Cub Culture invading S Side

[JUGGERNAUT]

I just got back from my biggest SOX outing in years. Our group might it enjoyable but there was some bad seeds were they sit.

 

The Cub presence was there tonight. In the stalls, on the concourse, & in the outfield. Everything from cub hats to wood jerseys were present. This inevitably led to some fights & what is disturbing more than the hooligans are the 100's of people that egg the fights on. Even that didn't bother us as much as the cub fans sitting around us rooting hard for the Rangers. That bothers us & I imagine that was the instigation for the fights.

 

These are clearly the bleacher bums who frequent Wrigley. A guy caught a home run ball from Texas not to far from us & you can only imagine the pressure he got from Cub culture to throw it back. That's never been a part of sportsmanship by fans & it's never been a part of SOX fandom. But these bleacher bums were relentless & that leads to swearing & finger gestures. I had 2 kids with me tonight & I was glad it happened at times they weren't looking.

 

I don't know if anything can be done, but I'm inclined to think that maybe 1/2 price tickets should be offered via ticketmaster only. That would prevent the spur of the moment N siders from walking up to the ball park.

 

================================

 

There was a lot of good at the game tonight. The SOX have really improved the LED

screens & they are electric to watch. I like the way they make the players bigger than life & help rally the crowd into loud cheering. To bad OH WE OH lets us down so often. But the kids really get into it, & they do pay attention & even eye the pitch count.

 

The kids really love the jumbotron races & the fact that the SOX have the caps, frogs, jets, & frogs, & pizzas makes it a very enjoyable experience for them. When a kid has that much fan at a game & the team loses you know you're doing something right.

 

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I'm really running out of suggestions, but this team does not really need the revenue from the added attendance as much as it needs the publicity or media presence from it. The attendance was nearly 23000, & lots up to F were filled. That's like 4000 cars & at $16 a pop that's a pretty good rev supply. About all I can really suggest is that the SOX should offer a family discount price for weekday games in the upperdeck. Now that the SOX have created a premium upper deck section & upper deck reserved offering a special bargain for families would really help in attendance, attract the right crowd, & maybe build a bigger future base. I'm thinking along the lines of $1 tickets for kids for most weekday games in the upper deck reserved section. If that doesn't draw them, nothing will. Including parking coupons for orders of 3 or more tickets might help as well. A 12 person group tonight cost about $350 after tickets, parking, & concessions. So every little bit helps.

[Palehosefan]

Great thread, its something I have been thinking about also. We really have a choice as a franchise, are we desperate enough for money that they continue to let in anyone? Or should they raise ticket prices or focus more on family discounts like you say. I say the last one, even if it hurts attendence for a while, I'm sick of the Sox reputation in the media and other fanbases. I have to delete so many trolls on another Sox message board dealing with crap about whitetrash Sox fans etc, it just gets old.

[flippedoutpunk]

The kids really love the jumbotron races & the fact that the SOX have the caps, frogs, jets, & frogs, & pizzas

Go Sausage!!! I love those little race things. Being at the Cell is a blast once you get around the drunk frat boys starting fights they know they can win because their with 5 other people that will jump in. I like to sit in the upper deck all the way in the front row since no one sits there no one will bother anyone there.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Great thread, its something I have been thinking about also. We really have a choice as a franchise, are we desperate enough for money that they continue to let in anyone? Or should they raise ticket prices or focus more on family discounts like you say. I say the last one, even if it hurts attendence for a while, I'm sick of the Sox reputation in the media and other fanbases. I have to delete so many trolls on another Sox message board dealing with crap about whitetrash Sox fans etc, it just gets old.

No. What about guys like me that dont have a family but want to come out & enjoy the game? Why should people like me get screwed on price? Are single males nothing but riff raff?

 

BTW, Ligue was a f***ing Flubbs fan.

[Palehosefan]

I'm not saying get rid of half price nights, its great for once a once a week thing etc. I just want a more family atmosphere at the games also. I don't have a family either and I understand your point, I just want the best of both worlds there, and I know thats hard to do.

