Cubs @ Viagra Field

[PRIME1]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3266721

The chief executive officer of the Tribune Company said Wednesday he won't hesitate to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field -- even if baseball purists don't like the idea.

[idchafee]

Several years ago, there was an arguement going back and forth about whether to renovate Wrigley or raze it in favor of a bigger park with more skyboxes and such. "Purists" wanted to keep the field the same no matter what, and the other side was in favor of anything that would increase revenue and thus allow for more high priced players.

Me, I'll happy throw the dynamite switch to level the place if it means a title. People who scream about the beauty of the field don't care if the Cubs win. They care about the beer being cold and the girls having their bikini tops in the sun.

[PRIME1]

People who scream about the beauty of the field don't care if the Cubs win. They care about the beer being cold and the girls having their bikini tops in the sun.

Sounds like my kinda people.

The more corporate the game gets, the less fun it will be.

I don't think buying a pennant is a positive thing.

[dragmor]

Hard Wood bat and ball games at the Viagra field. Whats not to like.

[UberGerbil]

If the purists like the name so much they can pool their pennies and buy it.

[FireGryphon]

The focus on profit and such has turned me off to Baseball (and pro sports in general). It's hard for me to get into the spirit of things when there's other reasons the team is built; and it'll be especially hard at Viagra Field.

[PRIME1]

and it'll be especially hard at Viagra Field.

[FroBozz_Inc]

Boner Pill Ball Park

Comerica Park *sigh*

"Tiger Stadium" sounds so much better.

[Turkina]

I am not sure the money argument holds water - you'd think the Cubs franchise, being one of the best known in the game, has tremendous earning potential. And their $300M off-season just a year back kinda bears that out. They have plenty of payroll dollars ($94M last year, good for 3rd in the NL), but payroll dollars don't equate to pennants and world series (especially in this era - FYI, the top 2 NL payrolls were the dodgers and mets).

~Turkina

[derFunkenstein]

You just gotta grow up with a stadium that's has the naming rights sold to a corporation since the '50s to be immune to the effects of a stadium name. (Busch Stadium, for example)

[idchafee]

You just gotta grow up with a stadium that's has the naming rights sold to a corporation since the '50s to be immune to the effects of a stadium name. (Busch Stadium, for example)

Wrigley Field. Except that like Busch Stadium (I'm guessing) the Wrigley name came from the family and not from the company, so the Cubs and Cardinals get the corporate name without the naming rights $$.

[Flying Fox]

People who scream about the beauty of the field don't care if the Cubs win. They care about the beer being cold and the girls having their bikini tops in the sun.

Sounds like my kinda people.

The more corporate the game gets, the less fun it will be.

I don't think buying a pennant is a positive thing.

Can't you still build a new stadium with the sun shining on the girls plus a lot of corporate boxes where they can do whatever they want up there anyways?

[derFunkenstein]

Wrigley Field. Except that like Busch Stadium (I'm guessing) the Wrigley name came from the family and not from the company, so the Cubs and Cardinals get the corporate name without the naming rights $$.

I guess the problem with Wrigley Field is that I don't think "Wrigley Gum" when I hear that name. I might be alone in that though. I do think "crappy piss beer" when I hear Busch, though.

[Hawkwing74]

I get sick of stupid corporate stadium names - so I would be sad to see it change. I wouldn't want to pay to keep it as Wrigley though, so c'est la vie.

In fact, I don't want to pay for any stadium in any way...I get sick of these greedy corporations that want the taxpayers to fund them.

[PRIME1]

I get sick of these greedy corporations that want the taxpayers to fund them.

They will also threaten the local economy by saying they will move if they don't get a ton of tax cash incentives.

Or in the case of the Lions (who now play at Ford Field), They will break the contract with one community in order to move to another. So even if a City does give in to keep a team that team will just use it's lawyers to get out of it and move to a bigger better deal.

It should be federal law that taxpayer money can not be used to fund such endeavors.

[UberGerbil]

It should be federal law that taxpayer money can not be used to fund such endeavors.

