Attending Cubs game at the cell yesterday reminded me (again) of just how bad wrigley and soldier field are; both share similar issues:

1) Can't get there from here
2) Insufficient and expensive parking
3) Overcrowded and disorganized bathrooms
4) Concessions causing, or adding to, already poor traffic flow

Compare that to yesterday's experience at the cell; easy in - easy out $20 tailgating-friendly parking across the street. Upper deck good sightlines, fast and friendly concessions, clean, no-waiting bathrooms.

I was shocked the place was not sold out.

_________________
"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Wrigley Field is more accessible than Soldier Field is. The L drops you off right outside; how much more accessible can you get?

Soldier Field does suck, though. Outside of the Oakland Coliseum and its poop problems, it has to be the worst stadium in the league. Qualcomm Stadium is a dump, but it's a big dump with lots of parking.

_________________

You might have noticed some work going on at one of them?

_________________
"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.’”

Redline is great if you can get to it. From NW burbs its planes, trains and automobiles (or busses), compounded on sundays by the fact that metra runs only every two hours.

As for the facility, you can throw all the money in the world into it and it would still be a dump. Its time has passed. I'm guessing the current project means in my lifetime I won't see the cubs get a new stadium. Without knowing the details of the bears lease, I can still be hopeful for them.

_________________
"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Okay. It's a big, old, high-density city. It's not meant for easy driving. That's why it wouldn't break my heart if the Bears were to move to the middle of nowhere and play in a giant parking lot; it suits all the east-coast teams just fine. Driving to one of eight games a year and eating food in a parking lot like you're a fucking raccoon or something is just the way people wanna do it. That doesn't really lend itself to one of 81 baseball games, though.

_________________

As much as Wrigley is a dump from several perspectives, I can say that after going to Tropicana Field (Tampa) last week, we should be thankful for what we have.

_________________

When they are done withthe final $500 mill improvement, then maybe you can comment.

waiting for the Bears? lol

_________________
"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.’”

That is the lowest possible bar for comparison. Of course, Wrigley is miles better.

Wrigley will still be a pain in the ass to get to and to leave.

i love how all the stuff you list has nothing to do with the actual game, it just has to do with the logistics of getting there and then the various things related to the shopping mall / food court that has a license to print $$$ during games.

personally, while i confess that soldier field is a bit more of a pain in the ass than the other baseball stadiums (wahhhh i cant get off the red line and walk ~2 blocks to get there!) that long walk over the metra tracks and down around the walkway has its charm.... and then listening to doug and OB on the walk out while you're diagonally cutting through all the parks to get back to michigan ave = memories i'm going to miss out on without doug+OB in the future. then soon enough you're into proper-downtown to get back to either a metra back or a cab right there at the highway entrance and it's not that bad at all.

when it comes to eating and defecating that's typically not my concern @ a game cuz i dont go there to eat drink and piss. i go there to like, you know, behold the spectacle of sport. i was content getting a $2 chicken sandwich at the gas station am/pm right by the roosevelt train station.... but then again i'm one of those "nerdy" minorities who gets off to the fantasy updates on the jumbotron (and i'm setting up my teams up in the final minutes b4 kickoff and etc) and i'm sure if i was driving in with a family of 4 i'd be more likely to have a list like the OP up there. c'est la vie, no?

one thing i will say is that if you enter on the north side of the stadiun (by the field museum) always go up that inclined ramp to get in... because even if those little pathways through the hills seem to get you to a gate with less traffic, man, when taht shit gets fucked up it gets FUCKED UP. i missed like 2/3 of the first quarter of that seattle playoff game years back cuz i tried to be thrifty and go through those lines and they somehow completely botched it with being understaffed and etc..... the whole time you watch women whiz right by you cuz they have their own special line for just the ladies (female privilege! it needs to be checked!)

_________________

For 6,000 season ticket holders that live in the 60657, 14 and 13 Zip codes, it works fine.

...and anything from the expressway is a pain to get to......

_________________
"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.’”

Wrigley is so bad, even with the success this year I haven't been able to set aside enough time to get out there. Sox ballpark is eons better and as I've said so many times, that's where I'll take my kids when they're old enough.

