he gone.

In the end it's a business. That's why you see sh** food at Great America, sporting events throughout the country, etc. . The ability to make better food is there. I have underwritten financials of some of said companies. They are doing well. I understand there are politics and financials that go into this, hence why its unlikely to change. My post is really more the chicken and the egg. Most teams are zombies, just going with the status quo. If you are winning you can get away with that. Just thinking outside the box. If you have an empty stadium how does one fill it? You pander towards your customer. Technology so people can be on their smart phones, food, beer, etc. It can be done. But spending 0.50 on nachos and charging $7.00 is a great profit. Spending $1.25 on nachos and charging $7.50 is not as great of a profit. Somebody would be out of a job if sales didn't increase to make up that margin. There are so many metrics that go into these breakdowns. Surveys,etc. saying -- if we did this and this, whats the likelihood of you attending a game? I get it. But I'd like to think the consumer is smarter than that. I personally know that I'll drink the majority of my beer pre-game. I'll have a nice meal beforehand and not spend more than $20 on items generally. If they had good food? I'd buy a few items. I know that when I'm in stadium club I'll generally come with an empty stomach because the food up there is better. Beer is beer. Same thing. They get a better margin on Miller Lite than on Half Acre. You'll always see more Miller Lite. But no doubt the experience would be better with better food/drink.

Well not to attack the thread here, but I think we missed out on the majority of the good foods in the park ... if someone is saying CrackerJacks are their favorite then we have a problem. The staple is the Polish, extra onion for me. However there is generally pretty good food throughout. The partnership with Beggars was smart. No more Digornio. I will say that it seems some parks are doing more and more of this, and I would like to see the Sox do this as well - but we need to start moving away from Levy Restaruants and SportService and more into replicating true Chicago restaurants that we are famous for. It's about time you separate yourself. Like it or not, the baseball game for a lot of people is the atmosphere. almost like an amusement park. Yes, people go for the rides, but they are also spending $25 to get into the "park". To go shopping and get clothing, to go to the fundamentals deck, to walk around, to take in sights, etc. Food is a big part of this. I know there are long term contracts with LEvy, etc. However, if we truly want to separate our experience from the Northside, I say we start shaping our games into a true "Chicago experience" Pizza from Beggars. Italian Beef and Dogs/Polish from Al's. Reubens from Manny's. Mexican from ________. More craft beer than just a few stands (those lines are generally long). Upgrade your nachos and pretzels, etc. to something more than just chips and melted cheese. You market this buy having an open competition from the vendors etc. Build up excitement. Of course there is the business side of this. Contracts, profit margins, the ability to get said vendors to "water down" their product by selling at a park, etc. But with an empty stadium, its not like the others -- bulls, hawks, cubs.. we need a selling point. why not move towards this as a selling point? I'm sorry, but with 4k TV's and angles and the ability to watch from anywhere -- you need to sell more than the product of baseball.

Not to go all Tom Skilling weather forecast and then tie this to the team's ability to come out strong - but they are predicting a warm spring. It'd be nice to get a few 60+ degrees games in April. Maybe our bats start off well, we win some, and the crowds show up a bit. The last few years we've always been playing from behind, maybe nice to get some momentum early. Again, very far fetched. But, hey, its Spring Training time. Fluff pieces and dreams baby!

I apologize, I kind of got us in this rabbit hole, back to Ian Desmond! (though surprised about the payroll stats... FWIW, I can't think who made those payrolls so expensive! ... in 06 or 07? Wasn't like there were superstars on the teams.) Ian Desmond is such a Sox player -- KO's, low BB's, declining numbers, "should be able to improve his 20-25 HR coming to hitters ballpark", not the biggest hole on the team, actually makes the defense worse ... it just has the ChiSox written all over it. Watch them give 2-3 years, and then they'll move our #1 prospect in Anderson to CF, screw with his mind learning a new position, he'll hit terrible, we'll have a chance to trade him for Adrian Gonzalez and turn it down. And round and round the circle of trust we go. That being said, the school kid in me will dream about how he is going to bounce back - hit .280 with 30hrs because he has "something to prove" -- (even though last year he had something to prove and laid an egg) Give me Austin Jackson. That's who I want. Or if someone can just look into the Magic 8 ball and tell me if JB Shuck can produce at a .275 clip I'll take him and no improvements until mid-season if we're in it.

