I think Rocky and Reinsdorf are too tight for that to happen. McDonough's autonomy only goes so far.

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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

Tom & Co. get a lot of rope from me. They brought in top front office talent, which built a winner. They have made improvements to Wrigley on their own dime. They have redeveloped the surrounding streets. Now if you like nostalgia- a losing team and a rundown neighborhood an stadium, then you’ll disagree.

This Marquee project will get its chance to prove successful before I break bad on it. Fans should want it to succeed so more money flows to the team.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Yeah, also, the NHL and NBC are pretty much married now. Rocky wasn't gonna risk taking the Blackhawks back off TV. He was the guy who put them on!

I still think the Cubs had hoped for a sidekick here. We know all that stuff, but sometimes Tom and Todd are kinda dumb.

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It's funny because it's like they didn't notice what happened in with the TV deals in southern California. We talked about it enough on this board. It's not like what was happening with the Dodgers was a secret. And the Padres TV deal was so good it cost Moorad his ownership of the team.

I just think they thought the Cub brand was so strong that the same factors wouldn't apply in Chicago. They may have been right if their Comcast deal had ended just a little sooner. They probably would have been okay anyway if this virus hadn't happened. Now they've got a mess on their hands.

I have no idea where to even find the Marquee network. I'm not a Cub fan and there is no baseball so I don't care, but there will be people who do care and don't know where to find it either.

_________________
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's a real conundrum. Nostalgia and losing are the only things that made the Cubs "special". "Beautiful Wrigley Field" is gone. It took awhile but now it's actually not much different than the dumb columns that remain outside the structure that is still called Soldier Field.

I guess if you're a Cub fan that World Series may have been worth it. But you have to realize that most of the time you're just going to have a mediocre team and no special ballpark or circumstances to set you apart from fans of the Nationals or the Marlins.

_________________
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

Whoever owns the Don Draper mult, your slipping.

I think they could have pulled it off by the skin of their teeth for 2015. That was the year they moved about half the WGN games to channel 7. But the Comcast contract must have been ironclad, or they obviously would have done it then. But the cable landscape has changed immensely in the past five years. More people are over cable than I ever would have guessed when we really started talking about cord-cutting in 2012-2013. And as I've always said, critically damaging a Comcast property and then asking them to do business with you in good faith was always a losing proposition.


I don't go in for this Sports Reaganomics. They may as well put up signs at the concession stands telling us that every beer gets them closer to a new utility infielder, like the high school dance team doing a bake sale. At this point, money that flows to the Rickettses will most likely stay there.

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I hate that attitude.

It's still the same ballpark. Don't be ridiculous. The neighborhood is safer, cleaner, the park has really only changed with regards to signage and for the next 5 years or so ticket prices will get cheaper and cheaper. Don't be silly. Wrigley will still be Wrigley. But with a little better parking, food, etc.

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

Its not the same ballpark. I get that "wrigley will be wrigley" but you're kidding yourself if you honestly believe the only thing in the park that has changed are the advertising signs.

The most notable ad signs in the history of Wrigley field- Torco and Budweiser roof- aren't even visible from most seats in the park anymore.

And better parking?!

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Wirtz owns 25% of NBC Sports Chicago and he shares the UC with the Reinsdorf who owns 50% of NBC Sports Chicago. Doubt it was realistic that Wirtz would jump to Marquee. Then factor in the NHL on NBC and the Hawks are on a NBC affiliate.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

The ballpark is great, signs or not. It's the layout. The upper deck isn't on the 3rd level above 2 levels of suites and it's right on top of the field. Modern ballparks' upper decks are useless for a real fan. I can never deny Wrigley's attraction for somebody who likes a baseball game. That's the problem. Wrigley's REAL good features are lost on most Cubbie fans(Hint: it ain't the weeds on the walls)

There are things I like about the renovations and things I don't like. I love what they've done with the exterior, replacing the cyclone fencing with wrought iron and putting the Spanish tile roofing up over the gates. I like the little pocket park, though selling its naming rights was pretty chintzy. Putting the bullpens underneath the bleachers was a cool idea, because I like sequestered bullpens better than foul-ground bullpens, but it cost the neat little view from the sidewalk. I hate the video boards, I hate the advertising blitzing in general, and I hate the sterility of all the new construction around the park that does indeed make it feel like Rosemont.

