I read in the paper that they had some sort of protests down in front of the marquee yesterday before the Cubs Arizona ballgame. I didn't see any sort of ruckus as I passed by on my mornin walk. But that's the thing about them hippie protest types - none of em wake up before about noon.
Toyota Sign On The Crapper Under Wrigley Field
Remember that mock-up they did for their precious Toyota Billboard - The one they plan on erecting and mucking up Left Field with?
Well sir, looks like they didn't have a great place to store their precious Toyota Billboard so they left it on top of the mens crappers by the Fire Station entrance at the Wrigley Field.
Seems like a fitting location to me.
Well sir, looks like they didn't have a great place to store their precious Toyota Billboard so they left it on top of the mens crappers by the Fire Station entrance at the Wrigley Field.
Seems like a fitting location to me.
PNC Club - Must Be Nice
My grandson Jeremy just got home from the Cubs Nationals game. He and Johnny had seats in the shade and I hear it was part near 20 degrees colder compared to out in the sunshine.
Well, those fat cats in the new box seats - the "PNC Club" - didn't seem to mind the weather. Those uppity types had space heaters fired up and warming them as they sipped their fancy drinks.
Must be nice.
Well, those fat cats in the new box seats - the "PNC Club" - didn't seem to mind the weather. Those uppity types had space heaters fired up and warming them as they sipped their fancy drinks.
Must be nice.
Torco Billboard - Nationals Replacement
The good old days of the old dependable Torco Oil Sign are long gone. I'm not too upset about the change - now they advertise for a barley pop I partake now and again. At least it is advertisement OUTSIDE of the stadium - I'm talking to you Toyota.
One thing I don't quite like or understand are all the messages they put up on that billboard.
I guess they think they are clever or witty. I don't. Here is the latest in time for the series versus the Washington Nationals.
One thing I don't quite like or understand are all the messages they put up on that billboard.
I guess they think they are clever or witty. I don't. Here is the latest in time for the series versus the Washington Nationals.
Football At Wrigley Field "Artist Rendering"
The paper has a pretty picture of what Wrigley Field is going to look like next fall when Northwestern hosts Illinois. I guess they hired themselves a professional artist to draw it.
Wonder how much they wasted on that little picture -
my employment challenged grandson mocked up this here picture in about an hour.
Wonder how much they wasted on that little picture -
my employment challenged grandson mocked up this here picture in about an hour.
Race To Wrigley
I was trying to figure out why they were putting up all them cattle gates yesterday around the ball park. I guess it turns out they are having some sort of organized jog around the neighborhood. Something called the Race To Wrigley 5K. Not sure what a K is, but there sure are a lot of people in silly jogging outfits running around.
Football Returns to Wrigley Field
I read in the paper that they are going to let them play football again in Wrigley Field. It surely has been awhile. My brother Harold is going over his books to figure out how long it has been and my employment challenged grandson Jeremy put together this here model... Perhaps he has a little too much time on his hands.
UPDATE: A lot has occured since this game was announced. Please take a gander at these as well:
Milking Wrigley Field
Football at Wrigley Field: A Bad Idea
UPDATE: A lot has occured since this game was announced. Please take a gander at these as well:
Milking Wrigley Field
Football at Wrigley Field: A Bad Idea
Landmarks Illinois
There is a story in the Sun Times today. A fella who runs this sorta historic watchdog group: Landmarks Illinois, came out for a "Master Sign Program"; a program to oversee any and all new signs going up and especially to oversee all this talk of putting up a giant Toyota Sign in the Bleachers. At least someone with a title thinks there needs to be some oversight. Problem is that the city bureaus probably want to duck the issue and pass the buck on to the next agency. They can always claim that if Zoning says it’s OK then Landmarks should say it’s OK and so on. Too bad Obama is a Sox fan.
Toyota Sign Passes Zoning
I read on the internets newspaper here that the Toyota sign made it through Chicago's Zoning Department. We here at The Wrigley Blog have a lot of differing of opinions on that sign. Some of us just see it as a flawed but inevitable sign of the times; others think it is the most horrific idea we have ever heard. I asked a question to the author of that Tribune article. He is some sort of architecture critic, so I figured he had some knowhow. I did got a brief response. See here:
Posted by: Wayne Buckner | April 19, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Not sure how you can call the sign an "interior element". The brick wall should be considered the "outside wall", not the fence surrounding the walkway. This sign is still placed a few feet outside of line of that brick wall.
Seems to me this revised plan simply satisfies zoning without much concern of whether it is a good idea..
Blair Kamin: I think that's why another layer of review, from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, is appropriate. That review should be more fine-grained than this one.
