NSBB at the 2005 Convention

[mlpeel]

Time for those of us who attended Day 1 of the 2005 Convention to set down their observations. I'll kick things off; NSBB 2004 Poster of the Year JonMDavis, 1908, and Serena should add to this thread as they get opportunity to post, and I hope other NSBB members will chime in.

 

I arrived in the Hilton's Grand Ballroom, the site of Opening Ceremonies, at 3:30. A bit to my surprise, that turned out to be plenty of time to stake a good location: I was close to the podium and close to the door. The room filled up pretty quickly thereafter, though: the doors nearest to the microphones closed by 4, and it was standing room only by 4:30. About that time, I spotted JonMDavis -- not too far away in actual distance, but with the press of crowd he might as well have been 100 miles away (we'll find out later if he had any clue who I was; I couldn't call him because I couldn't hear anything on my cell phone over the crowd noise).

 

The crowd was in a good mood, but relaxed: the buzz that fired up last year's Opening Ceremonies was missing this year. It looked for just a moment as though the ceremony would actually start at 5:00; but on the whole, the 5:10 start was as close to on time as I can remember. After the usual charity promo (enlivened a bit when marketing director John McDonough walked away from the mike without introducing Wayne Mesmer; he had to go back to take care of it), the Cubs personnel were introduced -- about time, as the attempts by Pat Hughes and Mesmer to whip up the crowd were greeted with polite enthusiasm rather than real frenzy.

 

The old Cubs were Paul Assenmacher, Glenn Beckert (looking trim and energetic), Mike Bielecki (I guess he'll be back on Not For Women Only tomorrow), Jose Cardenal (shockingly 'fro-less: I would never have recognized him without the intro), Jody Davis (who drew the usual "Jody! Jody!" chants), Andre Dawson (who got a *huge* hand, stopping the "Jody!" shouts), Bobby Dernier, Jim Frey, Joe Girardi, Richie Hebner (almost the only one to throw his hat into the crowd -- just in the year where I had great position to nab one, but he was nowhere near me when he let it go), Glenallen Hill (a lot of people clearly remembered that bomb he hit to the rooftop across the street), Burt Hooten (whose introduction puzzled some of the younger fans standing near me), Randy Hundley, Jay Johnstone, Dave Kingman, Vance Law, Gary Matthews (introduced as an ex-player rather than a current coach!), Mickey Morandini, Keith Moreland, Gene Oliver, Andy Pafko (still holding up well), Milt Pappas (the Silver Greek now), Paul Popovich (prompting another round of "who?" from the younger fans), Dwight Smith, Lee Smith (some shouts of "Hall of Fame!"), Tim Stoddard, Kevin Tapani (who looked like he could go out and pitch right now), Gary Varsho, Rick Wilkins, and Don Zimmer (*enormous* hand; unlike his buddy Frey, who faked a throw of his hat, Popeye let his fly -- and duplicated Ron Santo's 2004 feat of hitting the chandelier). Then the heavy artillery: Fergie, Billy Williams, Ernie, and Ron Santo (who received the second best hand of the night: many cries of "Hall of Fame!"). Dave Otto and Scott Sanderson were on the program but weren't introduced; guess they couldn't make it.

 

The new announcing team, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly, preceded the current Cubs; then Jim Hendry got a slightly understated hand (which may not bode well for the questions he'll hear tomorrow morning). Unlike years past, Hendry was the only front office man introduced tonight: MacPhail was the only other honcho on the list, but he wasn't introduced. Then the coaches -- Gene Clines, Sonny Jackson, Juan Lopez, Dick Pole, Chris Speier (surprisingly loud applause: I guess a lot of people realized he replaced Wendell Kim), and Larry Rothschild (who got the best greeting by far of all the coaches) -- followed by Dusty Baker: there were a few decided boos mixed among the solid cheers he received, but the cheers prevailed. Nothing but cheers for the players, though: Michael Barrett, Ryan Dempster, Jason Dubois (most people seemed to know who he is, which is encouraging), Derrek Lee (got a great hand), Jon Leicester, Sergio Mitre, Corey Patterson (greeted with enthusiasm), Mark Prior (greeted with even more enthusiasm; and Corey must feel like a shrimp standing next to Mark), Glendon Rusch, Todd Walker (a crowd favorite), Todd Wellemeyer, Kerry Wood (second best hand among the players), and Mike Wuertz. Arriving out of alphabetical order: Greg Maddux, who drew the most applause of any current Cub -- apparently saved up from last year, when so many of us vainly hoped his signing would be announced at the Convention. But the biggest hand of the night was saved for the last introduction, Ryne Sandberg. Ryno threw out the first ball -- but not before McDonough announced the Cubs have retired his number: look for it up on the flag pole next season. Joe Borowski was on the program but wasn't announced; Carlos Zambrano was a no-show again this year, but *was* announced and promised for tomorrow.