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

Well, I've normally had a good experience getting to the Cell, but today was a cluster. After waiting 45 minutes to turn right onto Pershing off of the expressway, we got to the ballpark lots only to find the last few open spots were for coupon holders only. After circling back to Pershing, thank God a nice fellow told us how to get to 31st and Moe (yeah, didn't replace the Garmin after it broke...). I give them credit for having school bus shuttles ready to go to the Cell - I just wish they would have some signs that said either the close lots were near full/full or show a map of where the McCormick Place lots were so we could go there in the first place. We got to our seats during the top of the first, despite getting off of the expressway an hour and 30 minutes early. Weren't the only ones - the Wife remarked how many empty seats there were at the beginning of the game, and people kept straggling up to seats clutching their printouts well into the 3rd-4th innings. Moral of the story: buy the coupon next time.

I've already put the call in to DCFS. Expect a visit from jack-booted thugs soon.

_________________
We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I'm confused now. Is IMU going to tell you that you're not wanted as a fan because you're bitching about Wrigley Field's condition and saying you'll make your kids be White Sox fans instead on the basis of convenient fucking parking? or is IMU going to say you're the best Cubs fan of all because you're bitching about Wrigley Field and claiming it needs more "amenities" for you and your kids to be satisfied? I don't know what to make of this other than IMU being a dink. Maybe I should just leave Chicago baseball behind and root for the Blue Jays.

_________________

If it were sold out, it probably wouldn't have low traffic flow and short concession lines, though, would it?

_________________

Consider Milwaukee too. When my kids were little we frequently took them there for Cubs games. Nice stadium, easy tailgate-friendly parking and for us the drive took about the same amount of time as it did to get to Wrigley.

_________________
"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

That is a really strange idea though, isn't it?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

It was close to a sell out; it wasn't like it was half empty.

_________________
"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Wrigley is extremely easy to get to if a person can find the innate (I guess?) urge to forsake driving.

It wasn't so easy to get a beer on Saturday. And I had to stand in line to go through a metal detector and be scolded by a jackbooted thug on steroids about removing shit from my pockets. I've never had either of those problems at Wrigley.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I mean, if you want to raise your kids to be Sox fans instead so that they don't have to be Cubs fans and get their nuts punched like a speedbag, okay, I totally get that, but I don't get tailoring your family's sports allegiances around parking lots. Besides, if you're coming from Sycamore, both Chicago parks are inconvenient. It's Sycamore. Fear not the trains; you and your kids can ride the L from Jackson to Addison without a flash mob of freestyle rappers masturbating on you, if that's what you're afraid of.

_________________

Not from where I grew up, and night games make it almost impossible unless you want to risk having your kids sleep in Union Station until train service starts again.

Everyone would choose public transportation if it were good. It isn't. It pretty much sucks.

It's great at getting commuters to and from work on weekdays though.

_________________
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!

This IMU guy who has fashioned himself as the quintessential distiller of all things message board, isn't in any position to question anyone's fandom. His complete butchering of the Castro vs Russell debate renders his opinion on anything useless.
His convenient cherry picking of metrics would have made that idiot Bernstein proud. He battled tirelessly and in the end it was all for naught as Castro was benched and Russell was inserted as his replacement.
His idiotic musings on this and other topics renders his opinion on anything sports related meaningless. Who the hell is he to question anyone's fandom. I'm not even a Cub fan. I've been a lifelong Sox fan, but anyone that gives credence to anything this guy utters is really just providing justification for someone else's dumb thoughts.

_________________

You're a bad fan.

_________________

My god those video boards are monstrosities. Trying to combine old and new doesn't work. They look ridiculous. The whole are is a mess. There were only a few thousand people there on Saturday and I still had to park 3 blocks away. That place must be a total clusterfuck on game days.

I've learned to just suck it up and deal with the Red Line when I have to go to Wrigley. Soldier field is a pain in the ass to get to and given the money spent on the renovation, the improvements were marginal.

_________________

You probably can't from Jackson to 35th, though, come to think of it.

_________________

True, I was speaking for the die-hard Cubs territory of Northwest and North suburbs. Park 'n Ride then take the L. I rarely drive downtown these days.

I think Brick grew up in Rollin' Meadows.

_________________