Posted by: Wayne Buckner | April 19, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Not sure how you can call the sign an "interior element". The brick wall should be considered the "outside wall", not the fence surrounding the walkway. This sign is still placed a few feet outside of line of that brick wall.
Seems to me this revised plan simply satisfies zoning without much concern of whether it is a good idea..
Blair Kamin: I think that's why another layer of review, from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, is appropriate. That review should be more fine-grained than this one.
Toyota Sign Math
I just pulled out my trusty calculator.
Let's see here, the Cubs pay Alfonso Soriano 17 Million dollars per year.
The Toyota Billboard they want to put in (which by the way, will stay in the outfield a hellofa lot longer than Mr. Soriano will) is estimated to make the Cubs 2.5 Million dollars per year.
If my math is correct, that means:
That Toyota sign will make the Cubs enough money to pay Soriano to play just under 24 games.
ridiculous
Let's see here, the Cubs pay Alfonso Soriano 17 Million dollars per year.
The Toyota Billboard they want to put in (which by the way, will stay in the outfield a hellofa lot longer than Mr. Soriano will) is estimated to make the Cubs 2.5 Million dollars per year.
If my math is correct, that means:
That Toyota sign will make the Cubs enough money to pay Soriano to play just under 24 games.
ridiculous
Sox Billboard Mystery
Now I've lived around this area long enough to know that once they put up one of them there billboards - it is going to be around for awhile. We were all pretty baffled when they put up an advertisement for the White Sox right opposite Wrigley Field - The day before Opening Day.
Well sir, we are even more baffled that they took it down three days later. Either that Sox deal was a mistake or a stunt of some sorts - either way, seems like a pricey thing to do.
Well sir, we are even more baffled that they took it down three days later. Either that Sox deal was a mistake or a stunt of some sorts - either way, seems like a pricey thing to do.
It's a Sign
So it’s game day and a guy decides to put a Cubs sign in his yard. He grabs his favorite Blue Banner and plants it in front of his house. People are walking past on their way to Wrigley and he’s exchanging pleasantries with the passersby. Finally a guys stops and says “hope no zoning guys come by here.”Huh? What the bleep? Well it turns out that there's a law on the books in Chicago which states that certain yard signs can be no larger than 1 ft. x 1 ft. Period.
Now imagine that instead of that guy, it’s the Ricketts family. The front yard is Wrigley Field. And the sign they want to put up is roughly the size of the state of Iowa. Oh and by the way, it’s a sign for Toyota. All of which means lots of hours will be spent with the Zoning Department. And the Building Department. And the Landmark Department. But they’re probably used to all that red tape since they somehow managed to get through it all before just to stick a monument to Captain Morgan on the front the ballpark, which totally dwarfs Harry Caray’s.
It might occur to the casual observer that beyond the mandatory bureaucratic cast of thousands, one little group not mentioned anywhere in this whole process is none other than the fans. Of course they’re not in the same league as Toyota, who is willing to pay $2.5 million for their thousand-acre sign. All this kind of makes you wonder what would happen if some day Mickey Ds wanted to pay $50 or $100 million. Would we see Big Macs instead of brats and the Cubs wearing Ronald McDonald clown suites instead of uni’s for home games? Hey everything has its price.
Thing is, maybe the Ricketts have been great for the Cubs. But they now own something that’s priceless— namely 100 years of Wrigley tradition. Knowing that the Cubs & Wrigley Field are inseparable, it would be nice to know that there’s a real respect for the integrity of both.
I’m just a lowly Cubs fan and can’t match those millions of dollars to sell cars over the Cubs. But I can offer some free marketing focus group-of-one research results: (as Jimmie would say) What’s on my mind at this moment isn’t the burning Prius in the parking lot, it’s the Cubbies in my Wrigley Field.
Around Wrigley Field - Bob and Len
I was taking some photographs around the ballpark this Opening Day morning. I was trying to take a nice picture of this here red concrete mixer when two fellas got in the way of my shot. My grandson Jeremy tells me that these two are in fact the television reporters for the Cubs on Channel 9. I wouldn't know - I only listen to the radio.
Opening Day
Ahh! Spring is here again. Opening day always gives me a warm and tingly feeling. Kind of like when I wet in my depends. If we win one today thats great, but I have learned over the past 100 years not to get my hopes up. So drink as many barly pops as you can today and punch the mai-tai guy in the nuts if you see him. GO CUBS!!!!!!
Cubs Community Connection Cont.
Here is some more information that might be of interest
Cubs Community Connection
Under the leadership of our new owners, Opening Day improvements to the ballpark are well underway. Among the changes you may notice are improved and expanded restrooms, a new PNC Club of Chicago on the mezzanine suite level and a reconstruction of a portion of the exterior wall of the park on Addison Street. The 1960s-installed concrete panels along the southern side of the ballpark have been removed to return the park to more of its historic, open appearance.
