Full Court Press

Like I have stated in the past trying to scapegoat certain players(Jacque Jones ,Juan Pierre)has become a joke ,of course in the long run the real fans will continue to support the Cubs.they know its a team sport and individual players dont lose the team does.Throwing things at players ,using racial epithets is something real fans dont do,also deliberatedly throwing at players by other players shouldnt be tolerated as with the Houston astros doing that to Barry Bonds .What ever you may think of him trying to hurt him is crazy.The whole atmosphere in baseball has deterioated into some sort of English soccer type thing and that does not bode well with the players or the real fans. Example(the anti-Bond movement)The anger in some stadiums fueled by alcohol and who knows what else seem to be increasing.(jacque jones said it didnt bother him to have foreign objects and racial epithets hurled at him)do you really believe that ,I dont!yes alot of pseudo-fans are jumping off the Cubs Bandwagon ,the samething happened to the SOX.Chicago likes winners just like anyone else,maybe the Cubs will turn their season around, maybe they wont but they or any player does not deserve to be injured or called the "N"word for a few sick peoples satisfaction.

Oh please. If you were a Cubs fan, why would you waste your time being heckled at the Cell and have to sit though a Cubs game at the same time? It's bad enough having to watch them at Wrigley. I also don't know why it's surprising that the Cell has larger crowds now. They started growing at the end of last year when it became hip to root for that team (the term "bandwagon" comes to mind).

The Sox are drawing over 32,000 a game this year. In 1991, they drew 36,000+ per game, yet I don't recall all the talk of Chicago being a "Sox town" then.

This seems to be a figment of a bored media's imagination.

what is next we cant call people the "n" word what is this world coming to.I guess you think Mark Mcgwire (our hero)used steroids he is just on a diet!lets look at Alberto Pujols he is a immigrant Im sure he probably uses steroids like all black and latino players bring back the days when those people rode in back of bus.The houston players were not trying to hit Bonds the ball slipped 5 times.Lets run Dusty out of town and hire a white coach we have waited 100 yrs. for title we can wait a hundred more.Wood and Prior are nice young men I think they are pure aryan blood.Bar tman seems like he is innocent he forgot he was at ballgame thats all,im glad we traded Moise alou but not Hawkins (another inferior person)so we have to boo new black players like Jack jones to take blame for Cubs bad start ,we cant blame Wood or Prior for living on DL they also are beyond criticism,I yearn for the days when there was no diversity or affirmatick action those people just want something for free.I hope Bonds is not allowed to hit 714 just let the ball "slip "every time he bats.boog and jerry have right attitudes they are great americans like Rush Limburger and Shawna Hannity.... We are are going to hopefully continue to scrutinize only minority players and call them names because we are supperior(i have a condo) and they are convenient scapegoats..from(a great american fan who is proud to have married his sister)

By what has happened, I think it's just a bandwagon experience. As DOC said, Chicago loves winners. If the Cubs were in the same situation as the White Sox were in now, everyone would be on the Cubs side and not the Sox'. As a life long South Sider and White Sox fan though, it's good to see that the Sox beat the Cubs in winning the World Series and are finally getting the respect they deserve. I don't care how meaningless these games are, it's always good to see the Sox beat up on the Cubs. Go White Sox!!!

Can we please stop making every topic a racial issue? I think we know we'll never rid ourselves of racists and yes, the beer garden called wrigley field doesn't help.
Poeple will never stop going to games as long as they bars and restaurants stay open, and they continue to serve beer (note, I didn't say Cub fans). I know...I spent many an afternoon and evening on the north side in my younger days.

When will people just admit that the Cubs will be forever a pathetic organization w/ yuppie non-baseball fans. The Cubs suck and the White Sox will repeat !

I love it when Cub fans talk about "bandwagon" fans at Sox games, as if being a cub fan was never a trendy thing. The reason Wrigley is filled every day is because it is popular and trendy to hang out in the college atmosphere.

The Sox have captured the attention of a metropolitan area due to their well earned championship last year. However, the inane television policy that the Sox had in place for many, many years led people throughout the state and midwest to be Cub fans by default. Why root for a team that you cannot watch on tv? This is why I am perplexed that the Cubs have scaled back their games on WGN. The superstation made them one of the most popular teams in baseball.