 

Then they trotted out the film of last year, which was the cue for many to leave (including me: I had to beat it before the snow started). More tomorrow...

[UMFan83]

So I know Saturday's the big day, but does anyone with experience with the Convention know what will be going on Sunday? Any player appearences or was today the big day for that?

 

Also, if anyone wants to meet up Sunday, I'll definitely be there. (Thanks Mark!)

 

Edit: Thanks for the recap too, I appreciate it

Edited January 22, 2005 by UMFan83

[mlpeel]

So I know Saturday's the big day, but does anyone with experience with the Convention know what will be going on Sunday? Any player appearences or was today the big day for that?

 

Also, if anyone wants to meet up Sunday, I'll definitely be there. (Thanks Mark!)

 

Sunday is a light day: Meet Cubs Business Management (business VP Mark McGuire, marketing VP John McDonough, and ticket sales director Frank Maloney) start at 9 in the Boulevard Room near the hotel main entrance, then Down on the Farm with farm director Oneri Fleita and scouting director John Stockstill in the same room at 10:30 -- the session I particular attend for. This year's DOTF prospects are Jason Dubois and Jon Leicester; I'm a bit surprised Sergio Mitre isn't listed. There's a kids session overlapping those 2, and more autographs, but the whole thing's wrapped up by noon.

[sherwood921]

Anyone got any tips? I went today for the first time, and plan on returning tomorrow. What should I see? Who should I hunt for?

[Outshined_One]

So I know Saturday's the big day, but does anyone with experience with the Convention know what will be going on Sunday? Any player appearences or was today the big day for that?

 

Also, if anyone wants to meet up Sunday, I'll definitely be there. (Thanks Mark!)

 

Sunday is a light day: Meet Cubs Business Management (business VP Mark McGuire, marketing VP John McDonough, and ticket sales director Frank Maloney) start at 9 in the Boulevard Room near the hotel main entrance, then Down on the Farm with farm director Oneri Fleita and scouting director John Stockstill in the same room at 10:30 -- the session I particular attend for. This year's DOTF prospects are Jason Dubois and Jon Leicester; I'm a bit surprised Sergio Mitre isn't listed. There's a kids session overlapping those 2, and more autographs, but the whole thing's wrapped up by noon.

 

Do you have any particular plans on asking Fleita and Stockstill any questions in particular? If so, what?

[mlpeel]

Anyone got any tips? I went today for the first time, and plan on returning tomorrow. What should I see? Who should I hunt for?

 

I don't collect autographs, so I can't help you there. I go for the Q&A sessions with team personnel. If you plan to attend the Jim Hendry/Dusty Baker session at 9 tomorrow, get there *early*: it's by far the most popular session (it's Spike O'Dell's show on WGN), so seats go fast and it fills up in no time. Baker's session with his coaches is also popular, and the session with the pitchers figures to be well-attended.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Thanks for the recap, Mark! I'm especially glad to hear Ryno's number is being retired this upcoming season.

 

And since this is the first time I've heard of it, a hearty congrats to Jon for being selected the 2004 Poster of the Year. =D>

[mlpeel]

Do you have any particular plans on asking Fleita and Stockstill any questions in particular? If so, what?

 

Always -- both know me by sight after all these years -- but I'll save them for for Sunday's wrap-up. I also have a question for Dubois, but I still haven't thought of a good one for Leicester.

[mlpeel]

And since this is the first time I've heard of it, a hearty congrats to Jon for being selected the 2004 Poster of the Year. =D>

 

I guess I dropped the ball on that one and forgot to announce it -- but I got him his ticket in good order, so I didn't totally mess it up...

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Well, my friend and I arrived at the convention at around 3 and had no idea where to go since it was our first convention. So we just wondered around for a little bit. I bought Cubs skull cap that I had been looking for for the longest time. We also picked up a couple of the believe wristbands. Finally we asked somebody where we were supposed to go to get the program and they told us downstairs. So we picked up our programs and stuff (both of us lost the random autograph thing) and walked over to the merchandise area. I got a pretty sweet Felix Pie futures game card that was signed by him for 10 bucks. I’m still pretty psyched about getting that. Around 4 we decide that we were hungry so we went to the south loop club. Pretty good food but unfortunately it took way too long to eat and we got out of there at 5:05. Whoops... When we get back to the Hilton, we find out that the ballroom is filled and that they aren't letting any more people in. :( Least to say, we were very disappointed.

