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Seriously, is it difficult to add first names to thread titles so we know WTH you're talking about?

Lmao how many dumb excuses are you going to pull out of your ass on this

Someone hasn’t spent much time in either neighborhood and it shows with every ignorant post. The bit is so tired at this point that he’s insulting our intelligence with its continuance.

We won't know unless they try. Which they've never tried to do. Wrigleyville wasn't always the destination it is now. Same could be said for the South Loop. Moving a few miles north really is an opportunity for the White Sox to reinvent themselves in this city. I truly believe that if the Sox do it right, people will come, die hard fans and tourists alike.

That will last about a month, at most. By the middle of May almost all of us will be sick and tired of this team, especially given that they can't tank for a draft pick.

If the Sox could recreate something like the neighborhood around Yankee Stadium that would be amazing. Not so much "tail gating" as just a massive bar and vendor scene centered around the park.

If all their resources - scouts, analytics, etc. come up with Maye as the #1 pick - he should be selected. If he is overlooked because Mitch also played at UNC, and they’re scared of the narrative, Poles may as well resign immediately. We cannot have people scared to fail. The Beara should be so confident in their selection that theyre willing to overlook that.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/02/08/white-sox-likely-would-have-to-change-state-law-to-get-taxpayer-funding-for-new-stadium/ Allen Sanderson, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago who studies the economics of sports, said he’s skeptical any new sports venue, including a new downtown White Sox ballpark, can on its own generate billions in new investment. “Usually when you hear the figure someone gives you on a project’s economic impact, it’s best to take the decimal point and move it one spot to the left, so you end up at about 10% of the original estimate,” he said. “That’s probably what’s going to happen.” And if the White Sox want to fill a huge new ballpark, ownership will have to field a better team. “I hate to say this, but at the moment, all five of our pro teams suck. They’re just unwatchable,” Sanderson said

The new one I'm seeing is that moving parks will drive away the blue collar fans. No idea why this would happen.

I did after he ranked 5 guys in the top 100

When I did my very long historical piece on the relationship between the White Sox and the media in 2010 I quoted the figures from the Chicago Police Department that showed a significant more crime reports and issues around "Wrigleyville" than around the Comiskey Park/Bridgeport Area. But the social unrest of the 1960's gave rise to the perception that the area around Comiskey was a "dangerous place." Perception often becomes reality and the Sox have been fighting that, with mixed results, for decades now.

Wait, they're banning driving to games?

They tanked for three years to close out the 2010s to save $150M in payroll, not to gain higher draft choices. Tanking in 2023-2025, perhaps through 2029, is once again to save $50M + in payroll each season. Their two solid picks the past decade were after their two best previous seasons (#22 Montgomery & #26 Noah Schultz). They pissed away their draft picks when they were highest, based both on incompetence and not even giving a s%*# what they did with these players (Burger, Madrigal, Crochet, Vaughn). Tanking in MLB doesn’t mean the same thing as in the other three sports. It means up to 20-22 MLB owners each season will not attempt to compete whatsoever to maximize profit. Between guaranteed MLB shared profits and league revenue and guaranteed carriage fees for RSN owners, all owners need are 26 humans wearing copyrighted laundry to guarantee large ROI, far more than if they park it in the stock market.

I also thought Jose Rodriguez was being traded to the Blue Jays when I first saw the thread title. Then I couldn’t get rid of the full page ad that popped up while opening the thread and I experienced a few seconds of minor anxiety.

This is Joely Rodriguez erasure. But also, without saying "signs with," this could imply a trade. I thought we traded Popeye.

Couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately it’s 2024 and every talking point must become an extreme black and white argument where the person who shouts the loudest is correct.

@DirtySox

This is pretty spot on. Apathy and exhaustion runs deep in White Sox nation right now. Are a bunch of tourists and loop office workers gonna be rushing out to fill a stadium of a team that is one of the worse and least exciting in major league baseball? No changing of the law for JR and his billionaire cronies. He can afford to pay for the stadium on his own or find a way to finance it without taking the taxpayers of Illinois for a ride once again.

Look, I’m 1000000% in favor of the South Loop move… …But… I don’t get why we keep trying to lump all Sox fans into the same category. Some fans would absolutely prefer to drive to games, park and tailgate. Some fans will absolutely not give a s%*# that there are more bars around the stadium. The complaining about the complaining and the telling people why they should like something is getting more annoying than the initial complaining. Like, who fucking cares? Different people want different things.

And they sit empty 99.99% of the time between games and in the offseason. Imagine instead of a sea of asphalt there were actual businesses fans wanted to patronize that operated 12-14 hours a day and all winter long instead of merely 4-5 hours on game day.

