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Any way you think that the Rangers would be willing to part with Wilkerson?

Tampa Bay Sandy Beaches

Here's a good article about the expansion project :D http://www.theheckler.com/index.php?page=0000-DH-06-01-25&idrub=64&idsite=1&PHPSESSID=0a4178b1cc89cffa161ed8fafe11da62

I had heard in excess of 15000 as well this year. Yeah it was a huge crowd but I chalked up alot of this year as a learning experience. I will be a seasoned pro next year, and I plan on trying to stay at the hotel next year to cut down on the running around. The most important thing was that I had fun. Thanks to everyone who helped me with pointers, and advice.

Well I had promised Serena that I would post a report on the Cubs Convention being that it was my first and give both my experiences and thoughts on the experience. I cant promise that its going to be very informative, but I'd like to share anyway. Friday: Arrived at the Hilton at 3pm and I was like a kid in a candy store, nothing but Cubs wall to wall. Far more people than I expected on a Friday afternoon. Following the suggestions of some here, I went to find the registration area. One quick suggestion to the Cubs for next year, please put signs by the areas where youre supposed to go. After standing in the auction line for 10 minutes, I asked another Cubs fan, and they told me where to go to get registered. At the registration area they punched a hole in your convention pass, gave you a convention booklet, and a lottery ticket. The lottery ticket was for the premium autograph players....DLee ect. Scratched my ticket...no luck. Girlfriend scratched hers, no luck either. After registration we wandered around the convention floor, when we arrived at the vendors area, everything you can imagine to buy Cubs wise, you can find there. Everything from stadium seats, jerseys, pre-autographed pictures and jerseys, and food. Even Gary Pressy was there playing the organ to give it that ballpark feel. I bought a black baseball bat and a baseball, in case I could end up getting it signed. At about 4:30pm my girlfriend and I decided that we had better get upstairs to the Grand Ballroom to try to get a seat to the Opening Festivities. When we arrived at the stairway to the Grand Ballroom, we were met with a wall of people. We were told by a few other Cub fans,"good luck, they arent letting any more people in there." We did make it up the stairs and was lucky enough to find a spot where we could see the Cubs file into the ballroom. I looked over, and saw, Mark Prior. Then looking over at my girlfriend, I saw that she had tears in her eyes. This was the closest she's ever been to her favorite player. That moment in itself would have been enough to make my entire weekend. At that point though, it had became too crowded up stairs, and we decided to go get a drink. We looked through our programs, and decided to go to the Cubs bingo thing in a different ballroom. A lesson that we quickly learned at the Convention this year is....show up early for anything that you want to go to....really really early. We ended up having to sit on the floor, all the way in the corner, for bingo Still alot of fun though. They were giving away player autographed balls and photos, gift certificates to restaurants, and flags that had flown on top of Wrigley with every Bingo. I wanted one, but alas was shut out. So ended my Friday at the convention, but as I was looking at the Convention book I saw that Saturday at 9am, my favorite Cub of all time was signing, and I was gonna have him sign my bat. No other than the Hawk....Andre Dawson. So with that we left the hotel and headed home. Saturday: Waking up and heading back to the Convention, I was so excited, I was just mere moments away from being face to face with my favorite Cub. As we walked back into the hotel and made our way down to the the autograph area, I took a look, and was speechless. WOW..I gotta wait in that??? The lines were long and all over the place. We were gonna wait anyway...so I jumped in line and was there waiting five minutes before we had noticed that everyone else had these slips of paper. I asked someone, and they said that Andre's line was lottery winners only. My heart sank, and I looked in the Convention guide and nowhere in there did it say that it was lottery winners only. I can only describe the dissapointment as not getting the present you wanted as a child after looking forward to it for weeks. At that point we decided to just attend some of the meetings that were scheduled. Our first was the WGN meeting with Dusty and Jim. Most of what was said has been covered here so I'll save you guys that. Was late arriving though and it was standing room only. We had learned our lessons by that point and decided from there on in...if we were going to something, then we were going early. We arrived at the end of a session that had Glendon Rusch in it, in order to get to the next meeting early and Glendon was signing, so I had him sign the baseball that I had bought. Seemed like a very nice guy. The meeting that we arrived EARLY too was the VineLine discussion, I attended soley because Andre Dawson was there, as well as DLEE. Since we were early we were in the second row. I got some so-so pictures, and the meeting was more of a discussion of VineLines 20th anniversary. At the end of the session was a Q and A. Afterwards, there was a brief stint where they both had signed, and you guessed it.....I got Andre to sign my bat!!!!!! I also had DLee sign the ball....but the bat, nobody else gets to sign. Definatly the highlight of my day. FYI.. both DLee and Andre seemed really nice. From the Vineline meeting we went to have lunch, as we headed back, we arrived late to the Covering the Ivy meeting and looking in it looked full so we sat outside down the hall and sat to decide what to do next. As we sat I looked up and HOLY COW...its Juan Pierre! Juan stopped, signed the ball, and took photos with both me and my girlfriend. He then walked to the meeting. Looking down at the ball, and then looking up....Matt Murton! Matt signed and took photos, then Jerry Hairston came by and signed, then OMG!!! Billy Williams! We lucked into being in the right spot at the right time. After that we followed the players into the meeting and sat and listened to the players discussing the defensive aspect of playing the outfield at Wrigley Field. Billy Williams did most of the talking and the meeting was led by Bobby Denier. Another quick note, I couldnt believe how cool Juan Pierre was. He said that it was cool that we hadnt swarmed him like the rest of the convention had. Very cool. Next on the agenda was the WGN television meeting. Got to take a picture with Bob and Len before the meeting started. The meeting was very informative, and Bob and Len discussed their daly rituals to get ready. Also learned alot about the technical operations of getting the product to you. Coming to WGN and Comcast this year, a sort of KZone and a scrolling stat line. At the end another Q and A session. Yours truly actually got brave and asked a question of why we were sometimes treated to coming back from commercial to having the ball already in play. I was told that it was a combination of greed, the umpires not keeping the time, and the pitchers. Afterwards I had both Bob and Len sign my convention pass. Len seems as cool as he seems in his dealings in the Q and A's done for this site as well as others. Afterwards stopped at the bar at the hotel for a quick drink. Saw Bobby D as I was there and said hi, didnt want to ask for an autograph as he was there with his wife/ girlfriend/ special lady friend. Didnt seems cool to me. Later in the evening I learned that alot of the Chicago Bears were also staying at the hotel that night. Didnt see any, but saw alot of people waiting for autographs. Stuck around for the dance, it was alright I guess, probably more fun if I was drunk. Looked around for awhile and then left for the evening. All in all...I was one happy Cubs fan. Sunday: Woke up late...missed the business meeting, tried to get into the Down on the Farm meeting and was shut out due to it being too full. Ended up wandering around looking more thoroughly at the vendor areas. Signed up for the VineLine, and a few raffles. Headed home after that. That pretty much sums up my whole weekend. Hope I didnt bore some of you. I am definatly gonna go again next year, but hope to get a hotel room instead.

