Iwritecode

I can only imagine that this is a reference to how long it takes to get to the ballpark and then back home after the game. For someone like me that lives 2+ hours away, that's exactly how I look at it. Sox games were always a once or twice a summer thing. I just always thought I was in the minority because I very rarely hear anyone else use that as an excuse. I'm completely shocked to hear Brooks say that this was the #1 reason people didn't come to the games.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) It was a throw away post That's why you posted 2 more times defending it? If you're going to make a bad post, at least stand behind it. Don't come back 3 days later basically saying you didn't really mean it. And then continue defending it.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) The White Sox were the 8th best team in the league and failed to make the postseason. QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 03:27 PM) Thank you captain obvious.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 03:30 PM) Tell your partners in crime that. There's a party going on in here for being the 8th best team in the AL. I haven't seen anyone celebrating. Got any links? You're the only person here that thinks their placement against the other 13 teams in the American league matters at all. Until they get rid of the divisions and just start sending the top 4 teams to the playoffs in each league, it doesn't matter.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 03:09 PM) The other side of that is, if you don't make the postseason, it's no achievement to finish 10th (or 8th.) Thank you captain obvious.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 02:48 PM) No asterisk, however unlike you I don't think it's good strategy to strive to be the 7th best team in the league going forward. They should strive to be the best team in their division because that's all that really matters. Who really cares if they are the first best team or the 10th best team in the AL?

It's a badly worded award. He should have won the most improved player award. Comeback should mean he was good 2 years ago, bad last year and back to or above career norms this year. Rodney hasn't been what you could consider "good" since 2005.

QUOTE (champs2005 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) We can argue all we want, but rest assured that Brooks Boyer and the Sox brain trust now will NOT assume that more people will show up if the Sox win. That's just ignorant. We had nearly 30,000 for that make-up game against Detroit on 9/17. Then they proceeded to go on a 1-5 road trip. I'd bet my house that if they went 5-1 and came back home with more than a 1 game lead they would've hit 30,000 a few more times. Had they won the division they would have certainly passed the attendance total of 2011. But they didn't. Finishing the season in 2nd place with 85 wins ≠ winning.

QUOTE (champs2005 @ Oct 19, 2012 -> 12:28 PM) Another big conclusion was no one said they werent going to the games because they didnt think the team was any good or werent winning. So much for that commonly-posted theory that if Sox win then fans will come. We've been over this but here's the cliff notes version: Expectations for the team were low at the beginning of the season thus the season ticket base was low. "Winning" means post-season appearances, not jut spending a few months in first place and crashing at the end of the season. It will take a few years of consistent winning to really build the season ticket base up and thus the attendance numbers. It's not going to happen overnight or even within a few months.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 05:01 PM) There are also several successful people on here in alot of different arenas. There is good advice on this board in many different facets of life. One area that isn't really covered is female perspective because as far as I know, we have very few that post here.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 05:35 PM) So, tomorrow I have a phone interview for a job at Walt Disney World So which character will you be dressed up as?