I just think the team owner(s) should be required to give the city / county / state a (non-voting) percentage of ownership in direct proportion to the value of the public money invested. The percentage that investment represented would be determined by an independent audit (this would be interesting in itself, since the owners tend to downplay the value of their franchise in order to beg for more public money, but to minimize the public stake in this scenario they would want to inflate the total value of the team). The public share would have to be bought out if the team leaves town (and thereby be compensated for their investment); otherwise, the city / county / state could chose to sell out or not if primary ownership changes hands.

Of course, the leagues (other than the NFL, which already has a civic-owned team in Green Bay) would fight this tooth and nail (MLB already bans public ownership even as minority investors, I believe).

[thill9]

Wrigley Field. Except that like Busch Stadium (I'm guessing) the Wrigley name came from the family and not from the company, so the Cubs and Cardinals get the corporate name without the naming rights $$.

Except that unlike the Cubs, the Cardinals can win World Series, regardless of the ballpark.

p.s. SAVE SCOTT SPIEZIO!!!

[PRIME1]

Boner Pill Ball Park

How could any announcer in that stadium ever use the term "choke up on the bat" again.

I think it's just a matter of time before the team jerseys are covered in ads like a car in NASCAR.

I think I saw somewhere that they have a virtual ad that will appear next to the batter while he is at the plate. Like he is standing next to a billboard.

[gerbilspy]

Wrigley Field. Except that like Busch Stadium (I'm guessing) the Wrigley name came from the family and not from the company, so the Cubs and Cardinals get the corporate name without the naming rights $$.

Except that unlike the Cubs, the Cardinals can win World Series, regardless of the ballpark.

p.s. SAVE SCOTT SPIEZIO!!!

Maybe some really rich Cardinal fan will buy Wrigley and rename it "Losers' Field". It would then be named appropriately!

[UberGerbil]

I think it's just a matter of time before the team jerseys are covered in ads like a car in NASCAR.

Actually, I doubt it. They tried putting ads on the bases and faced such a backlash that you've never heard a peep about it again. I'm pretty sure some owners have suggested putting "sponsorships" on uniforms over the years and it has been quashed. MLB is pretty restrictive on certain things, and uniforms is one of them -- this gets into the whole "history" and "legacy" that they like to promote (while ignoring some the eye-bleeding uniform designs over the years, particularly the 70s and 80s).

I think I saw somewhere that they have a virtual ad that will appear next to the batter while he is at the plate. Like he is standing next to a billboard.

Well, they already have virtual billboards behind the plate, so I don't know that it makes much difference as long as they aren't animated or extending to close too the action.

Maybe some really rich Cardinal fan will buy Wrigley and rename it "Losers' Field". It would then be named appropriately!

Cardinal fans should fall to their knees and thank the baseball deities that those losers are in their division. St Louis wouldn't have nearly the record it has without them.

[derFunkenstein]

p.s. SAVE SCOTT SPIEZIO!!!

Spiezio needs saved from himself. He's a sad story, but he also needs to grow the **** up.

[gerbilspy]

I think it's just a matter of time before the team jerseys are covered in ads like a car in NASCAR.

Actually, I doubt it. They tried putting ads on the bases and faced such a backlash that you've never heard a peep about it again. I'm pretty sure some owners have suggested putting "sponsorships" on uniforms over the years and it has been quashed. MLB is pretty restrictive on certain things, and uniforms is one of them -- this gets into the whole "history" and "legacy" that they like to promote (while ignoring some the eye-bleeding uniform designs over the years, particularly the 70s and 80s).

I think I saw somewhere that they have a virtual ad that will appear next to the batter while he is at the plate. Like he is standing next to a billboard.

Well, they already have virtual billboards behind the plate, so I don't know that it makes much difference as long as they aren't animated or extending to close too the action.

Maybe some really rich Cardinal fan will buy Wrigley and rename it "Losers' Field". It would then be named appropriately!

Cardinal fans should fall to their knees and thank the baseball deities that those losers are in their division. St Louis wouldn't have nearly the record it has without them.

Most Cardinal fans DO appreciate the cubbies for their immense entertainment value, but unfortunately the Cubbies hold an edge over the Cards historically speaking, and the Cards record might be better without the cubs in their league (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinals-Cubs_rivalry )....but the "Losers'" name is still appropriate...at least for the last 99 years when they have failed to win a world Championship every single year. The Cardinals have very nicely helped them achieve this record, winning 10 rings in the same span.