I don't think we're a terrible fan base. I think that we've been burned. Whether, before really my time of following, threatened to move team. To one of the most unappealing (to the eye) stadiums (functionality aside). To never really being a player in the FA market. Abreu at $68mm is our top signing ... I mean ... You take those things into consideration and I call us a fan base that gives back what is given to us. You expect me to buy 14 or 28 game plan?? I think not. a) I went on this morning to explore it -- and they are telling me the best seats available start at Section 147 on the 3B side. I know very well that there are a ton of seats from dugout to dugout. I've had season tickets before, they keep them blocked off for possible FULL season buyers. Plus, 6% or 12% discounts on prices when you buy 28 games? Screw that. You know where else I can get that discount? Scalping, when they offer the Ballpark Pass again and I just sneak down to the lower concourse ..., from company tickets for free, from discount codes for every game, etc. There is absolutely no incentive to buy partial or full season tickets to this team. Again, I've done it in the past for 3-4 seasons - and been burned money wise each year. Open up good seats for me, with incentive and I'd buy. But when your best incentive is opportunity to buy Playoff tix? First you have to make the playoffs ..... and then everybody knows, if doing well, the Sox will allow you to buy in July/August and still get that incentive. Dumb. Marketing folks are terrible. I'm a diehard, but I'm also smart. No reason to piss money on this product. I'll walk up and scalp or buy tix last minute via stubhub or craigslist. Rant over.

If I'm one of these players I am telling my agent I want to wait until June. These are millionaires, they don't really care if they don't have a few months of income. Plus waiting may allow them to get a 4/44mm deal for someone like Fowler rather than like 2/24 or something. However if I am an agent I am pushing for them being signed, doesn't look good if you can't get your job done. These are my preferences: Fowler 2-3 years Jackson 1-2 years Desmond 1-2 years Anything over those years and I want to trade for my OF.

I'd be okay with a one year deal, option for a second IF the Sox FO are convinced he can play LF or RF with some skill too. Not a butcher like Garcia. And I have no idea of how you prove that ... But with that you could really be flexible with this team. Almost Maddon like. I'd imagine it'd really hurt Sanchez' ability to make the team. Or Saladino. But having Lawrie who can play multiple positions, Saladino, Sanchez, Desmond, etc. It really opens up the opportunity to rotate the lineups and get the most out of players. Garcia/LaRoche/Desmond/Saladino/Lawrie for 4 spots is nice.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) And for most of Chicago, they won't be able to watch the game at all, because the teams network won't be picked up by most TV providers in Chicago. Remember Comcast has zero incentive to pick up the network as it is competition. Look at LA and Houston's numbers for great examples. The Cubs will be on millions less TVs if they start their own network. Is that what happened in Houston? I lived down there last year and we had a pretty large sports package at the apartment, but couldn't get the Astros. I had the MLB package and could watch every team except the Rangers and Astros due to blackout restrictions. Pretty frustrating. I'm just waiting for the future - like 5-10 years from now when we don't have to buy a whole cable package to watch sports. I watch like 5% of my channels. And then the Blackhawks and White Sox. I'd pay $250 for the Sox and $250 for the Hawks alone and say peace to the rest of my cable package if I could.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 02:17 PM) Wasn't it Josh Fields who retired briefly due to how the players on our team behaved off the field (cheating etc) and it made him uncomfortable? Not sure ... I will say I was out a Wrigleyville establishment the night before SoxFest a few years back and randomly a good 12-18 players showed up. Big names. Some, Paulie, were very behaved (there's the hero!), wouldn't even take pictures with women. Others? Well, I'd say most of that team left with a girl. And most of those guys were married. Side note, Sale was at the bar that night, before he broke out. And nobody knew who he was. Everybody was hanging on Beckham and Danks, etc. But Sale was all alone. I just said hey Chris, good luck this year. He was so taken aback that anybody knew him. He literally stopped, came to our table and sat down to chat. Just excited somebody recognized him. Moral of the story? I wanted to tell that story. Hahaha. But I did lose respect that night a bit, but realized its a business. I'm there to watch baseball. Not be TMZ.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 02:05 PM) https://thedirty.com/gossip/miami/mat-latos...mat-latos-dick/ Here's just one example of what comes up when you search "matt latos is an ass----" I read that too, but read like 10 comments and it's pretty quickly disputed. Also, the Dirty isn't very credible in my eyes. They even say anybody can screenshot anything they'd like. To me, in the world of the internet we can all judge his character. But if it's just cheating, that's his own choice. It has nothing to do with him as a baseball player. I learned many years ago to separate the two. I'm not 7 years old looking up to these guys as heroes. Most all are scumbags, or in the least not capable of being faithful. To each their own. I don't have tens of millions of dollars and women throwing themselves at me. Who am I to judge. Win games. Prepare to win games. Play with passion. Be mad if you lose. That's all I ask.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 01:47 PM) Mike Recchia ‏@Recchia1 21m21 minutes ago @barstoolWSD guys an ass hole bro Mike Recchia ‏@Recchia1 20m20 minutes ago @barstoolWSD hope they release him 1 day in This is what Mike Recchia said to White Sox Dave about the Latos signing. That doesn't really expand on why ... Just like most people here, I'm sure we are happy AJ was here. I feel like I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt. Not going to say any names, but a lot of these guys aren't exactly saints. I've seen them out and about at bars sans wife before... just saying. Throw the ball well, keep your ERA down, and play to win the game. That's what I'm here to see. I'm not here to care if you have 10 gf's outside of your wife. I'm here to see your baseball skills and get a win. As long as he's not abusing anyone, he's fine on my team.