[flippedoutpunk]

WHen i see a fight at the cell its usually because someone is actually wearing cub gear and is talking crazy s*** to everyone in the stands when their drunk enough. I think security should keep an eye out for suspicious frat boys wearing cubs gear at a sox game, their not there to enjoy a Frank Thomas HR i'll tell you that. I dont mind when they start s*** because they are usually outnumbered 19,000+ to 5, and im always willing to help out a fellow sox fan anyday.

[SnB]

I was at the game tonight, my 2nd half-price night, and of course this was the 2nd halfway bad experience I've had there this year, guess which game the other one was at? Oh yeah, the 1/2 price night. I was sitting in RF and we probably saw 6,7 fights.....not cool.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Believe it or not but the fighting was not really talked about after the game. What was talked about was the neighborhood. I don't share their sentiments but I do agree that this is the worst part of the new stadium arrangement. To enter parking you have to drive alongside low public housing & to exit the park you have to drive beyond factories. In both cases it simply doesn't have the aethetic feel of being a safe hood.

 

This is the gentrification argument. Despite there being cops everywhere the area around the parking lots looks very low income or shady like. That's a far cry from the 600K houses surrounding Wrigley. Maybe they can spend a million or so to gentrify the neighborhood. I asked the question what about ivy fencing? Instead of driving through the back alley of factories what if the factories were out of sight & all you saw was ivy? Overall the group seemed to like the Idea. Another even suggested growing more than just ivy so that CHICAGO WHITE SOX could be spelled out.

 

Most in the group felt that the exit had a worse feel than entering down Pershing, but some felt the Pershing entrance had a cheap feel to it. You pass a Baptist Church, low income housing, & a, small high school before getting to the lots. With the cops around it's not about feeling safe but rather feeling like you are in a low rent district.

 

I was thinking that both the neighborhood & the SOX would be better off by making 35 the main parking entrance & then build a SOX lane that goes around the main lots alongside the tracks. This would provide entrances to all lots (both red & green) & the later lots. Now upon entering the stadium lots the fans would be fixed upon the granduer of the stadium & the many fans going to the game. Low rent would be pretty far from their minds.

[SnB]

When your pulling out of Lot E and going onto the ryan, all you see is a giant flashing sign for a currency exchange saying "checks cashed" or something. Gives a very shady feeling.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

When your pulling out of Lot E and going onto the ryan, all you see is a giant flashing sign for a currency exchange saying "checks cashed" or something.  Gives a very shady feeling.

If you go down 35th street westbound it's not that bad really. That's Bridgeport & its still a pretty nice area.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Let's keep in mind that the fights occur at Wrigley as well. I've been too the shrine enough in the bleachers area to know. Bleacher bums get rowdy in both parks.

It's definitely instigated by cub fans talking trash. There was a group in front of us but I think because of the kids they both toned it down & began to root for SOX players. But before then they were listening to the cubs on the radio & cheering the Rangers. I don't know how many times we had to say "down in front" but it was often enough.

 

It's a tough issue to deal with. There were 9600 walkups today & w/out them the SOX might have drawn only 15000. I think we all agree the 9600 make it a better experience with a larger crowd. So maybe the answer is Cub profiling. If you see young adults dressed in cub attire notify security of their seat number & assign someone for specifically that general area so that if things begin to get rowdy they should be immediately asked to leave. Of the 9600 walkups less than 1% of that crowd is problematic. Profiling seems like it would help a lot. Where my group was sitting it was obvious many of them arrived buzzed.

[Fotop]

I was in RF as well tonight (sec.102) to be specific, but normally I sit behind the plate where my family's season tickets are so I didn't really "know" about what was going on in the outfield during half-price nights. Well now I certainly do, and let me tell you it's not pretty.

 

The fights are out of control and are in fact condoned by the crowd. These things are endorsed by the cheering/testosterone directed towards them. Case in point the one "big" fight in RF tonight didn't even start until security got there, but at that point something was bound to happen because well the crowd was asking for it. And what did it turn into? 5 guys throwing a couple cheap shots a piece at one guy. In fact one of the guys that threw the cheap shots fled to our section to not get thrown out but a responsible parent got him tossed when she pointed him out to security.