[PRIME1]

-- this gets into the whole "history" and "legacy" that they like to promote

You mean like the "history" and "legacy" of stadiums and stadium names?

Many a useful stadium with plenty of history and legacy has been bulldozed so that a new stadium with more box seats and a new corporate name could be built.

I would say by far that Baseball is the worst sport as far as whoring out it's traditions. Buying pennants, roid use, sponsorships, etc, etc.

[UberGerbil]

p.s. SAVE SCOTT SPIEZIO!!!

Spiezio needs saved from himself. He's a sad story, but he also needs to grow the **** up.

I think he's past growing up. He's at the "Cops!" mid-point in the descent from white trash celebrity to Unrecoverable Brittany Spears Rehab Meltdown.

[UberGerbil]

-- this gets into the whole "history" and "legacy" that they like to promote

You mean like the "history" and "legacy" of stadiums and stadium names?

No, there's obviously history they care about and history they don't. Destroying venerable stadiums is as much a tradition as the stadiums themselves (just ask anybody who cares about Ebbets or the Polo Grounds, etc)

I would say by far that Baseball is the worst sport as far as whoring out it's traditions. Buying pennants, roid use, sponsorships, etc, etc.

Well, cheating has been as much a tradition in the game as anything else. The "roid" era is nothing new --from grandfathering in spitball pitchers and stealing signs to corked bats and thrown games, baseball has survived and in some cases tacitly tolerated all sorts of transgressions. PEDs arguably aren't as bad as gambling was in the early years: at least it is (or was) a fairly level playing field. It's one thing to have a bunch of guys on both sides juiced up, quite another when both teams are trying to ensure one team wins.

[idchafee]

The "roid" era is nothing new --from grandfathering in spitball pitchers and stealing signs to corked bats and thrown games, baseball has survived and in some cases tacitly tolerated all sorts of transgressions. PEDs arguably aren't as bad as gambling was in the early years: at least it is (or was) a fairly level playing field. It's one thing to have a bunch of guys on both sides juiced up, quite another when both teams are trying to ensure one team wins.

QFT. Gaylord Perry is looked at as some sort of "character of the game" when in truth he was just as big a cheater as any roid user. Perry is in the Hall of Fame. Will McGwire ever get there? Why is Perry putting all sorts of junk on the ball better than McGwire putting all sorts of junk in his ass?

[tfp]

Hitting the log ball on Viagra Field.
Yelling "Get Up" for those line drive shots that just might not have the hight to be a home run.

I see a lot of possibilities here.

[PRIME1]

QFT. Gaylord Perry is looked at as some sort of "character of the game" when in truth he was just as big a cheater as any roid user. Perry is in the Hall of Fame. Will McGwire ever get there? Why is Perry putting all sorts of junk on the ball better than McGwire putting all sorts of junk in his ass?

Cuz drugs are bad, mmmkay.

I don't know this "Gay Perry", but if he clearly walked around with sandpaper in one hand a vaseline in the other (all the while saying he was clean) I would dislike him just as much as the roidboyz. McGwire, Clemens & Bonds, who turned into the incredible bulk overnight, all the while acting like it was just from eating wheaties (as if everyone is stupid), kinda make me sick.

Maybe they could rename Wrigley, BALCO field.

[Turkina]

I would say by far that Baseball is the worst sport as far as whoring out it's traditions. Buying pennants, roid use, sponsorships, etc, etc.

Dude, theres no such thing as buying pennants. Can we move on from that one?
And other sports wish their players were *only* using steroids. How many NFL or NBA players have been charged with far worse offenses?

~Turkina

[PRIME1]

Dude, theres no such thing as buying pennants. Can we move on from that one?

No.

And other sports wish their players were *only* using steroids. How many NFL or NBA players have been charged with far worse offenses?

You mean like Darryl Strawberry? I'm not saying the other sports are clean and pure. I'm just saying Baseball overall sucks more even if just a bit.

