The Cubs have signed a 4-year deal with the South Bend franchise of the Class A Midwest League. Formerly the Cubs were affiliated with the Kane County Cougars in that league.

The SB team had been affiliated with the Arizona Douchebacks for the last 17 years. The contract was up and both sides came to an agreement.

The "Silver Hawks" play at "Four Winds Field" at Coveleski Stadium, right in moribund downtown South Bend. It's a city ravaged by inept government, leaders of which have been heartily endorsed by the corrupt South Bend Tribune (specifically aging whistle-prick Jack Colwell).

The Silver Hawks name is rumored to be set to disappear, just as the Studebaker cars, from which the name derives, made their exit in the early 1960s.

Originally, beginning in the late 1980s, the SB Class A franchise had been known as the "South Bend White Sox," a Chisox affiliate.

The franchise had fallen on hard times until very recent seasons, under more capable ownership. There's still hope that the stadium will do something to revive the downtown, though past history shows us it's highly unlikely to spark significant development.

Welcome to northern Indiana's shithole city, Cubs execs, employees, players, and fans.

Is it in a bad neighborhood with a view of a notorious high rise housing project?

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

What the hell was wrong with staying in Kane County?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

South Bend is tolerable for approximately 20-30 hours each calendar year.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Dan Bernstein’s inside source - a receptionist at Halas Hall who's brother got married to a guy that does flowers for SQN events told me:

The South Bend team was a disaster in a bad part of town as I'm sure ND can speak to.
A millionaire businessman friend of Ricketts who owns a very small part of the White Sox wanted a toy so he bought the team at next to nothing.
Mr. Millionaire friend of Ricketts has suddenly become Mr. Billionaire (sold company) friend of Ricketts and has made it known to some that his small investment in the White Sox is nothing more than a small investment.
He doesn't care about that type of investment at this point of his financial life.
Within the next 5 years look for him to sell his WS shares and become a significant part of the Ricketts group, say 10-20% owner.

Ricketts had no intention of leaving Kane County but the South Bend friend made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Their player facilities will develop into one of if not the best in minor league baseball in a couple years.
The Cubs will make this a satellite rehab facility for short term rehabs rather than sending everybody back to Mesa.
The other plus from a Cubs end is marketing opportunities in NWI.
The Western Burbs are already Cubs dominant while NWI is closer to a split or even White Sox favored.
They have the rest of Indiana with the exception of the areas just outside Cincy.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

Rookie Ball affiliation moving to Eugene, OR. No more Boise. Eugene supposedly has very good facilities.

Ricketts was getting bored with fucking things up in Chicago and had to fuck something up in Batavia.

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I don't understand this at all.

South Bend is a dump.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Shocking...

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Not much to understand. Cubs told Kane County they wanted a list of things, Kane County said they would try. South Bend said they would give them everything they want and more.

Cubs goal is to have the best minor league facilities in baseball. They will move to whomever will give it to them.

KC Cougars have already committed to upgrading their facility & build new indoor batting cages.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Opens up Kane County for the White Sox to swoop in and make inroads in affluent suburbs. Cubs are dumb.

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Jerry should have thought about this before he built New Cominskey field.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

South Bend said they would give them that and more.

SB is going to give them a very nice in house workout facility. The Cougars had a leg press machine in a hallway closet by the clubhouse and some shoulder maintenance weights in the clubhouse. Having to get the players to get rides down to Delnor( or wherever they workout now) every or every other home day at 9 am is a pain in the dick.

KC also has a solid brand and solid ticket sales regardless of what team they are the affiliate for. Having the Cubs might allow them to increase ticket prices a little but they are going to move along just fine without them. South Bend could use the attendance bump and probably did every single thing on the Cubs list and then some.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

They will rally around that team like the Iowa Cubs and now you have buses running from Iowa and South Bend to Wrigley all summer long.

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Wasn't the plan to put the new park in Addison, hence New Comiskey Park not looking like it belongs in the neighborhood because, well, it belonged in Addison?

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The Sox have an agreement with Kannapolis thru 2018.

The stadium didn't look very good when I was there this year. It's located in a run-down dumpy section of SB. It's pretty much like the Cell.

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Exactly. South Bend is a shithole.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

could eat into sox attendance from NWI

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Finally people from Indiana will learn the Cubs exist!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

There are and will be expensive amenities at Coveleski, but the nicer and safer neighborhoods of South Bend proper are few and far between. Even Gates Chevy left the downtown, and of course there's no retailing interest in the empty lot created once their former showroom (a former Sears Roebuck store) was demolished.

The Cubs will have what they need, but to say that SB itself has struggled is a massive understatement. Notre Dame is the area's largest employer. They're the reason many if not most of us are here, paying taxes to support bad city planning fiascos.

Some blame the two suburban malls, Scottsdale and University Park for the downtown's decline, but those were created in 1973 and 1981 respectively -- and Scottsdale itself has since been demolished. The real problem has been poor government. Money wasted on things like a Colonial Williamsburg plan study for downtown buildings that never came to fruition.

The relatively safe areas are just east of the downtown, and then of course much of Mishawaka, Roseland, Osceola, and all of Granger.

The loss of significant employment by the former Allied-Signal, formerly Allied, formerly Bendix Corporation, really hastened South Bend's decline. Honeywell and Bosch took over the complexes and never employed more than a small fraction of the numbers from halcyon days. Now Bosch is gone too. As the title of the book on Studebaker stated, in parody of an old slogan, Less Than They Promised.

Kane county is the affluent burbs?

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

With Hawk cutting back on his White Sox broadcast duties it will be a short drive from his South Bend condo so he can watch a better level of ball then what he has gotten used to.

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Ever been to Geneva?

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I have no idea if this is a bad baseball decision, but it's bad for me. Was enjoying watching a buncha baseball this summer there.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

What I don't get is why Epstein picked Kane County in the first place if he did not like the facilities.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Oh my...has to be a bit.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe