Do you think Cub fans traveled to Pittsburgh in 1985 the way they do today? As a matter of fact, it was one hell of a marketing campaign. Why do you think John McDonough is so revered in the world of sports marketing? It wasn't something that happened overnight. It built slowly and Harry Caray and the good team in '84 got the ball rolling. McDonough knew he wasn't going anywhere by marketing the kind of baseball being played there pretty regularly so he concentrated on other things- Beanie Babies, Beer, Broads, etc. If and when they put together a winner, all the better. They created those fans that travel to Pittsburgh. More power to them. But I find it really disingenuous for Cub fans to argue on one hand how great Wrigley is, and then in other arguments, that it doesn't matter at all.[/quote]






WHO WAS THE STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO DROVE HARRY CARAY TO THE CUBS?
IS IT THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO HASN'T BUILT A FARM SYSTEM IN 30 YEARS?
THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO HAS FUCKED WITH JUST ABOUT EVERY SINGLE BULLS COACH?
IS IT THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO BUILT A TAXPAYER FUNDED BALLPARK AND FACED IT TOWARDS THE HOUSING PROJECTS INSTEAD OF THE SKYLINE?????
THE STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO WAITED YEARS TO ALLOW TAILGATING IN PARKING LOTS BEGGING FOR TAILGATING?

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Bob, is that the same SOB that thought it would also be a good time to charge for Sox TV games?

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

Stupid Son of A Bitch is one of my favorite phrases

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

And Reinsdorf is WITHOUT A CLUE as to how to compete with the popularity of the Cubs.
NOT A CLUE....
Juan Pierre and Mark Teahen can't compete with the sun, beer and halters.....

MAYBE REAL BALLPLAYERS WHO ARE NOT OVER THE HILL MAY HELP....EXCITING YOUNG BALLPLAYERS.
This isn't ROCKET SURGERY.

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Same Son of a Bitch......I remember Bill Veeck and his wife had a weekly 1/2 hour radio show on WMAQ on Sundays....When these 'SUNSHINE BOYS" bought the team, Eddie Einhorn kept it on for awhile......when the Sox went to Pay TV......everybody and every bar in town had pirate boxes to steal the games....

THIS MORON EINHORN ON THE RADIO SHOW TOLD CHICAGO WHITE SOX FANS AND DRINKERS OF ALL KINDS TO TURN IN THEIR BAR OWNERS FOR STEALING THE SOX GAMES!!!!!

RAT OUT YOUR LOCAL BAR FOR THE WHITE SOX!!!!! BECOME A STOOL PIGEON!!!

RIGHT THEN AND THERE I KNEW THESE IDIOTS HAD NO FUCKING CLUE WHO THEIR FAN BASE WAS!!!!

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

i was obviously using a personal example. but i can add about 10 more people this summer when my sister gets married who want to see wrigley too.

you don't think that tourists make up a percentage of wrigley's attendance?

WHO WAS THE STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO DROVE HARRY CARAY TO THE CUBS?
IS IT THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO HASN'T BUILT A FARM SYSTEM IN 30 YEARS?
THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO HAS FUCKED WITH JUST ABOUT EVERY SINGLE BULLS COACH?
IS IT THE SAME STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO BUILT A TAXPAYER FUNDED BALLPARK AND FACED IT TOWARDS THE HOUSING PROJECTS INSTEAD OF THE SKYLINE?????
THE STUPID SON OF A BITCH WHO WAITED YEARS TO ALLOW TAILGATING IN PARKING LOTS BEGGING FOR TAILGATING?[/quote]

Bob,
Refreshing to read this from a SOX fan. Reinsdorf was a tool from day 1. After the Sox clinched a division awhile back,he took the opportunity in a celabatory clubhouse to say "Harry Caray & Jimmy Piersall are scum of the earth". The same genius who threatened to move the team to Florida. Yeah,I'm sure he would average a million-something out there! He got lucky in basketball with Jordan falling into his lap & the "Sleuth" finding a supporting cast. I still say he slowed down the Cubs sale last year conspiring with his documented pals,Sam Zell & Bud Selig (allegiance with the Brew-Crew) to "freeze" the Cubs sale so they could not make any major aquisitions. I don't have a guy,just a hunch.

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

But where they wanting to see baseball played in a "simpler" way?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

that's a kind of funny thing to say. i know you didn't say it, i'm just saying it's funny sounding.

as if to say, yeah--they want to see baseball played simpler. you know, without those pesky double plays and double switches and stuff.

however, as i said, they are going because it is a classic stadium. no one that's come here visiting has told me they gotta go to a sox game to see us cellular.

