February 9, 2010
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TUCK! sez: Wait ‘til next year. And the year after that. And the year after. And ...by TuckOctober 01, 2009 
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Bill @ the daily something said...
It’s wanting to see baseball in an astoundingly beautiful ballpark. They’re not “dedicated” in the usual sense, but not stupid either (I mean, not collectively). I’m not grasping the significance of the layout of the numbers. Posted 10/01 at 09:47 AM
southsidemike said...
Which is more important: winning ballgames or a beautiful park? BTW the numbers spell out cubs Posted 10/01 at 10:12 AM
MikeS said...
I’ve been saying it for years. Only sports franchise on the face of the earth that can lose and sell tickets. Posted 10/01 at 10:27 AM
Bill @ the daily something said...
Ah…I see that now. Kind of. I don’t think “which is more important” is the question (though the relative successes of the Cubs and Rays might provide an unwelcome answer). Nothing wrong with providing an overall experience pleasant enough that people want the product even if the baseball is bad (which, it should be pointed out, it generally isn’t). Posted 10/01 at 04:47 PM
TUCK! said...
@alla youse: Great comments, thanks very much for posting. @Bill: Really just curious, but how do you quantify that the Cubs’ brand of baseball “generally isn’t (bad),” given their track record? Posted 10/01 at 05:35 PM
SS712 said...
Bill obviously hasn’t watched too many Cub games to say that their brand of baseball is “generally not that bad.” They are an awful team, in an awful division, that is 6 teams deep. Regardless of record playing the pirates, reds, astros, and brewers 19 times a year (each) cannot qualify as good baseball. 101 years and counting… pathetic Posted 10/01 at 06:11 PM
Bill @ the daily something said...
Live in Chicago and watch the Cubs all the time (not a fan, but the TV team is miles better than the southside guys). The Cubs were easily the best team in the NL in 2008, and figured to be the same this year, but for a complete collapse by three key players, and are still playing above .500 ball, as they were in 2007. For at least the last 12 years, they’ve been good more often than they’ve been bad. More to the point, ripping on Cubs fans for showing up to support a bad team seems a little silly. If fans show up for every game, it’s a sad statement about the team somehow, yet if they don’t, they’re derided as fair-weather fans…you can’t win for losing (or something like that). And if you think playing the Pirates or Reds “cannot qualify as good baseball,” you’re just not a fan…went to an utterly meaningless Brewers-‘Stros game a couple weeks ago and had the time of my life. The average Cub fan may be a little less intelligent than the average MLB fan (not that there aren’t a lot of smart Cubs fans who still go to the games, and good on ‘em), but they’re fans who love their team and love going to the ballpark. Nothing wrong with that. Posted 10/02 at 10:12 AM
Aaron Vowels said...
I’ve been a baseball fan since at least 1983 (born in 1974) and a Red Sox fan since 1986 (I blamed Calvin Schiraldi!) and I’d take a losing Cubs team at Wrigley over any day/night at work. Provided that the game is not error-filled or the play is not obviously lackadaisical, baseball is fun to watch. It’s especially fun to watch with 40,000 of your “closest friends” and a cold beer and a hot dog. Plus, I think if you view it one game at a time rather than 101 seasons of futility…it’s not as depressing! Posted 10/05 at 11:50 AM
Kahuna Tuna said...
I’d take a There. Now it says what it should say. Posted 10/05 at 01:07 PM
Aaron Vowels said...
Hey Tuna…nice edit. I’m in complete agreement. Posted 10/05 at 01:33 PM
TUCK! said...
@Aaron: You’re right—it’s even MOREso (162 x 101 = 16362)(And, yeah, I know they’ve only played 162 games since 1962; I am NOT doing more math than that on a Monday afternoon). (Tho I, too, concur with Kahuna. ‘Cept make my dog a brat.) Posted 10/05 at 03:10 PM
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Tradition of losing for 101 years… Is that fan dedication or stupidity?
“It is pure genius from a marketing perspective, that they support a team that is bad,” said David Berri, a professor at Southern Utah University who specializes in sports economics. “It’s the only entertainment where, ‘We have failed, but we would still like you to pay us.’
“Imagine if you had a restaurant like that. We serve crappy food! That’s what’s so great about us!”
Source(s):
In 2005, the Cubs went 79-83 but still drew more than three million fans, the sixth highest MLB attendance that year. The next year the Cubs imploded, finishing 66-96, and yet drew more than 3.1 million fans, again the sixth highest in MLB.