Times have changed. I'd bet the number of diehard Sox and Cubs fans are about equal with maybe a slight edge in the Cubs' favor. The vast majority of so-called Cubs fans are actually just fans of Wrigley Field. I feel sorry for the diehard Cub fans that stuck with this organization for so long. It's a business, and as long as the tour buses roll in from Iowa to see "historic" Wrigley Field; as long as the drunken frat boy/ sorority girl types can get wasted in the bleachers; as long as the Tribune Co. can successfully market sunshine and summer; they have no need to put a competitive team on the field. It's a business and they're making a killing off the casual Wrigley fans. Say all you want about the bandwagon fans of the White Sox, the bandwagon fans of Wrigley are keeping the diehard Cub fans from ever seeing a winner.

Tim says it best. The Sox are run as a baseball organization and the Cubs are run as another Trib subsidiary. The cubs will never win a championship as long as 38000 are in the stands at a decaying Wrigley Field

you know, something touches me as quite ironic hearing about how the cubs are just a business. Especially after what Riesendorf did to the Bulls. But okay, lets bring out all the over used cliche's about Wrigley, and the Cubs. Go ahead, say that they don't care about winning as long as they can fill that "beer garden"...

but then, you have to think about why the Cubs payroll is 7th in the majors, and of course, completely forget the simple fact that if the Cubs did win it all..that the Tribune Co. would make even more money, and draw in even more fans.

Oh yes, its a sad state of affairs when you mention that plague that hit the nation. Oh what plague you ask? Well you said that the Cubs fans have a slight advantage over the number of Sox fans. So, that got me thinking about what happened to all those Cubs fans in the midwest, such as in Iowa..who can only watch them on TV...or the fans decked out in blue pinstripes and blue hats that you see in every other team's stands when the Cubs are on the road..and I just have to imagine that there was a plague that nobody told me about.

Oh, and one last thing...before you start making assumptions about the Cubs, and the way they're playing right now, just remember last year when Podsednik was out, and how the Sox did that swan dive durring the time he was gone? Well Lee is to the Cubs what Podsednik is to the Sox. Both players mean more to their respective teams than just their performance on the field.

Well spoken by Tim. WRigley is and always will be the only attraction. Give people beer, blondes, and baseball(in that order) and they will show. If the Sox had played there all these years then there would have been more Sox than Cub fans. It's Wrigley that's been hip, not the Cubs, take it away and there are more Sox fans.

Fine with me. I hope the Sox enjoy all the heartless fans that we had on the Northside for all these years. Real Cub fans will remain and the rest of the garbage that bought hats in 03' can trade them in for black and white. Go Sox!

Apparently Sean is not an informed baseball fan, because the Cubs are already selling out Wrigley. So how can they make moe money when they cannot sell any more tickets than they are selling now.

You also fail ro recognize that the Tribune annually overpays for guys who do not contribute to making their team better. I guess that is wht their payroll is 7th. By the way the White Sox won a championship and their payroll went from middle of the road to 4th.

Besides Sean the Cubs of 1984 drew many fans across the country in because back then they had 150 games on WGN. Now they have about 50 games and WGN also shows about 25 Sox games so that influence is not what it once was

I think everyone is thinking from a local perspective only. Wrigley is a big attraction and pulls in a ton of money, but so does merchandise sales. Cubs stuff sells bigtime everywhere in the country. So even if you pack the stadium every game, its the merchandise sales all over the country that brings in a ton of money too. Cubs way more than the Sox. And a lot of that is thanks to WGN tv coverage all those years everygame on tv. And harry carey. And yeah Wrigley is a museum and beer garden and has a lot of casual yuppie fans. But I am sure there are just as many diehard baseball fans at wrigley, possibly more.

if the tribune company really didnt care, why would the payroll be so high? Why not cut back.

And another thing the season is long from over. After Wood , Prior, Miller and D. Lee get back, the Cubs will make a run in the second half of the season.
GO Cubs!

micheal Barrett King of one punch Knockouts(suckerpunch that is)both catchers for both teams are kinda irritating.