 

So we just walked around some more and looked at more merchandise. Finally at 5:45, we try to find maps for the autograph scavenger hunt (which is the last thing I would call it). We decide to get into a random line because it is for an autograph. I checked by the area that the person was supposed to be at 5:55 or so and there was nobody there. Finally at around 6 or so the line starts to move. It turns out that we got Mike Bielecki (who is very ripped still) and Rick Wilkins autographs. That was pretty cool. So we went back to the area where they had the main autograph lines and was in line for Zimmer. After about 5-10 minutes when he left and everyone in the line booed. So we moved over to the next line where Kevin Tapani and Mickey Morandini resided. The ushers said that they were stopping in 5 minutes and it was still about 4 rows deep but we thought, why not try at least. So at 7, the ushers tell the two that it is time to go. They both get up and Micky leaves saying that he has some sort of prior engagement. Tapani, however, says that he will stick around until the remaining 20 people get their autographs. I don't hate Micky at all for what he did but Tapani really gained alot of respect as a person from me. He didn't have to do what he did but he is a really nice guy.

 

So after the autograph fiasco, we went over to the ballroom with the radio show to see what was up there. We got there just as they were introducing Kerry Wood. It was pretty cool to see the guys in person, without their cubs stuff on. We stayed for the rest of the pitchers interview and then left before Dusty came on stage.

 

The ride home was a pain but not as bad as I was expecting. Hearing Walker and Dempster joke around on the radio definitely made the trip alot more enjoyable. I loved the Harry impression btw. Sort of wish I would have stayed for that but at least this way I get to go to bed early. On a whole, I enjoyed my first day of the convention but they really could have done a better job of saying where stuff was going on at. It was pretty hectic but I will know what is going on more tomorrow so it should be much more enjoyable. I am looking forward to getting an autograph from and meeting Carlos. That would definitely be the highlight of my day. Sorry if there is really bad grammar or anything like that in here…

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Oh yeah, two things I forgot to say. On the way to the convention I heard an interview with Dusty on 720, I believe, where he said that Hollandsworth would get a majority of the playing time in left field since he had proven himself. He said that Dubois would have to prove himself before he got alot of playing time. Also, I was suprised at how much cheering there was when they asked Woody who broke the boombox. Don't want to turn this into a debate or anything but it struck me as weird.

[Banedon]

On the way to the convention I heard an interview with Dusty on 720, I believe, where he said that Hollandsworth would get a majority of the playing time in left field since he had proven himself. He said that Dubois would have to prove himself before he got alot of playing time.

 

I'm totally not surprised by this. :roll:

[Roast]

Yea, there was the same kind of feel in the air when that question came up to dusty at the caravan last night..

[mlpeel]

On a whole, I enjoyed my first day of the convention but they really could have done a better job of saying where stuff was going on at.

 

Most attendees are repeaters, and the Cubs stage most things in the same rooms every year; they just figure everyone knows where everything is by now. Get a few Conventions under your belt, and you'll be able to walk it blindfold.

[burnt out cubbie fan]

On the way to the convention I heard an interview with Dusty on 720, I believe, where he said that Hollandsworth would get a majority of the playing time in left field since he had proven himself. He said that Dubois would have to prove himself before he got alot of playing time.

 

I'm totally not surprised by this. :roll:

I thought that everyone here would love that quote.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Oh yeah, two things I forgot to say. On the way to the convention I heard an interview with Dusty on 720, I believe, where he said that Hollandsworth would get a majority of the playing time in left field since he had proven himself. He said that Dubois would have to prove himself before he got alot of playing time. Also, I was suprised at how much cheering there was when they asked Woody who broke the boombox. Don't want to turn this into a debate or anything but it struck me as weird.

 

:evil:

 

Dusty needs to look at the sig!

 

What has Hollandsworth proven? He's proven throughout his career that he's average.

[Chris]

Oh yeah, two things I forgot to say. On the way to the convention I heard an interview with Dusty on 720, I believe, where he said that Hollandsworth would get a majority of the playing time in left field since he had proven himself. He said that Dubois would have to prove himself before he got alot of playing time. Also, I was suprised at how much cheering there was when they asked Woody who broke the boombox. Don't want to turn this into a debate or anything but it struck me as weird.

 

I'm torn between the :pale: and the :pukel:

[MembersOnlyJacket]

Do you have any particular plans on asking Fleita and Stockstill any questions in particular? If so, what?

 

Always -- both know me by sight after all these years -- but I'll save them for for Sunday's wrap-up. I also have a question for Dubois, but I still haven't thought of a good one for Leicester.

 

Maybe you could ask Leicester how/why he had better control of the strike zone as a Major League rookie as compared to his minor league and college career. And, does he feel like he can build of the success of last season and continue to come right after guys with confidence.

[Jon]

On a whole, I enjoyed my first day of the convention but they really could have done a better job of saying where stuff was going on at.

