I hate when a movie is so predictable you know the outcome halfway through. That's why even though I'm a Cubs/Sox fan, I'm finding some entertainment value in the plights of our teams.
This Cubs slump is an all-timer. It's just good enough to make you wonder if they can possibly not make the playoffs, but that's not going to happen. They're going to win the Division, then everything is up in the air.
I'm starting to rethink my suggestion about resting Carlos Zambrano for the playoffs and giving him just one start. They may need the big guy to win a couple of games and provide some momentum.
Then again, and we've been through this point before, the 2005 White Sox limped into the playoffs after being in first place from Opening Day. People they thought they would be swept in the first round, instead they lost just one game en route to the Promised Land.
Speaking of the South Siders, Sox fans surprise me. If you write something in the paper or on a blog that in some way they find offensive, there is no more passionate fan base than White Sox fans in responding. Ok, maybe Illinois fans, too.
Then I go last night and see thousands of empty seats. There were only 26K and change Sunday, and that was for a game between first-place teams. I know school's in session, but that was an afternoon game. It's disappointing.
This is a playoff push for a team few expected to be here. I don't want to hear about how bad Cubs fans are, I'd rather see packed houses.
Roman, it is what it is. We have lives and priorities. We love our team and the game as much as the Northsiders do. But most of us work for those kind of people - so that they can GO whenever and where-ever they want. They don't have to "call in" to work, or consider it a blessing when they can go or take the kids. Sox are high on the list, but we better put in that overtime. And the Bears played a late game also. That was a factor.
Z has more shoulder problems than he is letting on. During Tuesday night's broadcast, they showed him with all the Cubs brass, health dudes, pitching coaches, etc. He was trying everything within his power not to wince when he threw. He looked exactly like he did during his last start.
He didn't chip a tooth chewing this stupid gum. He chipped a tooth because his shoulder hurt so freaking much he was grinding his teeth.
The Cubs should make the playoffs (although I am pulling for a Cardinals sweep) because Milwaukee is playing just as bad. Shut down Z until the playoffs. If they don't they risk ruining him for the long run. And if his pitching sessions don't improve, I wouldn't let him pitch in the playoffs.
amen keith
I'm surprised Lou took so long to lose his cool. He is right. The cubs need to get their acts together and not blow opportunities or make lackadaisical plays like like they did last night. They're just lucky the Brewers have also fallen off in performance. I still think resting Z. might be a good idea. Marshall and Marquis have pitched well of late; unfortunately the offense has really gone down hill.
Roman, it is what it is. We have lives and priorities. We love our team and the game as much as the Northsiders do. But most of us work for those kind of people
Keith...if this isnt the most dispicable thing you have ever uttered....well..ok...but still...dude...you have to be saying this with a smile on your face, cause you know I was going to carve you a new one.
COME ON DUDE....cubs fans are just as ratty and scrapy and hippied out as the Sox fans are blue collar and gritty and salty....i mean...ever cubs game i ever go to there are tons of dead beat mother jammers...please wrigleyville is a wasteland of drunks and freaks. Its not like you guys have a monopoly on having it rough.
Check this yo..ill send in a picture of little culzie someday...
my dad used to PARK CARS next to wrigley for a living...like parking alot attendant...and my MOM SOLD HATS...
i have the cutest little picture of my mom sitting at the hat stand and me with my Cubbies tee, mini bat, and mini cuts hat, with a skinned nosed and skinned knees and the whitest hippy kid mop you have ever SEEN.
furthermore Keith...i feel the need to point out some more Irony of your statement...
My Mom (Cubs fan) works for a billionaire now...Sox Fan...he is friends with Reinsdorf, has a luxury sky box.
Actually its her second Billionaire Sox Fan employer...W.Clement Stone was the other, he only owned half of Chicago's real estate.
My mom essentilly was their HELP.
check out this article...
Alberto-Culver traces its roots to the mid-1950s, when Leonard Lavin, a driven salesman from Chicago, took notice of a hairdressing product sold out of a tiny storefront in Los Angeles. Alberto VO5 contained "five vital oils" that kept Hollywood stars' hairdos from wilting under the hot lights on the set. After buying the business in 1955, Lavin traveled the country introducing VO5 and other beauty products to the fast-growing discount and drug chains, and he used television commercials to make Alberto VO5 a household name.
Lavin gained financial backing from W. Clement Stone, the Chicago insurance mogul who founded the predecessor of Chicago's Aon Corp. but was probably better known for his motivational book Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. Distinguished by his pencil-thin mustache and polka-dot bow ties, Stone remained on the Alberto-Culver board for years and died in 2002 at the age of 100.
Lavin was a demanding and exacting boss as he built his hair and beauty products empire. "The Lavins kept the pressure on constantly," recalls their chauffeur of 12 years, John Conover, who adds that they were extremely loyal employers. The Lavins lived well, taking in Whitesox, Bulls and Blackhawks games with Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, another longtime Alberto board member. Lavin also raised thoroughbreds on a horse farm he owned in Ocala, Florida. One of his homegrown fillies, the long shot One Dreamer, won the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs in 1994, a race with a $1-million purse.
