Kaplan sits down with Ricketts (& Kenney Extension)

[Elwood]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

Why anyone would want to watch baseball played under a roof is beyond me.

 

And while we're at it, I hate artificial turf as well.

[Guest]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

just saying nothing. This isn't Miami. The Cubs don't struggle to sell tickets because of weather problems.

April/May tickets were available at the ticket booth for many games this year and years prior. Sellouts occur durng the warm months, rarely before.

 

when the cubs aren't awful, sellouts (or very close to it) happen plenty in April and May.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2008-schedule-scores.shtml

 

The April attendance in that year (2008) averaged ~38,100, a full 2,000 tickets short of a sellout and I included the attendance figures that were over the listed capacity (assumed SRO and a sellout). Are you really debating that people don't go to games in April/May in Chicago due to weather? The first few games of every season usually sell out but the rain/cold weather keep people away.

 

You're talking 38k average attendance for a day game heavy cold schedule and you're arguing that people don't go to games because of the weather? WTF?

[Guest]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

Why anyone would want to watch baseball played under a roof is beyond me.

 

And while we're at it, I hate artificial turf as well.

 

 

Well, when the alternative is extreme cold or no baseball due to rain, I'm fine with it. But it makes no sense for the Cubs.

[XZero771679666304]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

Why anyone would want to watch baseball played under a roof is beyond me.

 

And while we're at it, I hate artificial turf as well.

 

 

Well, when the alternative is extreme cold or no baseball due to rain, I'm fine with it. But it makes no sense for the Cubs.

 

Yeah, playing under a roof isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than sitting through a game when it's 40 degrees out and/or drizzling. But there's no way it happens, so it really doesn't matter.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, playing under a roof isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than sitting through a game when it's 40 degrees out and/or drizzling. But there's no way it happens, so it really doesn't matter.

 

Sitting through 3-4 games like that a year is absolutely worth not playing under one the other 78 games a year.

[XZero771679666304]

Yeah, playing under a roof isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than sitting through a game when it's 40 degrees out and/or drizzling. But there's no way it happens, so it really doesn't matter.

 

Sitting through 3-4 games like that a year is absolutely worth not playing under one the other 78 games a year.

 

I'm thinking a retractable roof, which wouldn't be up the other 78 games of the year. If you only used it when the weather was inclement, I'd have zero problem with it. But since the Cubs aren't moving to the burbs and no one will be dropping a roof on Wrigley, it's all hypothetical anyway.

 

And it's colder than well digger's ass at Wrigley way more than 3-4 games a year, BTW.

[bukie]

Last year I attended probably the worst game ever at Wrigley, considering both the weather and the actual game action: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201105140.shtml

 

However, I got to meet Tom Ricketts, and he gave me a poncho for free. So, it was still pretty cool.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, playing under a roof isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than sitting through a game when it's 40 degrees out and/or drizzling. But there's no way it happens, so it really doesn't matter.

 

Sitting through 3-4 games like that a year is absolutely worth not playing under one the other 78 games a year.

 

I'm thinking a retractable roof, which wouldn't be up the other 78 games of the year. If you only used it when the weather was inclement, I'd have zero problem with it. But since the Cubs aren't moving to the burbs and no one will be dropping a roof on Wrigley, it's all hypothetical anyway.

 

And it's colder than well digger's ass at Wrigley way more than 3-4 games a year, BTW.

 

A retractable roof doesn't just disappear when open.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

Why anyone would want to watch baseball played under a roof is beyond me.

 

And while we're at it, I hate artificial turf as well.

 

Because we're fans of, you know, the sport and not the ambiance.

[wekse]

Last year I attended probably the worst game ever at Wrigley, considering both the weather and the actual game action: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201105140.shtml

 

However, I got to meet Tom Ricketts, and he gave me a poncho for free. So, it was still pretty cool.

 

i was at this game as well...fuckin' miserable...worst part is that it was my father's first time at wrigley(he's 62 and a lifelong cubs fan, just HATES big cities), after years of trying to get him to go with me...he was very appreciative, but it sucked so much...we'll try again this next season...shooting for sometime in the summer, just hope it's not hot as balls.

[Elwood]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

Why anyone would want to watch baseball played under a roof is beyond me.

 

And while we're at it, I hate artificial turf as well.

 

Because we're fans of, you know, the sport and not the ambiance.