RFDC, people will come RFDC. They'll come to Wrigley for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up Addison not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at the door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $100 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come RFDC. The one constant through all the years, RFDC, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, RFDC. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come RFDC. People will most definitely come.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Who are these "EXCITING YOUNG PLAYERS", Bob? I want them on the team too. As I'm certain all Sox fans do. But who are they? And how do we get them? Is Gordon Beckham one of them? Because he sure hasn't been too exciting so far this year.

I do agree with you that Reinsdorf and the Sox have no idea how to compete with the Cubs. I'm pretty sure they don't even know who their fans are. They'd probably do better to try to get me and you to another five games a season each than doing the shit they're doing. At least in the short term.

But you can see their marketing plan. And maybe in the long run it isn't a bad one. It's from the McDonald's playbook. Cater to the kid and build the loyalty. Hence, that playground in left field and the running the bases and the kids' days, etc. I remember reading that idiot Mariotti saying how his kids loved Wrigley and hated Sox Park. I thought that was a bunch of happy horseshit. The only reason a kid might prefer Wrigley over Sox Park is if his old man is telling him he's supposed to. But that's a strong thing to overcome. Remember that commercial with the kid picking up his dad's cigarettes?

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I dont think its that high. No higher percentage than Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Dodger Stadium.

i didn't say it was high. i said there was a percentage. and they come because it's wrigley, not to see the cubs.

You can draw your own conclusions. Prior to '84 the club drawing more fans was generally based upon which one had the better team:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/wsoxatte.shtml
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Oh no..the tide turned over 25 years ago, but your still hanging your hat on the fact that Wrigley is the reason why more people like the Cubs. Why is it so hard to accept that people don't want to accept Ozzie and Kenny anymore. Maybe people are turned off with the lies that they both spew out? Maybe people don't like Ozzie? Maybe people see Jerry as the douche that he is. Nooooooo way. It's easier to just say this is a Wrigley town. Even though the Cubs outdraw Sox on the road also. It must be the fact that they play in Wrigley. Admit it and stop looking for fucking excuses meatball.

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You're one of the most retarded Cub fans I've ever encountered. I don't need any excuses. I don't give a fuck about your shitty ballclub, their 102 year history of futility, or their meatballish fans like you. People don't like Ozzie and Kenny. Come on, you fuckin' goof. Yeah and they love the Alzheimer's patient that manages the Cubs and the trust fund brat that owns them. Why do people like the Cubs? Because they play good baseball? That certainly can't be it. Because the seating at that antique is comfortable? That can't be it either. So I guess it's because the Sox are a vile organization and Reinsdorf is evil that there are so many Cub fans. It's ridiculous.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Then maybe you aren't the fan you think you are. We all make choices about how we spend our time and our money. I guess to you the Cubs aren't worth "the hassle". Fortunately for the Cubs, there are a new crop of frat boys moving into Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park every year to take your place.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Joe, I like you man, but the above doesn't help your cause. Sometimes, it's best to reread and then not hit submit.

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

I think I'm a reasonable person. I'm not a guy that hates the Cubs or even thinks about them a whole lot. Chris in Joliet has a hard on for the Sox. Good for him. But when he starts firing on me calling me a meatball when what I'm saying is obviously true and supported by the attendance numbers, he's going to get it right back.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I find the above in bold hard to believe...but, carry on.

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

please don't tell me you rate the fan on how many times they visit the ballpark?

Anyone from Chicago is going to have friends that are fans of the other team. Okay, you bust each other's balls a little. Whatever. I don't waste my time hating the Cubs. Whatever they do, they do. But if a guy like Chris is going to breathe fire at me from underneath his ugly ass blue and red cap, I'll play along.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I really don't. But when we're judging the popularity of the two teams, obviously that's going to matter, right? I'm not sure how you can say that a team is so great and so popular out of one side of your mouth and then say that they aren't really worth going to see out of the other.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

well, i love my team. that doesn't mean i don't see how bad they can be. i'm usually hard on the teams i love actually.

Zach, unfortunately, we are often lumped into the dumb motherfucking 15 percent....

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

I don't think there's any litmus test for fans of a team. You could be the world's biggest Cub fan living in Champaign or East Moline and obviously you aren't going to be able to attend a whole lot of games.

But the attendance that establishes the Cubs as being "more popular" than the Sox has to come from somewhere. So if a guy who lives in the suburbs says that it's too much of a hassle to get to Cub games in the context of a discussion on the relative popularity of the teams, I think that's pretty germane.

It's like when the family of four complains about how expensive it is to go to the games. Yet they have two SUVs and three big screen TVs. It's all about choices. I choose to spend my money going to Sox games and driinking at Shinnick's. I don't complain that a new SUV is too expensive. I simply don't drive one.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

This post is gold. Some really good writing here. Nicely done.

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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

Dammit! Now I have to watch Field of Dreams before I go to bed. My lack of production at work next week is the fault of Joe Orr Rod and ScoreJohn. Jerks!

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Bad Movie.

I'm going to forget you ever said that.

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