- They had a little bit about protecting the neighborhood, what number to call for the cops, how they donate, some race, and that they are going to have musical concerts again September 17th and 18th. -
New sign in left field
Among the other changes to the Friendly Confines this year, the Cubs have introduced a new creative advertisement in left field. Like all businesses, the Cubs are trying to find ways to increase revenue in these challenging times.
The proposed Toyota sign brings new resources to the team to invest in Wrigley Field and our player roster and does so without adding to traffic or affecting the neighborhood quality of life. We hope you will support this new addition to the ballpark.
Opening Day at Wrigley Field is April 12
These are just a few of the things we're doing to reach outside the walls of Wrigley Field and work with our thriving community. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and members of the Ricketts family met with neighbors at the annual Wrigley Field Neighborhood Protection meeting on February 9 and have committed to staying actively involved in our community.
Here's to a great 2010 season! We look forward to working with you, to building a new chapter in the history of the Chicago Cubs and to helping the Lakeview community remain a great place to live, work and play ball.
Cubs Community Connection
Under the leadership of our new owners, Opening Day improvements to the ballpark are well underway. Among the changes you may notice are improved and expanded restrooms, a new PNC Club of Chicago on the mezzanine suite level and a reconstruction of a portion of the exterior wall of the park on Addison Street. The 1960s-installed concrete panels along the southern side of the ballpark have been removed to return the park to more of its historic, open appearance.
- They had a little bit about protecting the neighborhood, what number to call for the cops, how they donate, some race, and that they are going to have musical concerts again September 17th and 18th. -
New sign in left field
Among the other changes to the Friendly Confines this year, the Cubs have introduced a new creative advertisement in left field. Like all businesses, the Cubs are trying to find ways to increase revenue in these challenging times.
The proposed Toyota sign brings new resources to the team to invest in Wrigley Field and our player roster and does so without adding to traffic or affecting the neighborhood quality of life. We hope you will support this new addition to the ballpark.
Opening Day at Wrigley Field is April 12
These are just a few of the things we're doing to reach outside the walls of Wrigley Field and work with our thriving community. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and members of the Ricketts family met with neighbors at the annual Wrigley Field Neighborhood Protection meeting on February 9 and have committed to staying actively involved in our community.
Here's to a great 2010 season! We look forward to working with you, to building a new chapter in the history of the Chicago Cubs and to helping the Lakeview community remain a great place to live, work and play ball.
Cubs Community Connection
If you live in the neighborhood of Wrigley Field they send you a little e-mail letter every so often. I thought maybe I'd put down a few things from that there letter in case somebody wants to know what they said
Cubs Community Connection
Dear Neighbors:
The 2010 season marks the 97th year of baseball at Wrigley Field and a new era for the Chicago Cubs - the first year under the ownership of the Ricketts family. This combination of historic tradition and new energy and excitement are hallmarks of our team and the Friendly Confines.
The Cubs are excited to work with you once again to make this season a success both on and off the field. On October 27, 2009, the Ricketts family became the eighth owners in the 134-year history of the Cubs franchise. They share the passion of Cubs fans for the team and the ballpark and are focused on bringing a World Series championship to the Friendly Confines. As owners, the Ricketts family has pledged to continue the team's efforts to be responsive to our neighbors and communicate often about our plans.
I'll put some more in a minute or two
Cubs Community Connection
Dear Neighbors:
The 2010 season marks the 97th year of baseball at Wrigley Field and a new era for the Chicago Cubs - the first year under the ownership of the Ricketts family. This combination of historic tradition and new energy and excitement are hallmarks of our team and the Friendly Confines.
The Cubs are excited to work with you once again to make this season a success both on and off the field. On October 27, 2009, the Ricketts family became the eighth owners in the 134-year history of the Cubs franchise. They share the passion of Cubs fans for the team and the ballpark and are focused on bringing a World Series championship to the Friendly Confines. As owners, the Ricketts family has pledged to continue the team's efforts to be responsive to our neighbors and communicate often about our plans.
I'll put some more in a minute or two
Crazies On The Rooftops
I went for a walk and noticed two things across from the ballpark. For one - they have updated the old Torco billboard for next week. It says it is nice of Milwaukee to bring an opener. But what is more peculiar than that - because frankly I do not understand that advertisement - what is more peculiar is that there are a bunch of people up on that there rooftop watching an empty Wrigley Field. The game is in Atlanta and I'm quite certain you cannot see Atlanta from up there.
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