Back To Work

Well Sir, What more can be said?
Sure it is disappointing to see our Bear's season come to an end. But we aren't going to mope around and feel sorry for ourselves.

No sir. It's time to get back to work.

Just this morning, scaffolding started going up on the Addison side of The Stadium. We will give her a look see and let you know what they are up to.

Bears vs Packers 1941

This coming Sunday will mark the return of playoff football between the Chicago Bears and the Packers of Green Bay.

The last time these rivals played in a post-season game was back on December 14, 1941 - at our beloved Wrigley Field. Now, I asked our blog historian - and my brother - Harold to dig up some information on that there game. He obliged:

The Bears won the '41 game 33-14 to claim the NFL's Western Section Championship, and set up the NFL title game at Wrigley Field two weeks later. 43,425 fans attended the Packers game, but only 13,341 came to watch the Bears beat the New York Giants 37-9 in THE NFL Championship.

The '41 game was played one week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This uncertainty led to this report (and accurate prediction) from the Tribune: "It may have been the last time these two titans of the gridirons will meet for a long, long time. If so, the fans will have plenty to remember them by until this war runs its course."

Most don't remember, but that month the Cubs were set to install lights at Wrigley Field. The steel for the poles was already at the field and the lights were ordered - but after that day of infamy, the club decided to donate the steel to the war effort.

Interestingly, that Tribune reporter also mentioned that the game: "didn't need that specially designed fifth quarter." The NFL didn't adopt "overtime" until 1942, and I guess before the game the two teams agreed to play a sudden-death fifth quarter if they were tied at the end of regulation.

One last fact: 1941 was also the year the Bears fight sing was published: "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" We sure do wish ol' Wrigley Field was hosting the game this weekend, but no matter, let's just hope our boys Bear Down on Sunday.

Gameday!

Lights and Cameras for Wrigley Action

Well sir, there is certainly more to see around the friendly confines this afternoon.

I found that this large operation has taken over the parking lot just west of Clark and Addison. My grandson tells me that this is the set up for ESPN Gameday, and that it is supposedly some big deal.



Also, they now have two giant trucks parked on Waveland Avenue that will help supplement Wrigley Field's lights for the game. I strolled by again this evening, and they have the field lit up like a candle. It is a beautiful site, and she is even more bright now that they have these extra lights.

Speaking of adding lights to Wrigley Field, let me just tell ya - you don't want to get my friend Hank going on the subject.

More Football Clutter At Wrigley Field

Seems like the more I stroll by Wrigley Field, the more junk they have come up with to clutter the place.

I was quite upset to see that after spending the day painting the marquee purple they went ahead and slapped a logo up there. I'm not too fond of advertisements around the park as you might have heard, but to put one up here on the marquee - well sir, temporary or not I don't like it.


And I may be crazy and half colorblind, but the top and the bottom of that marquee have different purples to them, don't they?

Then I walk around the corner and find this gigantic "U" standing right there behind Ernie Banks' statue.

That thing makes the old macaroni and cheese noodle from this last summer seem small and tactful. I tell you what, if a stiff breeze was to make its way down Clark Street I wouldn't be surprised to find that we'd have ourselves another broken statue on our hands.

I reckon seeing the marquee and that "U" shook me up a bit, because when I came home and took a gander at this photograph I took of the Northwestern University equiptment truck, it sure is a bit shaky.
I apologize.


Lord knows what I'll find around The Stadium tomorrow.

This Might Not Be Such A Good Idea

Um... While Grandpa and the rest of Illinois have focused on purple marquees at Wrigley and purple banners at Wrigley and purple... well, everything at Wrigley; I happened to notice this photo that showed up from our pal: @clubhousecancer.

I mean . . . where do I begin on this?
1. (shout out to my Grandpa) Fake Ivy. Yeah, there is fake ivy around the wall and on that fake ivy are lots of ads. Grandpa and his pals are pretty much anti-ads by the way. Me? I don't really notice them. I mean, am I going to start paying for insurance just because I saw this ad? Nope!

2. The Goal Post. It is attached to the brick wall! Do I have to repeat that in some other way? It is attached to a very very old wall. Last time I watched a game, the goal posts were attached to the ground.

3. Clearance. Um.. also, the last time I watched a game: There Were More Than 3 Inches Of Clearance Outside of the Endzone! ! !
I mean... I'm definitely pro-Wrigley and I am (I guess) pro-football at Wrigley, but this appears to be not such a good idea. I'll let Grandpa and my Uncle Harold get into the details of the whole past vs present deal, but presently: it just seems like a really, really bad idea.

UPDATE: It looks like the Big 10 agrees with me on this one. They ruled that they will only go towards the West end zone. No love for the East Side!!

Milking Wrigley Field and Painting it Purple

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.

We've Got Goal Posts!!

They are up... and they are good!

Turning Wrigley's Field Into A Gridiron

The Cubs season came to a end the first week of October and ever since laborers have been hard at work transforming this beautiful baseball field into a football gridiron. All this here effort for one game on November 20th matching the Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Illinis.

We here have been documenting the process and figured it was close enough to completion to give all of you a gander. A lot has gone into this event so far but I'll start with the field itself.

They started by bring in sod, you see. Can't have much of a football field with a dirt infield.


They tackled the diamond first,


then they covered the warning track.


The field really transformed when they painted on the numbers and lines. If you look close enough you'll see the Northwestern "N" at the 50 yard line.


Now, as of this afternoon - they have the painted purple around the sidelines, and added the base to the field goals.


I reckon that this is most of what they will have to do for the field, but I'll be back tomorrow to see if they have made any more progress.

Thank you kindly

A Word From Our Sponsor

Because apparently you can't do anything these days without a sponsor, they announced today that the upcoming football game to be played at Wrigley field will have someone's name on the logo: All-state Insurance.

Here is a look at that trusty logo for the deal as well as the seating chart for the game - the first college football game played at Wrigley Field in 87 years.

Monkey Rolls For Dang Heck

I'm not sure what to think about football coming back to Wrigley. I had to take a look at my diary to figure out when I last saw some football at Wrigley Field. Dang heck if it wasn't back in '65 when the 49ers came to town. Those California boys were doing monkey rolls right where the plate should have been. I kept asking them what the heck they were doing. How did jumping over each other and rolling get em' ready to play football? I don't know much but I guess karma caught up to those boys because that was the day Gale Sayers had 6 touchdowns.
This fall when those college boys come to town if they even think about getting into groups of three to do them darn monkey rolls I'm liable to come down there with my cane and check for protective cups if you catch my drift.

Wrigley Field Puts On The Purple

The boys return home tomorrow from a decent road trip. While they were gone they announced the return of football to Wrigley Field with a college game next fall. At the official announcement they gussied it up with purple flags all over the dang place.

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.

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