Everybody is calling him an asshole, but without searching on Google can somebody tell me the story to why? Or is this like the AJ is an asshole thing where you just get a reputation because you want to win?

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Feb 8, 2016 -> 10:48 AM) Honest question - what would be the benefit to moving to the suburbs? I think the team would be more accessible to the casual suburban fan. Outside people like us on this board who are pretty die hard, I believe a big portion of Chicago/land are pretty casual fans. Yes winning cures everything (Hawks sold out, Cubs sell-outs, etc.) however, I do believe there would be a good number of extra butts in seats with a stadium in the burbs. Me personally, I live in the city right now, and have no excuses, however when I try to get my friends who live in the burbs to go to a game I get a no 90% of the time, even when they are free tickets. Nobody likes to go to a game until 10pm, travel 60-90 mins, and fall asleep by midnight to be up the next morning for work. A place in the burbs might cut that in half. Opens yourself to being a niche team. To get families, to get the casual fan.

To be honest, this is a tough question. And judge me, but I think I become a Cubs fan. Not a die hard, but I'd still want to go to games. However I would remain a fan of the Sox wherever they went. So basically a half and half fan with no real strong allegiance. It would definitely suck. I'm looking forward to when the Sox are sold and they move to the suburbs. That's my hope at least.

If we had to take a guess, how many years do you think we'll be at this site/stadium. I'm putting a guess in of 40. So another 15 years. I think the park will still be very, very functional at that time, just that there will be enough complaining where they redo it.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 12:18 PM) 15 of his 30 starts were quality starts, and 1 of those other 15 he went 5 2/3 IP and gave up just 1 run against a pretty good Yankee lineup. But sure. This. Danks gets a bad wrap because of his contract (which by the way, although still not good, isn't extremely awful -- he's probably a $8-10mm arm just based on being able to throw 180-200 innings) His starts weren't awful last year. Actually quite decent. His tendency in my opinion is that when blows up, he blows up badly. Inflates his ERA. Also, in those games you can't say he kept us in them. He's not the one Im worried about. Erik Johnson is going to be brutal if he doesn't keep the ball in the park and get lucky getting out of his base on balls. That being said I'd take Buehrle if he wanted to come back -- or even if he wanted to sit out half a season and then come back. Though I'm guessing hes announcing his retirement.

I fully expect by the time I wake up for him to be with the Mets or Nats

QUOTE (QuickJones81 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:50 PM) The reason I like Cespedes over Fowler is the draft pick. Although I like the pick ... Gordon Beckham, Lance Broadway, Brian Anderson, Walker .... I'm too tired to think of the rest .... they all called. The Sox don't have a great past in the draft. Very likely the 28th pick wouldn't turn out to be anything.

Let's say he does sign, should maybe we run a contest of who can correctly guess the amount of pages this thread hits? I'd say 666 pages.

I'm determined to be a Scroogey, angry Sox fan regardless. If they sign Cespedes I'll be happy for a few minutes. But then I'll say "I'm going to hate this in 3-4 years" and also I'll just move my anger to a different place on the diamond. Now we won't lose games watching Avi strike out, we'll just lose them watching Erik Johnson serve up 8 runs when we score 5. This is the Sox fan I have been, and always will be.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 01:01 PM) Washington about to get buried by a blizzard. Don't know if that would have any impact on any FA negotiations. This isn't 1883 when they had to walk both ways up hill pulling a cart in a foot of snow to deliver offers on sheets of paper... pretty sure the phones still work.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 02:48 PM) RABBIT IS ONLINE RIGHT NOW. PLEASE GIVE US GOOD NEWS!!! The fact that this is news just means that we a) really need some news b) really need the season to start and c) really can't stand Garcia

My point is regardless of what they drew in the 70's and 80's that area has been completely revitalized. All neighborhoods from Old Town to Wrigleyville and West to Roscoe Village, etc. are thriving. As long as they are, the Cubs have a giant, wealthy, entertainment seeking demographic within 5 miles of Wrigley. Sox demographic just doesn't fit around the ballpark. Sure a few thousand maybe. But time to move the product to the burbs where you can take advantage of the family demographic. They'll have a nice leg up in creating a family stadium/atmosphere. Just will never happen under Jerry's watch.

Viewed 30,000 times more than any other thread ... more replies .... Frankly though looking it up I was more surprised than anything that the 4th most popular thread ever was Rios traded for Leury .....

Wasn't it just a few days ago where we were in shock this was getting to 200 pages before he signed somewhere? Now for sure will hit 300.