The Fight For A Sign

So lately I have been thinking about the Cubs. I know, I know, the Super Bowl is only a week away and here I am thinking about baseball. Well.. there is a good reason. As a person who basically grew up in Chicago and who now lives in a suburb only about 30 minutes away from that great city, I get all the news about the Cubs pretty easily. As a matter of fact, when the team is owned (partly) by the company that publishes one of the two major newspapers in the city it is hard not to hear about things that happen with the team.

Now before you argue that the Tribune Company no longer owns the team let me say this. Yes, they do not "own" the Cubs but they borrowed money to the Rickets family to help them purchase the team so in a way they are still associated with the team and in my opinion still have somewhat of a say. Now, moving on.

Money is in the air

For years the Cubs have been a team struggling for some sort of athletic identity. They have been the proverbial wait until next year team. They have even been called the "loveable losers". Not because they are a winning team mind you, but because even though they can't seem to win anything they still average crowds at the stadium that most teams envy. In part this love affair that fans have with the team is due to the city the team calls home. Well, not the city exactly but the neighborhood.

Wrigleyville as it is called is basically the area surrounding the stadium and it is filled with bars and is essentially sort of an extension of the ballpark.In addition to this you have the buildings that are directly across the street from the ballpark to its rear. Years ago these building owners took advantage of the fact that they had a good vantage point and built bleachers on the rooftops to allow fans to watch the game from them. They started charging fees and over the years have made a pretty good living charging for space that would have otherwise been unused.

The Cubs ignored this for the most part because they saw it as a way for fans to enjoy the game while giving the team a feature that is unique to an already pretty unique ballpark. The history of the team and the park itself is steeped in stories of greatness and of players long gone. Even the great Chicago Bears used to call the stadium home before Soldier Field was constructed. So it is safe to safe that Wrigley Field is definitely a one of a kind place. Some even call it the biggest bar in Chicago.

Flash forward a few years to today. The team is owned by a rich family that has plans to remake the park into a more modern venue that can get money from more than just baseball. In all actuality the plans they have come up with are not that bad at all. They will keep the ballpark whole and will not take away from anything that has helped it become a treasure to baseball fans and historians alike. At the same time they will add to the surrounding area and make it look a bit less like an old building in the middle of an old neighborhood.

Big surprise, the people who live in the neighborhood do not like it and they are fighting ever aspect of the changes. Not because it will take away from the way the area looks and not because it will demolish buildings to make way for new ones. No, they are fighting this because a new sign and a video board, both to be part of the stadium itself, block the view from the rooftops.

Making A Claim Where None Exists 

For years and years the rooftop owners had made money where they would have normally made none. For years they have reaped the benefit of a team existing in their backyard and the fact that the ballpark they played in was built the way that it was. Now, as new owners come in and decide they want to build an addition to that ballpark the rooftop owners, who actually have a union or group of some kind, are upset that they will lose revenue because the Rickets family want to add a sign to their ballpark.

I could maybe see these guys getting upset if the construction of the sign was going to cause one of their buildings to have to be demolished. Or maybe the sign had big speakers on it that would broadcast audio advertisements so loud that you could hear them while inside one of the buildings. But no. None of these things is the case. As a matter of fact, the Rickets family has even tried to work with the rooftop owners to help them retain some of the revenue they make, even though they really did not need to.

If you ask me, and I know you didn't, but the rooftop owners are being selfish. They are acting like the kid in the sandbox who takes another kids trucks and starts playing with them. Then when the kid who owns the trucks says he has to leave, the thieving kid says, "no, I'm not done playing yet". Which reminds me, I should be careful because I just read today in the Tribune that the rooftop owners are suing a business sports consultant over comments he had made in a Sun Times article last year. He had said that the rooftop owners are "thieves" because they are "stealing the Cubs product for their own profit". He is absolutely correct. For the rooftop owners to sue him over a comment is just a taste of how they are playing this game.

It is sad to think that someone who has been lucky enough to have what the rooftop owners have would turn into an ugly green monster because someone else wants to make more money with their own product. The Rickets own the team and the stadium and if they choose to make changes to those products they should have every right to. They have followed the rules of the city and obtained all the proper permits and have all their "ducks in a row". All that remains if for them to somehow please a group of jackals that have their hands out looking for freebies. It is sad, because everyone else has to work for their money. These people just expect it.