What Would @tray Say (WWtS)?

Just for the “lost revenue with no parking lot stuff”… 1) Jerry may still own those lots for the proposed Chicago fire stadium. 2) I encourage you to look at the Braces Holdings earnings reports. Their Battery Park mixed use development is on track to earn $60M in revenue against maybe $10M in costs. What did someone say, Sox have like 7k lots? If they filled every spot every home game at $20 a pop that’s only like $11M before paying any staff/maintenance. The reason many of us believe this will happen is because it will make people money.

I saw this writeup and thought it was worth sharing. Lots of stuff I didn't know about Related Reality, what has already been secured in terms of funding, and most importantly why it makes sense financially for the Sox to do this.

Virtually every good idea that is depicted in that conceptual 78 drawing can be bested by a new park at the site of the original Comiskey park. I have mentioned some of those. There are enormous practical and financial advantages of building across the street on 35th Street. As far as any plan that substantially diminishes the enormous parking lot capacity and the revenue generated from it, that would be a large gamble. Tailgating? Sox and Bear fans have loved tailgating for generations. Why pay a premium for drinks and beer inside the park or at a restaurant or bar prior to game ? It is a blast to meet up friends in the park lots, grill your own food and enjoy your own drinks. The 78 plan eliminates that entirely. Hanging at bars late night after weekday games is a Wrigleyville thing. The Sox fan base that attend night games is largely different. Many of us live in far West/SW even NW suburbs or NW Indiana, and bring our sons/daughters to games in cars. Most of us will never sacrifice security for our families to ride mass transit into the City. I don't care how much is spent on armed security and who pays for it. And if we arrive early we have to take everyone into a bar or restaurant ( adding to the cost of the outing) or wait in long lines at the gate? The depiction of this 78 plan is understandably devoid of detail, including scale/dimensions, parking, pedestrian and vehicular access routes and specificity regarding the use/scale of surrounding buildings. While GRF has many things that are lacking, it does have a few attributes that are often taken for granted and if replaced, should be considered in any new plan. One that I like is the ability of everyone to seek shelter from rain under the stands in wide corridors. Also, one can walk all around the stadium or hang out at a very large outfield concourse where there is a large food court and many rest rooms (although never enough men's rooms). Any development company can requisition impressive artistic renderings which are often out of scale and contain unrealistic details in an effort to woo banks, financiers, potential tenants, etc. to buy in. This would not be the first one that this Related development company and their predecessors have done over the last few decades. I'm not buying in. Having said that, I'm not entirely against Area 78 primarily because, as noted in this thread, many, mostly younger Sox fans would welcome it. Trust me....I get it.. out with the old, in with the new. I just think it is the wrong way to go, just like did when JR, Einhorn and Savarise approved a ridiculous looking new park covered with awful brown dryvit , a steep upper deck, powder blue seats, and white erector set metal truss work. I hated it. Based on my own professional and life experiences, and my history as a Sox fan, I am more inclined to stop and think about every possible alternative rather than jumping aboard any proposal let alone one made by an overly aggressive development company under artificial deadlines and veiled threats about moving team. Often patience yields some of life's best rewards. I can envision a great new Sox park on the site of the original Comiskey...one that incorporates the best ideas of the original Comiskey and Wrigley fields and avoids most of the mistakes caused by greed, oversight, and failure to incorporate good ideas by architects and the fan base. Instead what I see here is old rectangular shaped vacant lot with any number of inherent issues with a new stadium shoehorned in while maximizing the remaining space for mainly unRelated commercial development.

I think I will enjoy ST more than the season while learning about the new guys. I might not follow the season as much this year. This org is fairly dysfunctional. Getz is ho hum and likely has little financial authority. JR has become Cornelius Mack.

Honestly amazing hearing and reading some of these takes. Especially with the proposed project in it's entirety, the population density within a mile of the ball park is going to go up 2-3 times. The location is great, they're going to be in the heart of sky scrapers closeish to the lake and and on the river. Some people were crying about no roof? Why would you want a roof to block the view? It's one of the coolest parts of the proposal. I actually didn't hate CF either because it looked open to people across the way at restaurants or condos (whatever it was) and walking by in some parts it looked like. Obviously these designs more conceptual, but the entire thing is organization changing. And while I don't like Jerry as much as the next guy as an owner. This is in his wheel house, and it really could be a win for the city with the major development in that area which they've wanted to develop forever. Only reason I'm hesitant to believe anything is going to actually happen (even though it feels like this is literally the ONLY plan and they seem pretty far along honestly) is because we're Sox fans and we really can't have nice things usually.