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 10:51 AM) I think Kenny "officially" moving upstairs will help, as there were plenty of people I spoke with this year that wanted him gone more than Guillen. I think fans will see a "change" in style under Hahn, and my get excited. Has this been made official yet? Everything I read still refers to KW as the GM and Hahn as the asst GM.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 08:38 PM) If they can sell out at higher prices, I can't really fault them for making the price higher. I'm not so sure they sell out anymore. I think the attendance has gone way down since they doubled the prices when they moved it to the Hilton.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 10:25 AM) I guess we will find out if prices really did keep fans from the park or if they will find another excuse to not attend games. It will also depend on what off-season moves are made and what direction they decide to take with the team next year.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 02:53 PM) Is the price much lower this year? Last year it was $316 for a 2 night stay and the weekend passes were $75 each. So it's a little cheaper, but still ridiculously overpriced. I got priced out after 2006.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 11:57 AM) Find out how she did the bolded and I'll believe it. If she was homeless, and jobless, what'd she do that I can do? Thats what I wanna know. The right personality and a lot of luck. I know a couple of people that have gotten into that network marketing stuff. It's certainly not for everyone. If you're the type of person that can sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves, then you might be successful. But not many people are. FWIW, they do have business loans if you are really serious about starting your own restaurant. You just need a solid business plan. But IIRC, the success rate of non-franchised restaurants is really, really low.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 11:25 AM) of course it's not easy! did i say it was easy? it's hard as f***. but the difference between the people who are successful and the people who aren't, is that they're willing to do that work. for example. there's a woman named Dani Johnson who is now a network marketing trainer for companies similar to Beachbody. When she was 19 she was boke and homeless. Her husband drained her bank account, maxed out her credit cards and then jumped ship. She was living out of a car. She got into network marketing and failed miserably, just like you did. At 21 she somehow found a way to scrap together and save enough money to go to this training seminar for network marketing. When she left that seminar, she made $2,000 in the next 4 days. She made $50K in the next couple months, and two years later, by the time she was 23, she made her first million. What did she have that you don't? Nothing. In fact, she was WORSE off than you, but because she was willing to work hard, and because she had aspirations, she was able to completely change her life and become a multi-millionaire. That was in the early 90s. She now teaches others how to do what she did. Can you talk? Can you walk? Can you pick up a phone or sit at a computer? Then you can have the life you WANT instead of the life you think you're stuck with. That's what I'm doing right now, man. I have a degree in Theatre. But I'm going to make an extra 6-10K this year doing my network marketing business. Next year will be more, and more, and more till I don't have to work my s***ty catering job. You're unemployed so you've got the time - now just start doing something with it! If you want to learn HOW to do all these things, I can point you to some awesome reading. But at the end of the day, you have to want it yourself. Question - how would your life be better if you owned your own restaurant than it is right now? I feel like I'm reading an infomercial.

With all this discussion about ticket prices, I really think that's only a small part of the problem. The biggest problem IMO, is the performance of the team on the field. The excitement and expectations for the team are low right now. The season ticket base is probably only around 13,000 or so. The best way to build that up is to win and continue to win. And by "win" I mean post-season baseball. Not just hanging on to first place for a few months out of the season. I can pretty much guarantee that if they make the playoffs 3-4 times in the next 5-6 years it won't matter how much the tickets cost. The place will be full.

Just looking back at the Sox 2012 attendance and the top 5 largest crowds were: Friday, Apr 13 = 38,676 (opening day) Monday, Jul 23 = 37,788 (half-price Monday) Tuesday, Jul 24 = 34,715 Monday, Jun 18 = 33,215 (half-price Monday) Saturday, Apr 14 = 33,025 (opening weekend) They only broke 30,000 16 times including these dates. Of the other dates, 2 were Cubs games, 2 were Mondays, 1 was the 4th of July and 1 was during the final scheduled homestand vs the Tigers. What happened on that random Tuesday in July against the Twins? Because it’s those days we need to focus on. Obviously the Cubs and half-price Mondays draw people in. The 3 lowest dates were in April except for Sept 25 when the team had been all but eliminated.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 03:17 PM) If Sox tickets are too expensive at $50 for someone, Bears tickets aren't affordable at $200 for that same person. That might be true. How many people in this city are Bears fans and not Sox fans?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 02:22 PM) If the argument is price points, then the amount of home games is immaterial. Aren't people usually willing to pay higher prices for something if they know it's in shorter supply? Less home games = less supply. Also as I mentioned earlier, they don't have to share the city with any other football teams.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 02:15 PM) Weren't the Sox TV ratings up this year as well? People are watching, just not at USCF. IIRC, Sox TV ratings were up. Cubs were down.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) The Sox average more customers per game than the Blackhawks and Bulls. US Cellular capacity is almost 40,000. UC capacity is less than 24,000.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) The Bears, who have the highest ticket prices in Chicago, are always completely sold out. They only play 8 home games plus they don't have to share the city with another team.