But in terms of Cubs-Sox jousting, I mean, what does it matter? Sox fans used to shit on Wrigley Field when the Cubs didn't have a World Series and they shit on Wrigley Field when they do have a World Series. It's just a different consistency of shit.

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I didn't shit on the park at all. I actually think they have done a pretty good job keeping the historic feel of the park while modernizing it. I don't think its anything like dropping an ashtray into the Soldier Field columns.

I'm just saying if you think its the same park today that you watched a day game at in 1995, you are sorely mistaken.

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The exterior of Wrigley is FAR SUPERIOR post renovation. They've done a great job. The square on Clark has been a fantastic addition.

The signage sucks but the video board is love/hate. Sucks that it's a monstrosity but it is very nice to have replays.

The bigger abomination is the monstrosity at Clark/Sheffield/Addison.

For the most part, I agree with CH here. Even the wealthiest of MLB teams have to draft and scout well. The ballpark money really sits as value should the team sell down the road as well as cash in owners pocket. That does not translate much to payroll. It does translate in part to infrastructure for scouting and player development. Still....in any form, the money is wealth / return to the Ricketts.

I'm not a cubs fan, so it's all the same to me. The first part of Denis statement is what should be most prominent. The Ricketts came in and hired legitimate baseball people and the baseball operations became credible. That's huge. Yes there's room for criticism on the current roster, but they still have some of baseball's best running the team.

The ballpark criticism is pretty unfair. Much of the experience I was translated to the neighborhood and surrounding area. That's still there and quite possibly...upgraded. There isn't a single person out there that would have left the ballpark alone. You buy the team....you maximize the return. Anyone would do that.

The marquee thing is what it is....it's 5 years behind the times. It's not going to get them the revenue they're thinking. If fans want to be pissed they have to pay extra to get the games? fine. I have to do the same for the Sox and it sucks....but that's the norm now. My problem is more at the league level. I'd be happy to pay $150 a season for a stand alone baseball subscription....i want no part of the rest of the channels. I don't need a cable or hulu package.

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No, I think it's great for fans getting off the train to step onto the platform and look out at a big dark grey box, and also Wrigley Field.

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It now looks like a Disney version of the park it used to be. That's fine. But it's really not a lot different than completely tearing it down and building a facsimile would have been. I have no beef with anyone who likes the changes. But it's not some throwback to what a ballpark used to be anymore. That's been lost. And you're right about the sidewalk views. It used to dominate the neighborhood. Now it's dominated by the buildings surrounding it.

I'm not obsessed with ballparks. A ballpark is just where your team plays. If the Sox played in Armour Square Park that's where I'd go to watch baseball. It's Cub fans who fetishize a ballpark. Now they want to keep fetishizing it even though the bases for the fetish have disappeared.

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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

Can't believe the specs got green-lighted. They've already had tenants close up shop.

Wrigleyville is going to get their nuts kicked in. No baseball and college football is going to decimate the area.

To be fair, I think the tile roof was a feature that used to be there but got lost somewhere along the way. From '53: here

So that's a good change, not exactly Disneyfication. I don't think the slightly decayed version of Wrigley Field is what needed to be preserved forever.

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so whats Marquee showing these days?

Are they showing every game of the 2016 season like the 2005 Sox are on NBCSN?

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They're doing a ten-part documentary on that one time Bill Murray did color commentary with Steve Stone. Man, that Dallas Green really made some enemies.

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I'm sorry you're poor.

surprising the suburbanite living in the subdivision finds the new wrigleyville a shangri la

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

Tom Ricketts has to be sweating a bit with his gambles on marquee, a hotel, and buying up residential real estate overvalued because of the rooftop component

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

So you equate not having Marquee with not being able to afford it? Terrible take.

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Nah, he will just wait and buy up more property cheaply in all four directions from the ballpark.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

what's going on w/ this network? what are they showing old cubs games?

A sharp business man would have bought that real estate a few years earlier when it was much cheaper and started moving forward on that network earlier.

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guys, whats the update on Marquee Network?

Is it coming to cable or what?

How the hell can I watch Cubs games??!

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The foot celebration thing will lead to injury for sure