What happens at the autograph hunt game? Also I thought there was an auction or something.

I would like to actually do a little of everything. I know that theres alot going on, but id say that overall I'd like to cram as much as I possibly can into the weekend. I'm off work on Friday and I plan on being there probably as much as humanly possible over all three days. As far as writing something to let people know how it was, with it being my first time there I definatly will. Many thanks for pointing out the events thread and my apologies for posting this in the wrong forum...if that is the case. Thanks Again!

Hey all....Just wanted to ask some of you more seasoned veterans about any tips to what exactly happens and what I need to check out. This is my first Cubs Convention and would appreciate any info that you guys can give me. Also, has it always started this early? My pass says 3pm on Friday, I thought that things didnt start til later in the evening on Friday.

Lets see, doing the math.....Marquis is 38 going into next season....hmmmm... I bet the Cubs signed him to a 3 year deal at 3 million per year.

I really dont have a clue as to what the Cubs are doing anymore. Dont we already have like infinity of these types of players already on the roster?? Another subpar outfielder.....sign me up please!

Baltimore would free up a lot of cash to go after pitching with the first deal. I tend to agree, with the amount of prospects being thrown in and with the freed up money they would have from this deal, wouldnt they do this quickly so they can persue some FA pitching?

well...I for one am happy with the process this year. I got 6 for the Red Sox,White Sox and the Brewers. Tickets seem to be selling out alot slower than last year and more people are getting chances to buy.