 

This was my second half-price night, first in the outfield and both times the park has had a terrible atmosphere because of the fights. People were more interested in the fights instead of the friggin' game! Sure we stand up to see who's getting jumped but God forbid we stand up for Mags when the game is on the line. The noise was better tonight, and in the first third of the game peopel were really getting behind Schoe when he was getting two strikes on the batter. I really liked that, but as the game progressed the mood degenerated.

 

These half-priced nights are a double-edged sword because of the revenue they bring in yet they reduce the "quality" of fan in the park. For every one of us that is able to get into the park a few more times because of half-price nights there are 10 jerk-off Cubs fans/frat boys there to drink and think "oh yea there happens to be a ballgame going on."

 

I wish there was a cut-and-dry solution to all of this but there really isn't. All I know is SOMETHING needs to happen because this has already gotten out of hand IMO. :headshake

[JUGGERNAUT]

It's been a long night & I need to hit the sack. Overall everyone agreed in the large group that the most annoying thing tonight was the "throw it back" culture. It's so disrespectful of SOX culture & perhaps that's what ignited the anger towards fights.

They were chanting it both for HR & foul balls. It's that part of Cub culture I think most SOX fans can't stand.

 

We all stood up & sang "take me out to the ballgame" but we like the "God Bless America" as well. I think it's not a bad idea to do both during the 7th inning stretch just so we aren't Cub like. I know they stole it from us, but they turned it into a celebrity gig so more people think of the Cub when they here it.

 

Would it be so bad to put up signs saying "This isn't Wrigley. We don't throw balls back on the field?" Or perhaps even better, why not put up a rule that if you do throw a ball back you will be escorted from the park?

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

I was in RF as well tonight (sec.102) to be specific, but normally I sit behind the plate where my family's season tickets are so I didn't really "know" about what was going on in the outfield during half-price nights. Well now I certainly do, and let me tell you it's not pretty.

 

The fights are out of control and are in fact condoned by the crowd. These things are endorsed by the cheering/testosterone directed towards them. Case in point the one "big" fight in RF tonight didn't even start until security got there, but at that point something was bound to happen because well the crowd was asking for it. And what did it turn into? 5 guys throwing a couple cheap shots a piece at one guy. In fact one of the guys that threw the cheap shots fled to our section to not get thrown out but a responsible parent got him tossed when she pointed him out to security.

 

This was my second half-price night, first in the outfield and both times the park has had a terrible atmosphere because of the fights. People were more interested in the fights instead of the friggin' game! Sure we stand up to see who's getting jumped but God forbid we stand up for Mags when the game is on the line. The noise was better tonight, and in the first third of the game peopel were really getting behind Schoe when he was getting two strikes on the batter. I really liked that, but as the game progressed the mood degenerated.

 

These half-priced nights are a double-edged sword because of the revenue they bring in yet they reduce the "quality" of fan in the park. For every one of us that is able to get into the park a few more times because of half-price nights there are 10 jerk-off Cubs fans/frat boys there to drink and think "oh yea there happens to be a ballgame going on."

 

I wish there was a cut-and-dry solution to all of this but there really isn't. All I know is SOMETHING needs to happen because this has already gotten out of hand IMO. :headshake

The security needs to be beefed up IMO.

 

I thought for sure when all the security guards went running to go after that drunk at the base of the RF foul pole that someone would jump the fence & go through the hole left in the cordon around the field.

[SnB]

I'm really thinking about just not going to any more tuesday games, the quality time I have at other games is SO much better. Even though the crowds are smaller, they're usually louder and much more into the game than on 1/2 price nights.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

I'm really thinking about just not going to any more tuesday games, the quality time I have at other games is SO much better.  Even though the crowds are smaller, they're usually louder and much more into the game than on 1/2 price nights.

This was my 4th game this season & my 1st on a half price night. As far as I'm concerned the crowd was really into it especially when Shoenweis was set to ge out of a jam or Maggs left the dugout for any reason. Konerko even got a lot of cheers tonight.

