Today proves once again that the brain-trust over at Cubs Marketing doesn't believe in being subtle and they never miss out on an opportunity to milk Wrigley Field.
I believe you would agree that The Stadium has already been sufficiently "Northwestern-ized" for this Saturday's game. What with the Purple and White flags flying on every pole, oversized Northwestern banners hung on the West and to the South as well as eight more cluttering around our beautiful Wrigley Field Marquee. Dang heck, they even painted the right field wall window off of Sheffield Purple.
Well sir - apparently that wasn't enough, because they have decided to also paint the Wrigley Field marquee Purple. Not only are they temporarily defacing the landmark, they are also making sure they do it loudly; promoting and sponsoring it, complete with MasterCard billboards and Valspar paint cans. Because, you see - Wrigley Field isn't just a dandy place to watch a game, she is also a money making machine.
Who's the dude painting it? He's wearing a suit.
ReplyDeletesays here: Representatives from the Cubs, the game's title sponsor, Allstate, Northwestern University and Valspar all came together on Monday to apply the first strokes of paint in a show of support for the contest.
ReplyDeleteWell, ESPN Gameday is coming to Chi-town for the event, so they probably wanted to go all out..., which means it's going to be all over the place nationally this week. Lots of buzz around this game, since it's a quasi-bowl game.
ReplyDeleteI love it!
ReplyDeleteGross
ReplyDeleteThat's Northwestern's Athletic Director, Jim Phillips.
ReplyDeleteWonder if they'll spray paint the ivy. I'm sure that could get a few bucks.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Cardinals fan and quite frankly seeing this made me puke a bit! What's next, taking down the Neon saying home of the Cubs and replacing it with Home of the NW Wildcats????
ReplyDeleteThey better have crews there Monday morning turning that back to red!
You just don't mess with a piece of history. I don't care if gameday or whoever is in town. When you have something like Wrigley you don't mess with it. This is sickening.
ReplyDeleteExcellent coverage, guys.
ReplyDeleteThe key to this is the new owners lack tact and the ability to be subtle. The idea of NU/Illinois playing at Wrigley Field is pretty cool. Two historic teams in a venue that housed football for 50+ years. This whoring out of the facility is just embarrassing. Why clutter the marquee with those massive pictures (which they did the first month of the season, too)? Why paint fake ivy on padding and cover it with an allstate logo? Now defacing the marquee? Wally Hayward is a clown.
fuck ricketts and whoever rubber stamped this idea. there's something wholly wrong about this idea because it shits on one of the few remaining vestiges of mystique that the Cubs have. We may suck and never win in the post season (or get to the post season), we may over play under-performing players, our team may be eternally cursed, but at least we have that lovable dump known as Wrigley Field.
ReplyDeleteNow ricketts has paint the thing like a whore an auctioned it off to the highest bidder. fuck these clowns and fuck the rich little northwester pricks who it was done for.
I'm a Brewers fan but an Illinois alum with a good sense of history. Not a big fan of Wrigley because it's not so comfy, but I truly appreciate its legacy as a great place for baseball.
ReplyDeletePainting that iconic sign purple is a travesty. My suggestion to the Illini who grew up as Cub fans is to PLAY THEIR HEARTS OUT to demonstrate that Wrigley ain't NW territory.
Baseball at its purest, that's why I love Wrigley. The game played on a field that has been around since WWI is something everyone should appreciate. The stadium embodies what the game SHOULD be all about, no fancy video screens etc. But this ownership with the large Toyota sign and marketing ploys like painting the marquee obviously doesn't appreciate Wrigley's true value. I do love the idea of football being played on the field again. What a great atmosphere it will be for the college players and fans. I hope they appreciate where they are playing. Pretty clear the owners don't.
ReplyDeleteHaha, you Illinois babies. Enjoy taking the short bus up to Wrigley. We RUN Chicago, when will you learn. Not our fault you weren't born with superior genes or intellectual prowess.
ReplyDeleteGo Cats.
It's as hard to find a good place to party on NU's campus as it is to find a minority on the football team. The campus blows. Dillo Days blow. Get out of the Big Ten.
ReplyDeleteIts a fucking sign people. Whoever said you don't mess with history...what history? A history of failure because beyond the pretty ivy and the cute little ballpark, that's all this organization really is. Take away the big market, the brick and the ballpark and you have the Montreal Expos. And, I am a Cub fan. All this hand-wringing over the "landmark" is mere distraction from what really matters -- the on-the-field product is, at best, mediocre. Lets have a little outrage over that instead of what fucking color the marquee is in the middle of November. Its all the tradition-lovers that makes it tough to be called a Cub fan these days. I say, get the 300 million any way you can...by legislation, by naming rights, by selling off any piece of that crappy little park...so long as the team plays well and wins. Thats the bottom line.
ReplyDeleteThe expos were in Canada, the cubs are in the US. They cant be the same silly.
ReplyDeleteKids -- they paint the marquee once a year, every year. So for one week, they paint it purple for a historic game....and you're whining about it? Crazy.
ReplyDeleteAlso -- in the 1960s, the marquee was BLUE, so it's not like red is some eternal constant on that marquee.
Mr. Anonymous Cub Fan who would be OK with them renaming Wrigley...I picture you as someone who says he's a fan because you sometimes wear a Cubs hat while you take in the ass. Wake up shit for brains, yes the Cubs are "medicore" but they play in a national monument. Anyone who can't see that is not a Cubby fan, just a douchbag with a hat.
ReplyDeleteMr. Anonymous Cub Fan here...thanks for that thoughtful assessment, Mr. Anonymous Senseless Shitforbrains. Your thoughtful post has prompted me to re-evaluate everything in my sad, wretched life. From here on out, I will willfully accept the fact that the Cubs are underperforming. I will watch gleefully as they continue their century of progress and will take solace not in the losses, but in the fact that they play in a cute little ballpark. I happen to think that the product on the field is more important than the field itself, so would enthusiastically support selling naming rights to the park if it meant the ballclub was better equipped to put a winner on the field. I would think most Cub fans would support that notion as well. Real Cub fans want wins – whatever the ballpark is named. Because winning, in the final analysis, is really what matters, right? But thanks again for helping me through this. Much appreciated!!
ReplyDelete