Comments on comments

I'm still intrigued and amazed by the number of comments from people who read the piece about Wrigley Field a few days ago, so I've decided to have a little fun with the comments and add to the dialogue:

"I agree about those seats that they put behind home plate. My theory is that during the week these seats are given to tourist or business associates who buy them to give away, because it does seem that on weekends they are the real Cubs fans who are really watching the games,but what's with all the cell phones?"

I know the Cubs made it tougher for scalpers and ticket brokers to get these tickets because they offered them in an Internet-only drawing, but then this is an organization that runs its own ticket broker business, so I agree, a lot of these seats are corporate perks and such.  It just seems so weird to me that so many people seem bent on letting people know that they are on tv. 

"i have gone to 2 cub games and i will never go to another.
they only go there to drink and curse. i took my granddaughter
to the last game that i will ever attend there, i couldnt buy her
a coke , all the venders only came by with beers and sitting behind us was this middle aged woman cursing like a drunken sailor. i got up took this child and left. they brag how great the cub fans are. i come from ny and i have been to shea and the stadium and i have never seen such rowdy fans."

No doubt certain people at games can be morons.  However, almost every time someone has been profane and overly obnoxious at a game, especially with children around, the crowd has put him/her in their place.  It's too bad that type of behavior makes people swear away from attending games.

"all i have to say is i live in so cal. i've been a dodger fan my whole life and i can respect the cub fans because they never give up loving those lovable losers i saw the dodgers win one in 88' i was like 9 years old but they've sucked ever since see unlike the cubs fans the dodger fans in so cal. all of a sudden turned to angel fans in 02' when they won the series (us dodger fans call them freeway hoppers) anyways you'd never see a cubs fan turn to a white sox fan just cuz the sox where doing good."

Man, I still get chills whenI see Kirk Gibson hit the HR off Eckersley in the '88 series and then limp around the bases.  As for the Cubs/Sox thing, I get real tired of it.  I'm not a Sox fan, but I don't hate them either.  I look at it this way, my first allegiance is to the Cubs, so I hope they go 162-0.  I only care about the Sox for six games all year, when they play the Cubs, so for all I care the Sox can go 156-6, as long as the six games they lose are to the Cubs.  I'm a Chicago fan as well, so if the Cubs can't win it, why not the Sox?  I certainly would have rooted for the Sox in the World Series last year over the Marlins.  Sox fans waste way too much time and energy on hating the Cubs.

"I wish people would just call Cub fans the most loyal fans in the game. People always say that the only reason we draw fans is because of Wrigley Field. Then why is it we sell out Miller Park everytime the Cubs and Brewers play? More then half of the fans are cheering for the Cubs. We also set a new spring training attendance record this year. The atmosphere at a Cubs game is like no other. I have been to many ballparks in my day and the only park that comes close is Fenway. Go Cubs!"

I made the pilgrimage to Fenway last year for the first time and saw the BoSox beat the Angels on consecutive nights.  Sweet Caroline!  I hope to God they do not tear that place down.  The Cubs draw everywhere.  I saw some games in Cincy this year with a lot more Cub fans than Red fans, and even in St. Louis it is sometimes 50-50.  The Cubs are definitely a team with a nation wide fan base.

"A rare sight; a stadium full of yuppie business men out to impress their kindred spirits.  Mmmm, sounds reaaal electric.  The tribal juices are flowing.. Go Cubs... our millionaires are better than yours.  Its kind of like the Old Colloseum Days, entertainment for the rich and the masses to take their mins off the real world."

Sounds exactly like my father.  Can't I still have this feeling that I did when I was a kid, before I discovered how indeed baseball is a business, a few times every summer?

"So, whatever happen to the "Bleacher Bums" of yesterday?"

Yeah, somewhere around the late 80's, probablyaround the time that lights went in, it became real popular to go to the games and sit in the bleachers.  When I started going to lots of games every year, my buddies and I always sat in the bleachers, but in time it got out of control.  I'd say the average fan in the bleachers today is about 25 and likes to drink.  By the time I reached 30, I couldn't get out of the bleachers fast enough.  I always preferred the angle of the game that you see in the bleachers.  I blame the Cubs for the way the bleachers are today.  They do a horrible job of staffing security out there, and they don't toss enough people out.  The last year that we sat in the bleachers for the majority of the time was the year that people started throwing trash on the field whenever there was a call against the Cubs.  That's already happened a few times this year.  I'd love to see that cost them a game sometime, when an ump gets tired of the delay and decides to forfeit the game to the other team.  The bleacher bum of the past isn't welcome out there anymore, and that's a shame.

"I've only lived in Chicago for two and a half years, and I have to respectfully disagree with your comments. To me, there seem to be two kinds of Cubs fans. There are those who follow the team through thick and thin and bleed Cubbie blue. Then there are those who come to Wrigley because it's a quaint, trendy place to be, then spend six innings on their cell phones calling everyone they can talking about how cool it is to be in a quaint, trendy place like Wrigley. I can't say I'm a lifelong Cubs fan, but I put myself in the former category. The ballpark is a place I go to get away from cell phones, computer, etc. for a few hours. Personally, I think that people who use cellphones during games should be tossed. They're no less obnoxious than the loud guy who's had one too many Budweisers."

When I go back and read what I first wrote about the crowds at Wrigely, I should have said that I feel that a MAJORITY of the people there are there to watch the game and get into it.  I get bothered when I hear people say that the park is full of nothing but yuppies and/or frat boys who never know what the score is.  I've met a ton of passionate fans at Wrigley, but this comment is dead-on.

"the only thing lower than a cubs fan is a yankees fan!"

Hey come on, I just said all those nice things about Fenway and the Red Sox...

"I'm a Cardinals fan and I dont appreciate us getting wooped up on by Da Cubs! But hey, it's May...
We'll be seeing you in October"

Obviously trying to lull me into a false sense of security over the danger of the Red Birds.  Splitting a four game series is hardly being wooped on!  Though that five game series last year in Wrigley was a classic.  I can ony imagine what a Cub-Cardinal playoff matchup would be like.  I'm all for it, given that the boys in blue come out on top.