* On January 29, 1987, Strawberry's wife, Kyle Weaver, filed for a legal separation from him in a Los Angeles court. She also accused him of breaking her nose after a game the previous October.[1] On May 18, 1989, she filed for divorce in Los Angeles. On October 30, 1993, they divorced. The couple had two children together, Diamond and D. J. Strawberry, currently a point guard for the Phoenix Suns.

* On April 7, 1989, Strawberry was sued in Clayton, Missouri by Lisa Clayton (not to be confused with his wife, Lisa Watkins) claiming that he is the father of Clayton's son. On January 10, 1990, blood tests proved that Strawberry was indeed the boy's father.

* On January 12, 1990, two days after blood tests proved he fathered another woman's child, Strawberry was arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly slapping his wife, Lisa, and threatening her with a pistol. On March 9, attorneys announced that no charges would be filed.

* On February 3, 1990, shortly after being arrested for hitting and threatening his wife, Strawberry checked into alcoholic rehab.

* On September 17, 1993, Strawberry was arrested for hitting his girlfriend, Charisse Simon, who was three-months pregnant at the time. Reportedly, witnesses said she had been hitting him with a bat near where he earlier had surgery. She later refused to press charges and, on December 20, they were married. They now have three children Jordan, Jade, and Jewel Strawberry.

* On April 5, 1994, Strawberry failed to show up for an exhibition baseball game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, (then known as the California Angels) and was not found until that night. The next day, the Dodgers announced that he had a substance abuse problem. Four days later, Strawberry began five weeks of rehabilitation in the Betty Ford Center.

* On December 20, 1994, Strawberry and his agent were indicted for failing to report more than $300,000 of income from autograph and memorabilia shows. On April 29, 1995, Strawberry was ordered to repay $450,000 in back taxes and sentenced to six months of home confinement.

* On February 13, 1995, Strawberry was suspended for 75 days by Major League Baseball after testing positive for cocaine. He was released by the San Francisco Giants on the same day.

* On December 19, 1995, Strawberry was charged in California with failing to make child support payments. When he missed a June 5, 1996 deadline to pay the child support, a Los Angeles judge set a trial date of July 17, at which time Strawberry agreed to use his signing bonus to pay the debt. [2]

* On August 25, 1998, Strawberry was sued by attorney Robert Shapiro for unpaid legal fees related to baseball contract negotiations in 1994. The two resolved the dispute on March 17, 1999.

* On April 3, 1999, Strawberry was arrested in Tampa, Florida for soliciting sex from a police woman posing as a prostitute and for having a small amount of cocaine. On April 24, he was suspended for 140 days by Major League Baseball for the incident. On May 29, he pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 21 months probation and community service. [4]

* On January 2, 2000, Strawberry tested positive for cocaine. On March 15, shortly after the test result was announced, Major League Baseball announced that he would be suspended for one year. Six days later, he was in rehab.


* On September 11, 2000, in Tampa, Strawberry tried to drive to see his probation officer after taking painkillers. While driving, he blacked out, rear-ended another car, and then tried to drive away. An off-duty police officer witnessed the episode and arrested him at gunpoint. The next day, Strawberry admitted to the charges and his probation was changed to two years of house arrest. On November 21, he was sentenced to a year of probation and community service. [6]

* On October 25, 2000, Strawberry left a Tampa drug treatment center to use drugs with a female friend violating his house arrest and parole. On November 9, he was sentenced to 40 days in jail with credit for time served. [7]

* On November 3, 2000, Strawberry told a judge in Tampa that he had lost his will to live and had stopped chemotherapy. On November 30, he was released from jail and sent back to rehab. [8]

* On April 2, 2001, Strawberry was arrested for again disappearing from his house arrest drug treatment center in Tampa. On May 1, he was sentenced to more time at a drug treatment center. [9]

* On March 12, 2002, Strawberry was back in jail for violating several non-drug rules at the drug treatment center where he was on probation in Ocala, Florida. On April 29, he was ordered to serve the 22-month suspended prison sentence from 1999. [10]

* On September 17, 2005, Strawberry reported his sport utility vehicle had been stolen from a Miami, Florida gas station but the station's surveillance video showed Strawberry leaving as a passenger in another vehicle. A tipster then told police that Strawberry had earlier left his SUV behind a sports bar and given her the keys. He was later charged with filing a false police report.