Being a Cubs Fan Is Becoming More And More Difficult
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
Being a lifelong Cubs fan has NEVER been easy.
The losing is hard, but being 'five outs away from the World Series' took a lot out of all of us. Plus, there is being on the wrong end of every joke ... it gets old. Heck, I even told one at my mom's funeral. I said “the minute my mom got to heaven the first thing she did was look for a radio to hear her beloved Cubs ... then she was stunned to learn that this is heaven – a place of joy and happiness – and the Cubs could never be found there.”
But we always had one thing we could count on as our own – one place we could go to make even the losing seem less painful – and it feels like we're losing that too.
The Ricketts family and the Cubs have announced that the $34 million in renovations will commence next month, with or without the expressed written consent of the rooftop owners on Waveland and Sheffield Avenues.
That will include a hotel on the west side of Clark St., a new interactive area on the west side of the ball park, a new club along Addison and, yes, the new signage in the outfields above and in front of the bleachers.
Frankly, I think a lot of what they have planned is really cool and long overdue. I mean, think about it, have you ever been to a Cubs game and witnessed anyone getting their car cleaned at that car wash in the parking lot? Of course not. Plus in this age of security, Wrigley is still a place where the players park their cars right out there in broad daylight, only separated by a chain link fence and a couple of 25 year-old-looking kids in security uniforms.
But the inside of the ballpark, where fans have been coming for decades to watch daytime baseball surrounded by brick and ivy, is what has me and other Cub lovers concerned.
We're told that the Cubs current financial state is such that they can't possibly compete on the field without obtrusive signage. We're told (by the Ricketts family) that they might leave Wrigleyville for the northwest suburbs to build a brand new park and shed themselves of the restrictions imposed on them by the ballpark being a historic landmark and the contract that is in place with the rooftop owners.
Makes you wonder ... how in the world did the Cubs ever win in 1984, and '89, and 2003?
I hope the Ricketts family understands that Cubs fans, over a span of years where the team was winning and was interesting, got used to winning and have a chance to win. The current line of “we can't compete” just doesn't ring well with Cubs fans because Chicago is still in the third-largest market and used to draw three million fans in non-winning seasons. And even when the Cubs didn't win ... there was always Wrigley Field.
Well now not only is the team hopelessly bad, they got “fired” by WGN Radio after a 90-year relationship, and now the ivy looks like someone got drunk and took a hedge trimmer to it and more signage is going up.
All in the name of progress, or else “we'll move our team out of Wrigley.”
I would just like to remind the Ricketts family that they have owned the team for five years, but the Cubs have always been OUR team. Long after they have sold it off as a business entity our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be cheering for them.
Wrigley Field is all that the Cubs have right now. The romantic thought of spending a day with your family in one of the most beautiful places on earth is what keeps Cubs fans going.
Truth is, if a team like the Cubs played at a park like U.S. Cellular Field, how many people would actually go watch them ... 10,000? 8,000? Less? The Cubs in another ballpark would be the Kansas City Royals.
Cub fans have suffered enough ... we deserve better.
So the changes are coming ... and so is the pressure on the Ricketts family to put a winner on the field.[[In-content Ad]]
Being a lifelong Cubs fan has NEVER been easy.
The losing is hard, but being 'five outs away from the World Series' took a lot out of all of us. Plus, there is being on the wrong end of every joke ... it gets old. Heck, I even told one at my mom's funeral. I said “the minute my mom got to heaven the first thing she did was look for a radio to hear her beloved Cubs ... then she was stunned to learn that this is heaven – a place of joy and happiness – and the Cubs could never be found there.”
But we always had one thing we could count on as our own – one place we could go to make even the losing seem less painful – and it feels like we're losing that too.
The Ricketts family and the Cubs have announced that the $34 million in renovations will commence next month, with or without the expressed written consent of the rooftop owners on Waveland and Sheffield Avenues.
That will include a hotel on the west side of Clark St., a new interactive area on the west side of the ball park, a new club along Addison and, yes, the new signage in the outfields above and in front of the bleachers.
Frankly, I think a lot of what they have planned is really cool and long overdue. I mean, think about it, have you ever been to a Cubs game and witnessed anyone getting their car cleaned at that car wash in the parking lot? Of course not. Plus in this age of security, Wrigley is still a place where the players park their cars right out there in broad daylight, only separated by a chain link fence and a couple of 25 year-old-looking kids in security uniforms.
But the inside of the ballpark, where fans have been coming for decades to watch daytime baseball surrounded by brick and ivy, is what has me and other Cub lovers concerned.
We're told that the Cubs current financial state is such that they can't possibly compete on the field without obtrusive signage. We're told (by the Ricketts family) that they might leave Wrigleyville for the northwest suburbs to build a brand new park and shed themselves of the restrictions imposed on them by the ballpark being a historic landmark and the contract that is in place with the rooftop owners.
Makes you wonder ... how in the world did the Cubs ever win in 1984, and '89, and 2003?
I hope the Ricketts family understands that Cubs fans, over a span of years where the team was winning and was interesting, got used to winning and have a chance to win. The current line of “we can't compete” just doesn't ring well with Cubs fans because Chicago is still in the third-largest market and used to draw three million fans in non-winning seasons. And even when the Cubs didn't win ... there was always Wrigley Field.
Well now not only is the team hopelessly bad, they got “fired” by WGN Radio after a 90-year relationship, and now the ivy looks like someone got drunk and took a hedge trimmer to it and more signage is going up.
All in the name of progress, or else “we'll move our team out of Wrigley.”
I would just like to remind the Ricketts family that they have owned the team for five years, but the Cubs have always been OUR team. Long after they have sold it off as a business entity our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be cheering for them.
Wrigley Field is all that the Cubs have right now. The romantic thought of spending a day with your family in one of the most beautiful places on earth is what keeps Cubs fans going.
Truth is, if a team like the Cubs played at a park like U.S. Cellular Field, how many people would actually go watch them ... 10,000? 8,000? Less? The Cubs in another ballpark would be the Kansas City Royals.
Cub fans have suffered enough ... we deserve better.
So the changes are coming ... and so is the pressure on the Ricketts family to put a winner on the field.[[In-content Ad]]
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