[Steff]

When your pulling out of Lot E and going onto the ryan, all you see is a giant flashing sign for a currency exchange saying "checks cashed" or something.  Gives a very shady feeling.

Get real. There's a pay day loan store across from the Oakbrook Mall.. think that's a shady neighborhood, too..?

 

:headshake

[Steff]

I'm really thinking about just not going to any more tuesday games, the quality time I have at other games is SO much better.  Even though the crowds are smaller, they're usually louder and much more into the game than on 1/2 price nights.

There's a excellent solution. Don't like it, don't go. Eventually all the fighting will get their attention and they'll do something more about it. When attendance is better on full price nights.. half price nights will go away.

[aboz56]

I wouldn't go to half-price nights...period.

 

Too many drunks...too many people who only come for the cheap tickets and are there to cause trouble...

 

I have only heard bad things about half price nights, so I think I'll stick to only making my trips to games on weekends only.

 

Plus, it's the best time to tailgate with Steff on the weekends...

[EvilMonkey]

Would it be so bad to put up signs saying "This isn't Wrigley.  We don't throw balls back on the field?" Or perhaps even better, why not put up a rule that if you do throw a ball back you will be escorted from the park?

Technically that rule is in place, isn't it? They tell you at the beginning of the game that throwing things onto the field will get you ejected, as well as running onto the field, etc. They throw it back, they get thrown out. I agree, throw them out! A few years back we had a guy in the seat next to me (but across the isle) got a HR ball from someone on the Twins. This guy was excited, and a bunch of morons around me kept telling the guy to throw it back, and gave him alot of crap when he didn't. One idiot even threw his beer at him , and missed, hitting some kids 2 seats over. Security thankfully escorted that jerk out. But an inning later, security came and got the guy who caught the ball. Seems it was the first career HR ever for the Twin guy, and he wanted to trade for the ball. The guy came back a few innings later with a bat signed by several of the Twins players, including Hunter and Jones. If you are a baseball fan, that would still be nice to have. A much better memory than throwing a ball back on the field.

[The Critic]

I voted other because I don't think either team has cornered the market on braindead losers who feel the need to drink themselves s***ty and start fights to ruin the night for people who can manage to act like human beings for 3 hours at a ballgame.

EVERY professional ( and amateur ) sports team has moronic drunken imbeciles in their fanbase, and I am not convinced that Cub culture helps, hurts, or affects the Sox in any way.

[JUGGERNAUT]

If we did away with 1/2 price nights it could get ugly in attendance. It's about 30 games I think betw Mon & Tues & it pulls in about 10000 more fans. That's 300000 less fans to the park. Maybe some of that would be made up with a better experience but I doubt it . Especially with the media bias here.

 

How about this?

Instead of opening 1/2 price nights to the general public why not offer them for ticket purchases of other games? The code to purchase on ticket master would then be a previous ticket's UPC or you can purchase it at full price & mail in a previous ticket stub for a rebate.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Technically that rule is in place, isn't it?  They tell you at the beginning of the game that throwing things onto the field will get you ejected, as well as running onto the field, etc.

It's too vague for druken cub fans to understand

[JUGGERNAUT]

Any body watching CLTV? He mentioned that Berman from ESPN called SOX fans the worst in baseball. I take exception to that because it's definitely unfair in a city that houses 2 teams 8 miles apart.

 

I still believe that the worst incident to occur in recent times at any park was when Dodger players went into the stands in Wrigley to enact retribution. That demonstrates how annoying cub fans can be.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Any body watching CLTV?  He mentioned that Berman from ESPN called SOX fans the worst in baseball. I take exception to that because it's definitely unfair in a city that houses 2 teams 8 miles apart. 

 

I still believe that the worst incident to occur in recent times at any park was when Dodger players went into the stands in Wrigley to enact retribution. That demonstrates how annoying cub fans can be.

Chris Berman is a f***ing idiot when it comes to baseball. He needs to just go back to football highlight shows & quit trying to comment on something he knows absolutely nothing about.

 

:fyou Berman