Open Thread: Cubs vs. Giants at Scottsdale, Thursday 2/28, 2:05 CT

What a crappy way to introduce oneself as a new owner.  I'm going to destroy any charm you've held onto for all this time piece by piece.  It's a giant F-U.  It starts with the naming rights and then it becomes a very slippery slope.  I'm a Wisconsin native, but a Cubs fan BECAUSE OF Wrigley field.  I enjoy attending Cubs games NOT because of the team, players, city, WGN, but only BECAUSE OF Wrigley Field.  Without Wrigley Field I will not care about the crappy team anymore.  I swear the Ivy and scoreboard are coming down next.  Hell, he'll probably want to change the Cubs logo and uniforms as well in a misguided attempt at marketability.  I swear just because of some mild recent success, people think it's all about winning and want to sell out just for the sake of it.  I'll say it again: if the Cubs make the WS in 2009 playing in the Cell, I will be rooting for the other team.  It cannot happen that way.  I went to the Metrodome in 1987 and thought the experience was crappy despite the WS team that played there.  And their fans lost interest a few years later because the stadium is generic and the team went back to sucking.  Exact same thing with the White Sox.  Somebody needs to gather the citizens of Wrigleyville (soon to be known as 3com-ville) and protest long and loud until this creep Zell begins to understand what a pariah he will become after he ruins our cherished institution.

Also, why wouldn't a potential ownership group want to buy Wrigley Field?  Why would it be an advantage to have someone else "control" your stadium.  If I were a potential buyer of the Cubs, I would want the stadium packaged in.  Why would it be worth more to sell them seperate?  That just doesn't make sense to me.

In my opinion, there'd be about 20 minutes of outrage if the name changed and then it would be back to normal.  

But, of course, a fair portrait of this would be difficult as, since we all know, all Cub woes can be attributed to a goat.

2007 Grapefruit League Spring Standings
GRAPEFRUIT W L PCT  
Detroit 21 10 .677  
Houston 18 11 .621
St. Louis 16 10 .615
Atlanta 18 12 .600

2007 Cactus League Spring Standings
CACTUS W L PCT GB  
Arizona 20 12 .625  
Texas 16 11 .593  
LA Angels 19 14 .576
Oakland 16 12 .571
Chicago Cubs 17 13 .567
San Diego 18 14 .563
Colorado 13 12 .520

OF the above, three teams from the Cactus league only made the Playoffs.

And, a couple near-misses.

Good luck CUBS, 2008!!!

"B-Rob be gone?
Roberts is scheduled to start at second base and bat leadoff for the Orioles today, a mild upset considering MacPhail has engaged in trade talks with the Chicago Cubs about the two-time All-Star for months.

The Orioles will dispatch a scout to Mesa, Ariz., site of the Cubs' training facility, next week to get a closer look at some of the players the two teams have discussed. It's expected that infielder Ronny Cedeno and pitching prospect Sean Gallagher would be in the deal, but the third and/or fourth player still hasn't been decided. Both sides remain optimistic that a deal could get done.

"I don't really think much about it anymore," Roberts said. "I know a little bit about the situation, and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.""

Also, anyone know when the first televised game is on WGN?

PErsonally, I would really like to attend a Cubs home game occaisionally on a weekend NIGHT - Friday or Saturday. It would be a great "date night" (if your sig. other likes baseball, that is).

Not every home stand - but a few times during the year.

And, imo, anyone who rents or owns in Wrigleyville honestly should have thought good and long about implications of living in an urban neighborhood wherein the ballpark drives the largest percentage of the revenue - but also, provides back to the community much funding for other stuff.

I live in Evanston, where Northwestern offers a miniscule amount back to the community. And, they pay no property tax.  

Not sure what Zell's options are as he is bound by whatever agreements the Trib had in place and  that the city council passed. This is just not the best time to be asking either for
a state subsidy ( which is what it would amount to) or making
changes that really  piss of the area and or Cubs fans.

Zell is one big jackass though to I imagine he will try to
think of something to get out the current arangements.

Im pumped.  

The business question about renaming Wrigley is whether or not Wrigley Field is a brand name.  Just like the Chicago Cubs is the brand name for this MLB franchise.  Is Wrigley Field the brand name for Wrigley Field?  This has nothing to do with advertising chewing gum and less to do with the former owner than it no doubt once did.  Fenway Park is probably the only valid comparrison in professional baseball.  Lambeau Field in football could be a good comparrison.  Maybe, why Busch Stadium is still Busch Stadium could provide some insight.

But when you're out for a quick buck, then you don't care about gaining insight, and you don't care about why the team has the following it does, nor do you care about how things could possibly change from there.

Zell and his crew are out for a quick buck.  I think they are not concentrating their efforts on selling the team; whether that means selling Wrigley Field first or not.  At first I thought the team would be sold before Zell took over, but I was wrong.  While there is no guarantee the next owner won't be just as offensive, nonetheless, Zell should get his rear going and sell the team.  He doesn't care about what people have invested in this team and so the sooner he gets out the better.  

I have been seeing this message when trying to access a radio feed link since 11:30CT today.  They had better get things fixed in the next half hour or I will get grumpy.

I use a BlackjackII that harnesses 3.5G.

It would be really somethig if this would work on a WM6 mobile platform.

Hope someone has successfully tried this.

Let me know, please!