Bridgeport is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, save for like the far Northside. Much safer than say, Wrigleyville.

While Tray is in lunar orbit on this one, Comiskey had it's brick facade before Wrigley and Bill Veeck planted Wrigley's Ivy.

Smith just signed with the A’s.

I know it's considered blasphemy but because of all the bad decisions of the Sox since the ill advised tank I think I'll follow the Sox and Cubs this year. Aren't the Cubs considered a .500 team? I've been a Sox fan through thick and thin for decades and have no idea who is on the Cub roster. We'll see how it goes but it's time to become a fair weather fan regarding the Sox, If I buy MLB I think I'll follow both teams and continue to check in on the Royals. Sox have made minimal changes since last season and I fully expect the injuries to our 'good players' to continue. I doubt that's been addressed. Can you imagine? If a total die hard like me feels this way, what about others in Chicago? There have to be a lot of Sox fans who have given up until the team proves it is worthy of following at all. Play ball!

Vibe is a bit different in the Bronx but yea similar. I'm not sure the Sox have that kind of cache but it wouldn't hurt to try and build it up organically, slowly, over time. Having that public transit close is key, as people will still be around on days the games aren't and will stop and grab a beer or something on the way somewhere else and talk to their bartender about the team or whatever.

Vegas' WNBA team nearly outdrew the A's last year. The only people who want Fisher's team in Vegas are construction workers, it's the only reason this weak watered down deal passed after the better one was rejected. 2023 Average Home Attendance 10,275 Oakland A's 9,551 WNBA Las Vegas Aces 6,838 Summerlin (Las Vegas) AAA Aviators (Down from a high of 9,299 in 2019)

I think the Bears should avoid Caleb Williams due to Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez

Planning to build a stadium and the construction takes years. Are they only allowed to begin the process when they are over .500? What if they started this process back when they made the playoffs? When they got bad, should they have scrapped the whole thing? For all we know, the team will be awesome when this park is completed. They have an expiring lease. Its ridiculous to say they can't figure out where they will be playing because the team has been disappointing the last couple of years.

Maybe, but being cynical 100% of the time is exhausting.

The Godfather Part III. Mary was lying dead on the steps of the Opera House after being shot and while Diane Keaton was going hysterical Andy Garcia stood there and yelled “NO!! MARY!!!”

While I think the River provides a nice aesthetic, I don't think we should care too much about the water transportation. Maybe this will be a huge boon to those companies but they barely run. Would be great if it set off a group of black cab-like boats picking people up off the docks though.

And we don't come close to filling those lots 90% of the time.

It seems like the majority of Sox fans are excited about this possibility, but there is a part of the fanbase that will always complain about everything. Whining and stomping around about parking at a stadium that hasn't been built and throwing fits about the thought of maybe using public transportation is wild. Let's see what happens if and when the stadium is built before throwing our hands in the air and saying the team just move to Nashville. Sorry, I'm being hyperbolic. But I swear some people would complain about the taxes if they were given a million dollars.

Instead, we’ll watch Maldonado hit in the .100’s while paying him over $4 million.

A contract extension for a 33 y/o Altuve is very different than an extension for player in Cease who has yet to hit free agency. Altuve has already been paid big where as Boras is yet to see his payday from Cease. Let's not be obtuse or pedantic here.

Getting Stassi for free made giving Maldonado $4.25 million a strange decision. May as well see what Korey Lee can do. He is going to likely hit just as bad as Maldonado but at least he’s still somewhat young and could maybe turn something. AAA at bats aren’t going to prove he is much of anything.

I am glad Getz is insisting on him as the main piece. If he isn't included, then there's nothing to discuss with NYY.

Nice to see Tony is being magnanimous after the Max Muncy incident. June 9, 2022 - Danny Mendick (0:26 mark)

The most relevant bit:

Yeah, I kind of had a hard time believing that they’d do this level of planning and forget that people in American cities drive cars.

It’s kind of relieving that there are zero expectations. Even the losses, they can’t pick earlier than 10 next year so you don’t even have to stress on that side of things either. Literally just watch baseball and hope to see improvement and prospects succeed.

At this point, I don't care that the team is going to suck. This has been a long-ass winter, and I'm ready for baseball. Up until the past few years, I didn't pay much attention to spring training. Now that the Sox have some potentially exciting prospects, it will be interesting to follow what goes on in ST.

This is Related Midwest pivoting after they lost the casino bid. A stadium makes sense for their entertainment district. https://www.78chicago.com/entertainment-district