 

Well, you and the other Vulcans may prefer a sterilized version of the game, but I would rather see it played outdoors whether I'm at the park or watching on TV.

[BCVM22]

Well, you and the other Vulcans may prefer a sterilized version of the game

 

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061222235624/memoryalpha/en/images/b/b6/Solok_captain_logicians.jpg

[bukie]

Last year I attended probably the worst game ever at Wrigley, considering both the weather and the actual game action: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201105140.shtml

 

However, I got to meet Tom Ricketts, and he gave me a poncho for free. So, it was still pretty cool.

 

i was at this game as well...[expletive]' miserable...worst part is that it was my father's first time at wrigley(he's 62 and a lifelong cubs fan, just HATES big cities), after years of trying to get him to go with me...he was very appreciative, but it sucked so much...we'll try again this next season...shooting for sometime in the summer, just hope it's not hot as balls.

Did Ricketts come by your section too? He stopped by our section behind home plate with a box full of ponchos and handed them out to everyone and shook everyone's hand, thanking them for coming to the game and apologizing for the weather, saying it could "only get better" from there on out. It made what was otherwise a miserable experience really cool and memorable.

[seanimal]

A retractable roof would eliminate the rainouts/delays. Spring games would sell out more frequently.

 

 

Just sayin......

 

just saying nothing. This isn't Miami. The Cubs don't struggle to sell tickets because of weather problems.

April/May tickets were available at the ticket booth for many games this year and years prior. Sellouts occur durng the warm months, rarely before.

 

when the cubs aren't awful, sellouts (or very close to it) happen plenty in April and May.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2008-schedule-scores.shtml

 

The April attendance in that year (2008) averaged ~38,100, a full 2,000 tickets short of a sellout and I included the attendance figures that were over the listed capacity (assumed SRO and a sellout). Are you really debating that people don't go to games in April/May in Chicago due to weather? The first few games of every season usually sell out but the rain/cold weather keep people away.

 

attendance =/= ticket sales

[XZero771679666304]

Yeah, playing under a roof isn't ideal but it's a whole lot better than sitting through a game when it's 40 degrees out and/or drizzling. But there's no way it happens, so it really doesn't matter.

 

Sitting through 3-4 games like that a year is absolutely worth not playing under one the other 78 games a year.

 

I'm thinking a retractable roof, which wouldn't be up the other 78 games of the year. If you only used it when the weather was inclement, I'd have zero problem with it. But since the Cubs aren't moving to the burbs and no one will be dropping a roof on Wrigley, it's all hypothetical anyway.

 

And it's colder than well digger's ass at Wrigley way more than 3-4 games a year, BTW.

 

A retractable roof doesn't just disappear when open.

 

Really? I thought they just used a cloaking device.

 

 

There's a difference between having an open roof looming on the periphery and playing under a closed roof. You can have a retractable roof and a beautiful ballpark. I'd trade Wrigley for a park like Safeco so fast it'd make your head spin.

[Magnetic Curses]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrigley_Field

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/ballpark/information/index.jsp?content=history

 

The current capacity is 41,160, making Wrigley Field the 10th-smallest actively used ballpark.

I was less than 4K over. The point stands however -- a slightly larger ballpark could generate more revenue. A different location could allow the Cubs to increase advertising revenue etc. I realize that this is an unpopular position around here and that any differing opinions are usually met with insults and arguments over minutia.

 

 

edited

 

yeah, tell us about the good ol' days!

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/7315/ricketts-talks-free-agency-theo-and-more

 

More Ricketts meeting with the media.

 

On the new collective bargaining agreement and cap on draft spending: "People knew this was an issue that would be discussed in the new CBA. I was personally surprised how far it went. I thought there would be some changes [to the draft] but it's a big shift, a bigger shift than expected. So we knew it was a possibility this would come in but it's Theo and [general manager] Jed's [Hoyer] decision how to allocate the money. But it will have an effect because they will only have a certain amount of dollars to allocate for the draft."

 

On the Cubs' 2012 baseball budget: "I think it will be comparable to 2011. Our economics are about the same as last year. Nothing has really changed dramatically on that front.

 

On why he gave Epstein a president title: "I did see that he had a comment to one of the papers in August about someday moving on and wanting a bigger title. So I said to myself, 'You know what? That makes sense to make him president of baseball [operations]. Everything would flow up to him. He could build his own team beneath him so I was comfortable with that. It made sense for us to make an overture for him to be president. It's a promotion."