To be honest, White Sox fans, true White Sox fans, never have and never will attend many games, world series or not. It doesn't seem to be in their genes to spend any money to support a team that you can quite frankly see on tv with a 12-pack aside the Laz-Z-Boy.

A huge parade welcomed the Champions downtown because it didn't cost anything to participate in. God forbid they should make the journey and pay to see world class play.

I appreciate seeing the WC trophy in Chicago but I really don't expect to see an increase in attendance at the Cell, unless Cubs fans go to see a game or three which we do.

Make no mistake, the 2005 White Sox were one of the best teams I have ever seen in a long time, but Sox fans actually breaking down and going to see a game? Funny, really funny.

Go Sox!!

I would like to take a moment to thank Cub fans. Your neverending willingness to throw away your dollars at Wrigley Field despite the lack of committment to winning from your ownership will keep the Cubs losing, and Sox fans laughing, for another 100 years.

I find it rather amusing that Colombo still thinks no one is coming to watch the White Sox. They're averaging 33K per game and have sold out their season ticket base and now have a waiting list for next year. Two weeks ago versus the Royals the Sox averaged 37.5K per game. He says cubs fans come there to watch three games a season during the interleague series. However, there were hardly any fans in blue in the crowd. If I were a Cubs fan, I would be too embarrassed to wear Cubby blew on the South Side. The White Sox are averaging 33K per game and this is before summer games are played. The Sox typically draw best in the summer when school is out. The uninformed Colombo says Sox fans won't pay to watch their team. If this is true, then are the White Sox giving away 33K tickets per game? That would be a dumb way for Reinsdorf to run the team. Not nearly as dumb as Colombo's thought process.

Finally the Sun-Times and Michael Barrett have given Cub fans something to talk about.

Too bad neither issue will result in more runs on the board for the north siders.

Seems like Sox find a way to win,Cubs find a way to lose.It does not take a brain surgeon to figure out why Sox are world champions and Cubs are blaming Bartman ,goats and Dusty.The blame starts at the top if anyone should be held accountable!

Instead of baby bears (aka Cubs), the Sox fans should worry about the Tigers and your team's shaky bullpen. The Cubs suck. Period.

From a business perspective the Cubs and Sox have one thing in common; They are both selling a product and need to show a profit for their investors. What differs is the product they are selling.

Cub ownership has chosen to sell the atmosphere at Wrigley Field. The sunshine, the blondes, the beer and even the bus loads from Iowa are the main product. The electric atmosphere is what they are selling. The product on the field is secondary and doesnt really matter as far as profit goes. The park is filled to 100% capacity.TV ratings are OK so advertising dollars are good.Licensed products are selling well. They don't need a good on-field product to make money.

The Sox are a different story. Although they have a fan friendly park, they don't have the "atmosphere" to sell like the Cubs do. If you look at their past attendance since the 70's, they only have 75%-100% capacity when they win. The main product that they try to sell is winning baseball. They are not alone. Other than the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox most other teams need to win to draw fans. Some can't even draw when they do win.

As a Sox fan, I feel sorry for the diehard Cub baseball fans because winning will never be a priority as long as the atmosphere at Wrigley keeps turning a profit for the owners.

The Sox ownership will never have a place like Wrigley to sell. The Cell is a lot of fun and the big crowds are converting more young fans and families. But,like the Indians, Minnesota, the Angels and many others, as soon as the consistant winning stops, they will be back to a half-filled park. Hopefully, they have a 5+ year run of winning ahead of them.

From a marketing perspective, it is a lot harder to depend on winning consistently for your profit that it is to sell sunshine, blondes and beer. I really can't blame Cub ownership. They have a gold mine!

Kramer says it best. The Crosstown series is over now and we s/b be worrying about the teams in our division. Say what you will about the Sox and our Fans but the true Sox fans don't miss a game. Wether it be at home with a 12 pack, on the radio or at the game. Cubs fans s/b concerns themselves with their team and the lack of leadership in their organization. Go pay for overpriced tickets for an overhyped team. We have the real deal on the South side.