As a master marketer, Lavin spent much of his time on the road, cultivating customers or looking for the next big product. In his 2003 memoir, Winners Make It Happen, Lavin wrote that he regretted not having spent more time with his family; he recounted how he had turned down an invitation to meet with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office because his daughter Carol would "never trust [him] again" if he failed to make it to her birthday party.
Go Cubs!
I have faith.
I was there last night too Roman, and I thought the crowd filled in a lot by the end of the 1st. Tuesday nights in September are just naturally going to have fewer fans. Like you said, it was a school night.
Did you see the guy who threw Scutaro's home run ball back get thrown out? That was so great!
Watching the Cubs lose so many games these last couple of weeks is entertainment my blood pressure and vital organs can do without.
Cubs/Sox fan?
Culzie you are truly a unique Chicagoan. I certainly believe you. And every Cub fan is not paid in full, but the majority are. The ones who aren't don't go to the games because they simply cannot afford it. Those folks you refer to are students a lot of the time and they DRESS that way. I like your parents work for a disgustingly rich, blue-blood institution. And their children dress like the bleacher bums at Wrigley. Don't let that worn down hat and throwback sneakers fool you.
There are the Ronny Woo Woos, but far to few. Ronny used to hang OUTSIDE, until they had compassion on him. They started letting him in, and fixed his grill. Ronnie looked fresher than a loaf of bread! (Julie just wince and let it go)
Funny Pics huh Roman? Can you now vouch to William that I have been rocking a tilted brim hat since the 70's?
paws up white sox? Maybe that wasn't quite the right expression, paws up for a cat would be like belly up I believe. Fortunately, all the white sox have to worry about is themselves, the twins aren't any real threat to win it. Even a paws up cat can handle a twinkie. Maybe he meant claws out like a tiger?
I think the cubs are likely in the playoffs too. Lou has the right touch, he needs to shake them up so they don't play tight. Winning the series with the cards is a good step in the right direction.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/ticketing/seating.jsp
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/ballpark/cws_ballpark_seating.jsp
WHITE SOX TICKET PRICES
SEAT LOCATION MONDAYS REGULAR PRIME* PREMIER**
Premium Club Level $51.00 $51.00 $55.00 $65.00
Premium Lower Box $51.00 $51.00 $55.00 $65.00
Club Box $23.50 $47.00 $51.00 $61.00
Lower Box $18.00 $36.00 $40.00 $50.00
Lower Reserved $16.00 $32.00 $36.00 $46.00
Bleachers $15.50 $31.00 $35.00 $45.00
Premium Upper Box (1-6) $12.00 $24.00 $28.00 $38.00
Upper Box (7-21) $10.50 $21.00 $25.00 $35.00
Upper Reserved $8.50 $17.00 $21.00 $31.00
Map Color Section Name Value Dates Regular Dates Prime Dates
Club Box (Infield) $50.00 $70.00 $80.00
Club Box (Outfield) $33.00 $58.00 $66.00
Field Box (Infield) $33.00 $58.00 $66.00
Field Box (Outfield) $28.00 $50.00 $56.00
Terrace Box (Infield) $26.00 $44.00 $52.00
Terrace Box (Outfield)$23.00 $40.00 $46.00
Upper Deck Box (Infi $26.00 $44.00 $52.00
Upper Deck Box (Out $23.00 $40.00 $46.00
Terrace Reserved (In $16.00 $28.00 $36.00
Terrace Reserved (Out $16.00 $24.00 $32.00
Upper Deck Res $11.0 $16.00 $22.00
Upper Deck Res $10.00 $16.00 $20.00
Bleachers (General $22.00 $36.00 $45.00
I truly have no idea what me posting the ticket prices of the two teams is suppose to support. But, i thought it was interesting that they are pretty much the same.
Now, Im not a marketing genius...but I am somewhat adept at navigating the perils of pricing...and If what you say is true Keith, and the average Cubs Fan is PAID IN FULL and the average Sox Fan is Poor. Then, why wouldnt that be reflected in the ticket PRICING?
I mean, after all, market analysis and market demographics were surely done by Riensdorph and his army of execs...so...wouldnt they know this staggering fact?
Wouldnt the Sox lower their prices a bit?
I mean the cost of Bread is different in Calumet than it is in Lake Forest, so why would the cost of Baseball tickets be the same?
Speaking of the South Siders, Sox fans surprise me. There is no more passionate fan base than White Sox fans.
Then I go last night and see thousands of empty seats. There were only 26K and change Sunday, and that was for a game between first-place teams. I know school's in session, but that was an afternoon game. It's disappointing.
*****
Remember Roman, the Cubbies have WGN Channel 9 (is it still called the Super Station?), WGN Radio Station 780, and the Chicago Tribune newspaper as media outlets for a wider marketing tool for audience appeal for Cub Fans. Their fan base will be larger.
I AGREE with you it is NOT an excuse, but we don't have a lot of Lee Elia fan types he once berated hanging out at the ballpark.....*smile*...
Remember the famous tirade he unleashed on Cubbie Fans? Copy and paste link below.
http://quote.webcircle.com/cgi-bin/features.cgi?idFeature=4
wHITEsOXfAN ...correct me if Im wrong but the Sox are also on WGN and have the Score.
ahh...maybe your right, maybe the Cubs are like the DNC of Baseball.
Media Darlings!!