Though a life-long Cubs fan, I am also old and wise enough to no longer pin my hopes and dreams on groups of men who may or may not be up to the task. This includes Congress as well as sports teams, all of which technically represent us but, do well financially regardless of how they perform so, there's always a question of whether their hearts are in it.
The Chicago Cubs have been under new ownership for a few years now and I have to say I don't like the Rickett's family that owns the team. Tom, the spokesman for the family, the face, looks like Ted Cruz. Joe, the father, might as well be Ted Cruz. He's a bit of a wealthy reichwinger who sunk a lot of money into anti-Obama activities. The other kids are more active in regular business (daddy founded TD Ameritrade) and Tom is the face because he has the backstory to be the face. More of a free spirit than his sibs, Tom spent many summers after college sitting in the bleachers, watching his beloved Cubs. He met his wife there!
So, I don't care for their politics. And, like people who might move into a neighborhood where there is a Major League ballpark and complain that there is a Major League ballpark here, I have to point out that the Rickett's family should have talked at length to the neighbors before they moved in and maybe gotten a home inspection too.
Actually they did. They knew what they were getting into. Beautiful Wrigley Field has landmark status. You can't replace the iconic, manually operated scoreboard, for example. Changes must be approved by persnickety people. There is also the matter of a contract with the people who own the rooftops out beyond the left and right field bleachers. When the Tribune Company owned the team, they made a 20 year agreement with the roof top owners. So, Rickett's plans for view-blocking signs and jumbotrons have been met with lawyers. Frankly, they should be. New ownership does not void previous agreements. Even a Topix lawyer would know that. So, he'll probably have to buy them out or wait another ten or so years until the agreement is ended. And that's assuming all other plans are approved by the persnickety folks in charge of approval. Ricketts wants to build a hotel (I think where that McDonalds was/is) aside from the accoutrements inside the ball park because he figures you have to spend money to make money to buy better ball players....
Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Braves are getting a new stadium to replace perfectly good Turner Field. They want to move 10 miles further north to Cobb County "to be closer to their fan base". Turner Field is 20 years old. Wrigley is 100. There are some shenanigans going on in Atlanta. I think the neighborhood around Turner is too urban for the suburban fans. I don't know the neighborhood though. I think there's plenty of parking though! The two oldest ball parks in baseball, Wrigley, and Fenway in Boston, were built before automobiles and suburbs became our way of life. Both are sorta land-locked.
If you know sports you know that there is no commitment in life more easily broken than that between team and city. Atlanta's story is interesting. Usually a team has to threaten to move further than the next country to get new digs. Years ago the Chicago White Sox were about two literal minutes away from moving to Florida when then governor Jim Thompson freed up state funds to build them a state of the 1970's cookie cutter of a ballpark that was out of date when they broke ground.
Everybody loves Wrigley. Only the most soulless bastard could step inside and not feel the beauty of the baseball love. But, ya know, it's a hundred years old. There's no parking. Whereas other teams have spacious locker rooms, the clubhouses are so small you can barely change your mind. State of the art today is batting cages for the players. The players at Wrigley get a batting tee and a net inside the clubhouse if a pinch-hitter (for example) wants to take a few warm-up swings. The amenities are nowhere near state of the art. The players- home and visitors- love the ball park but....they've seen better everywhere else but Fenway. From a fan's perspective, it's a great place to visit, but there's no parking. The last time I was there I used one bathroom that was more *modern* but I think the trough urinals are still grandfathered in. Code won't let you build them like that anymore but for the masses getting in and getting out between innings, it's the way to go. The women's facilities have always been more modern, I should add. But, not much room to expand that either.
Move the team to one of the suburbs offering acres of free land. Build it to look like a brand new Wrigley Field. Build condos and rooftops that you own or control. Smart investors would clamor to build restaurants, bars and hotels in the area around the ball park. And...PARKING! There could actually be parking. If you build it, they will come...
Probably. The Ricketts family didn't so much buy a baseball team as they bought a ball park. The attraction is Wrigley Field, not so much the men who play there. That's pretty much it. Story for another day but, the Ricketts are business men. They've already lowered payroll and that' as American as apple pie. It's euphemistically called "rebuilding". People come to Wrigley because there is no place on earth like it. Would a replica be better? Sure but, no, it wouldn't be the same. Tourists might not plan yearly trips to Schaumburg or Naperville like they do to Lakeview/Wrigleyville. You can't build 100 years of baseball love.
Well, so what? Even pouring money into it, how many more decades can Wrigley Field last? While not exactly paying the Federal minimum wage to his players, Ricketts can't fucking wait to get rid of 29 year old pitcher Jeff Samardzia to save paying him the big bucks and only 2 players (Castro and Rizzo) are signed beyond '16. We're going to be rebuilding as long as he can get away with saying "We're rebuilding!" Other teams manage to build new stadiums AND better teams at the same time. The Cubs can't do either. This makes it very hard to be a fan. Very hard to love.
So, move! What will become of Wrigley? Sell it to Nicole Curtis for $1. Let her rebuild it. I hear she's the only one who can pull off such a task....
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