USA = BASEBALL
CHICAGO = LAKE SHORE DRIVE
WHITE SOX = WORLD SERIES
CUBS = SORE LOSERS

GO SOX..

I've been a die-hard Sox fan for over 30 years and it's a shame that Cub fans are still and will always be hating on the Sox.

SOX NATION!

I'm sorry, but Cubs fans REALLY irritate me. How can they possibly think that there's any chance for a world series title this year....or for that matter, any other year? Just look at what the Marlins just did to them! Need I say more? To continue with what alot of all of you have been saying, it's true. Just as long as a bunch of FOOLS keep packing wrigley and fattening the wallets of the owners, there won't be a world series title for 100 years, or even another 10,000 years. Because the way managment and ownership sees it....if it ain't broke, don't fix it. What if the Sox and the Cubs switched stadiums? I wonder how many cubs "fans" would keep showing up at the cell to watch the cubs play while the sox played at wrigley. I bet around 80% of the people in the audience at a cubs game don't even know what an RBI is, or they're too drunk to even give a damn. The cubs are an embarassment to our city and to all of sports. As far as I'm concerned, we don't have 2 major league baseball teams here. We have 1 potential dynasty and 1 pee wee league team.

Sox fans, who cares? Really...I mean we have nothing to complain about. Why care if the Cubs sell more tickets or if they win or lose? I don't give my Cub fan buddies a hard time because they are already talking about the Bears. Instead, when I walk into the Cell, I look at the Championship banners, get chills when "Thunderstruck" is blaring through the stadium and realize how great it is to be a Sox fan. That is all I need. Although another ring would be nice!

Let's look at the real problem in CUBDUM. Last in the National league in Batting Average, Runs, RBI's, Hits, Doubles, Homeruns Walks, Hit by Pitch, On Base Pct. They lead the National league in fewest strikeouts and gounding into the most double plays. Translates, they don't strikeout or walk because they hack at anything thrown up there. How do you lead the N.L. in grounding into double plays with their speed. Oh yeah, their manager, Dusty, "station to station," or "wait for the three run homer", Baker, couldn't find the steal sign, or the hit and run sign if it were on a billboard in centerfield. They are the worst offensive team in Major League Baseball. It all boils down to three things. 1) poor judge of talent by Hendry.
2) poor coaching on fundamentals and hitting by Cub coaching, and finally, 3) Dusty Bakers total ineptness on evaluating the game as it goes along. Just for one week, I would love to see one lineup, 1-8 hitters, stay the same.
Actually, I am having a dream that the Cubs actually live up to their potential. Nahhh never happen. The Cub pitching staff has allowed on at least 3 occasion for the other team to have more walks than it did hits. The Cubs pitchers lead the N.L. with only giving up 345 hits in 384 innings.....but they have walked a N.L. high 198 batters. Send out a news buletin to Cub pitchers: the 17 inch white thing on the ground is home plate. right above it is the strike zone. Try throwing it there every now and again, the results will astound you.
If you think I am a bit frustrated, I am. It is sad to see an organization spend the money they do on players who haven't performed like major leaguers for the past 2 years. Enough already.

"The Cell"? Come on, now-- weren't any of you the least bit upset when the White Sox sold the naming rights in January of 2004? And, if so, you're now embracing the name to such an extent that you're nearly on a one-name basis? Call it Comiskey, or Sox Park, or even "Ballpark". Please.

To hear the term "bandwagon" from any Cubs' fan is pretty funny, given that 32,000 of the 38,000 people in Wrigley on any given day are casual fans (to be generous) who are there because Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville and until recently Sammy Sosa are a tourist attraction, much like the Sears Tower, the Green Mill or the Mag Mile. So I guess it depends on what you mean by a "Cubs town." The Cubs will continue to draw tourists (who always come) but the Sox will draw more baseball fans so long as they are winning. I do not think, and never did, that the Cubs actually have more fans than the White Sox. Sox fans, like 98% of all baseball fans, go when the team wins and don't go when the team loses. The Cubs are blessed (or cursed) enough to be an exception to that rule because of their park, aura and neighborhood.