 

Most attendees are repeaters, and the Cubs stage most things in the same rooms every year; they just figure everyone knows where everything is by now. Get a few Conventions under your belt, and you'll be able to walk it blindfold.

Just wait for tomorrow's autograph lines. They handle rowdy fans in the bleachers better than they handle those things.

 

Mark- I actually went through the crowd to another reason later on. It only took between 5 and 10 minutes. I'm glad I wandered over there at 4:00 just to see what it looked like.

 

Rais- Thank you, thank you. You can stop applauding now.

 

I don't have that much to add, especially because I need to get some sleep tonight (I'll probably be getting up at 5:00 or 5:15). And who knows what the el is going to be like with this snow. I was delayed at Jarvis for nearly 25 minutes because the switches at Howard were malfunctioning.

 

Anyways, there isn't a whole lot to add for the Convention, especially since I need to be getting to bed soon. Since Serena couldn't make it in to the ballroom, they were kind enough to hold two seats for Mark_R and I in the first row for Sports Central. The snow prevented Fergie, Ryno, Barrett, and Lee from being able to attend, but it was a good show. I don't really recall Dusty saying that Holla was going to get the majority of the time. He really didn't want to say anything about the lineup. Baker may have said that Dubois was going to have to prove himself, but that's his standard language. I don't think it meant a whole lot. I'm sure a good deal of peopled listened in online or over the radio. Just to clarify, Dempster did indeed purposely trip as he was walking up the stairs to the mic. He fell pretty hard, too. He is quite the character, though. It takes someone special to out-talk Todd Walker. Oh, and I grabbed Hendry's autograph because of our great seats in the first row. He seemed like a pretty nice guy and was certainly in a good mood. He asked a lot of people their names and where they were from (not me, of course). Santo looked great and was certainly in high spirits.

 

On tap for tomorrow: Hopefully arrive plenty early for Meet the Management and grab a bunch of good seats. I'll certainly have plenty of time to do homework (and then some). My only other real plan in terms of events is the Zambrano photograph line. I'm going to have to see how early I have to get in it (especially since it'll probably be long from previous photograph sessions).

 

Oh, and Glenallen Hill is still freakin' huge.

 

I'll edit as it is appropriate.

[UMFan83]

Burnt out cubbie, South Loop Club is the biggest ripoff in the city, did you happen to catch their beer prices? Ugh, my friends and I go there all the time because its right down the street from my dorm

 

sorry /rant

[CaliforniaRaisin]

And since this is the first time I've heard of it, a hearty congrats to Jon for being selected the 2004 Poster of the Year. =D>

 

I guess I dropped the ball on that one and forgot to announce it -- but I got him his ticket in good order, so I didn't totally mess it up...

 

Ahh, he did tell me how he got the ticket, but now why. Again, kudos to Jon.

 

And, does he feel like he can build of the success of last season and continue to come right after guys with confidence.

 

If he answers no to that, I'd be freaked out.

 

Rais- Thank you, thank you. You can stop applauding now.

 

Don't let one compliment from me go to your head. [-X

Edited January 22, 2005 by CaliforniaRaisin

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Burnt out cubbie, South Loop Club is the biggest ripoff in the city, did you happen to catch their beer prices? Ugh, my friends and I go there all the time because its right down the street from my dorm

 

sorry /rant

I'm under 21 so I really didn't pay attention. It did seem kinda pricey but we figured it would be even more so inside the convention.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

 

And, does he feel like he can build of the success of last season and continue to come right after guys with confidence.

 

If he answers no to that, I'd be freaked out.

 

Me too, but sometimes it seems you don't get your questions answered unless you lay them a fastball right down the middle as a portion/all of the question...

[burnt out cubbie fan]

I don't really recall Dusty saying that Holla was going to get the majority of the time. He really didn't want to say anything about the lineup. Baker may have said that Dubois was going to have to prove himself, but that's his standard language. I don't think it meant a whole lot. I'm sure a good deal of peopled listened in online or over the radio.

Just so you know, I heard that before the convention on 720 at about 2:20. It was not at the convention. Also, do you know where Zambrano was? He was supposed to be at the sportscentral thing but he didn't show up.

[Jon]

I don't really recall Dusty saying that Holla was going to get the majority of the time. He really didn't want to say anything about the lineup. Baker may have said that Dubois was going to have to prove himself, but that's his standard language. I don't think it meant a whole lot. I'm sure a good deal of peopled listened in online or over the radio.

Just so you know, I heard that before the convention on 720 at about 2:20. It was not at the convention. Also, do you know where Zambrano was? He was supposed to be at the sportscentral thing but he didn't show up.

Oh, I'm sorry. I was reading through things rather quickly. Hendry did stress how Dubois needs a shot, though, so we'll see.

 

Apparently his flight was delayed. With the terrible weather, I just hope he can make it in for tomorrow.