporting a large bump over his right eye after hitting his head on a hotel’s revolving glass door.

“My ‘real’ story is I hit my head on the rim during a celebrity slam dunk contest,” Dickerson joked with the website MLB.com. “They do need to do something about that door. It’s a deathtrap waiting to happen. I can only imagine what happens with people less coordinated than me. I’m a little clumsy, but a pretty coordinated guy. I should be able to fly through that thing easy.”

Refined tune

Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, who died Monday, was a longtime narrator for NFL Films. Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, told The Times’ Sam Farmer, “The Parliament cigarettes and Tanqueray and tonic tuned those pipes to the resonance of Yo Yo Ma’s cello, but the rest of his body wasn’t in that good a shape.”

Trivia answer

The curse was placed on the Cubs on Oct. 6, 1945, when Billy Sianis bought a box seat for his goat, Murphy, for Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field to help promote his Billy Goat Tavern.

When he was ordered to remove the goat, Sianis claimed he cast a curse that would prevent the Cubs from ever winning a World Series at Wrigley. The Cubs lost that Series to the Detroit Tigers and have not played in a World Series since.

And finally

Barb Landis, to the Detroit Free Press, collecting her thoughts after her son, Steve, 16, won the West Michigan Whitecaps’ Fifth Third Burger eating challenge: “I wasn’t quite sure. Should I be proud of him or not?”

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mike.penner@latimes.com