If the Cubs didn't play at Wrigley, they'd be the equivalent of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.. They wouldn't get 10,000 fans at the park. They've benefited by having a "Shrine" for a park, a cushy TV Deal, and 100 taverns around the park. If they played anywhere else, they would be considered for reduction in MLB. Atleast the Sox averaged 20,000 fans during the lean years. As far as I'm concerned, Cubs fans are suckers for paying Major league money for a Triple A team.

Ballparks used to be named after rich individuals like Comiskey. Now they're named after rich coorporations like US Cellular. It's the way of the world.

Sox fans moved past any possibility of getting irked about naming when they tore Old Comiskey down. The old stadium's a parking lot, they may as well rename and remodel the new one.

Here's to having a stadium that doesn't carry the possibility of getting hit by falling rubble. Go Sox!

Wow... 'The times they are a changin'. Chicago will always be a "Cubs Town". I say, keep it that way. The Cubs are more popular than the White Sox much like "American Idol" is watched by 100 times more people than "Masterpiece Theater". As far as the bandwagon fans - if half of them STAY Sox fans, we'll take 'em. The crucial point is that kids all around the Chicago area are groing up as Sox fans and are actually going to games at a family freindly park to see their heroes. The William Ligue era has passed. In fact, watch how the atmosphere at Comiskey keeps improving over the years. Heck, we might even get that coveted "attendance trophy" so often mentioned by Cubs fans. As far as Wrigley, it's mostly no-brain, trixie/chad, drunks and tourists in the park. This is a situation wrought by the real Cubs fans selling their Cubs season tickets wholesale to brokers - before the season even starts.

I prefer the renamed Cell. Old man Comiskey was not a sweet, wisened vision of baseball's pastoral past. he was a vicious, greedy bastard who pushed the 'Black Sox' to do what they did by making them the greatest assembly of basbeall players ever to be dead broke.

Part of me will always think that the real 'curse' in Chicago was lifted from the White Sox when they ripped old man Comiskey's name from the new park foever.

Good god....It's over. The White Sox are World Series Champions, the Cubs are not. It's that simple. The Sox play like a team, the Cubs suck and their fans are frustrated. It's no longer "cool" to beconsidered "Loveable Losers" which is why Cub fans now boo THEIR OWN TEAM and players beat up water coolers and sucker punch opposing players.
To all Cub fans...stop bitching about the Sox and their fans until you grow up and win a World Series.

this is a sox town the cubs are done in chicago.

The Cubs should trade away Maddux. He doesn't deserve this. Look at how he acted in the dugout after they got their asses kicked by the Marlins....again. He's a class act hall of fame pitcher, one of the best of all time. He should never have come back to Wrigley. Nobody wants to go out like this, especially if this is his last year. He doesn't deserve to be on the Cubs.

The White sox threatened to leave the city unless they received a new stadium, payed for by us taxpayers. who wants to root for that crap!

I have a few questions for Nicholas Cicinelli....was a world series title (and maybe more on the way with the way things are lookin so far) not worth it? Who wants to root for a team that blows?

Hey Nicholas.....you consider a World Series Championship crap?
What do you call it when 2 runners score on a sac fly and your team loses the game? Cubbie baseball? Us taxpayers paid for a team that is not a total embarrassment to the city. Man the Cubs look bad.

I'm a lifelong Cub fan in the heart of Cardinal country.

I'm this close (holding my fingers one millimeter apart) from burning all my Cub stuff and rooting for all the other teams that play the Cubs...even the Pirates.

At least the Pirate organization puts their best foot forward and cannot hide the fact that they cannot afford the best players money can buy. They put their best players on the field and try hard to win.

The Cub organization, on the other hand, spends millions on slicking up Wrigley Field so more people can come, get a good sunburn, drink gallons of Old Style, talk on their cell phone every time a TV camera comes within 1,000 feet of their seat, and spend hard earned money pretending to watch a baseball game. Who cares who is playing who? It's Wrigley Field, man.

The Tribune should sell the team. Better still, Major League Baseball should contract the Chicago Cubs. MLB should finish off this sad sack of a baseball team by closing their doors for the good of the game.

At least former Cub fans could pick a w