LosMediasBlancas Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:10 AM) As I read this article I continued to ask myself, "What is the point of this?" Where is the Sox fan newspaper that touts the Trib only covers the cub? As I was reading this it sounded like an 8 year old was writing this. It had no direction or point. I kind of laughed because I don't care anymore the cubs and their fans are a great source of humor. LOL. It's like the popular girl in HS who lost the Homecoming Queen title, so her and her friends sit around telling each other how much prettier they are than the winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Kickass Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Wait? There's a baseball team on the North side of Chicago??? When was someone gonna tell me? It's like when I found out that Seattle had a football team! I'm just... shocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 07:08 AM) Everytime I see an article like this I think one thing. They are all missing the Sox current advertising thrust. The Sox are trying to capture the next generation of fans. So many of their promotions, giveaways, and such are aimed at kids under their teens. They have the White Sox acadamies, Kid's Days, Southpaw, and the Cubs have what? The Sox know you can't change the fandom of the great majority of fans who have hit their teens and beyond, but they are doing an incredible job of trying to get the fans who are still impressionable. Of course there isn't a columnist in town who has caught on to this... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Post whore makes a great point. Alot of columnists and radio personalities havent caught on to the sox marketing the past few years. The stadium is more friendly to kids than wrigley field. We are trying to get the families to bring their kids to the park so they grow up sox fans. The origin of alot of cubs fans is watching WGN when sox games couldnt be seen. Now we are trying to reverse that trend by making it easier to get to the park, and more fun for kids to watch. With this championship, Im sure alot more young fans will choose the sox in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 10:36 AM) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Post whore makes a great point. Alot of columnists and radio personalities havent caught on to the sox marketing the past few years. The stadium is more friendly to kids than wrigley field. We are trying to get the families to bring their kids to the park so they grow up sox fans. The origin of alot of cubs fans is watching WGN when sox games couldnt be seen. Now we are trying to reverse that trend by making it easier to get to the park, and more fun for kids to watch. With this championship, Im sure alot more young fans will choose the sox in the future. This is definitely working in my daughter's case. We go to both parks every summer ( my wife's a Cub fan ) and my kid enjoys Sox games MUCH more, because of the games on the scoreboard, Southpaw, Fundamentals, the Kids Club, the on-field parade, and so on. She likes going to Cub games, too, but she clearly has a better time at USCF. I think the World Series win is actually causing backlash from her, though - whenever the White Sox are brought up in conversation, she rolls her eyes, laughs and says "Dad is LOOPY about the White Sox!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Rowland Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 09:54 AM) there are other factors which are very important to many fans, which have been in the Cubs' favor in the last few decades. And those are changing too. The neighborhood? IIT just bought a bunch of land to the south of 35th to build a new commercial area, for bars, restaurants, condos, etc. Metra is putting a stop at 35th right there as well. Areas to the north of the park (Armour Park) are being bought up, torn down and rebuilt. The neighborhood is changing. the real war is on the kids and the Sox appear to be winning that one. Better promotions, better advertising, a more kid-friendly park, etc. I couldn't agree more with those two huge points. I would say the whole Cubs movement has been 20-25 years in the making. One of the overriding themes you hear from Cubs fans is the fact that they would come home to the Cubs on WGN. The second thing (which developed a bit later) was the neighborhoods. The Cubs appealed to any kid who liked baseball because they were so accessible on TV. Meanwhile the Sox played most of their games at night and usually on pay TV (thank you Eddie Einhorn). That variable has been neutralized quite a bit with ComCast, the WB, and the dominance of cable TV. Also, as you pointed out, the Sox are really starting to reach Chicagoland youth through various marketing efforts. The WS title will also be huge in molding these kids into Sox fans. On the neighborhood front, Wrigleyville was pretty rotten in the early 80s. It was ruled by the Latin Kings and Cubs attendence wasn't even close to 1.5 million. The Cubs used to close the upper deck sometimes because no one sat up there. The rejuvination of Wrigleyville started in the mid-80s while the Sox neighborhood languished in crime and inconvenience for many more years. As you also noted, a broad scale rejuvination (and overall transformation) is also taking place on the south side. The playoffs and WS made a lot of people wake up to this reality and stop believing the myth of the dangers of the south side of Chicago. I think the Sox are somewhere around year 5 of the 20 years it will take to even the playing field back to north side versus south side, like it used to be. Winning the WS may have accelerated the process with the youth movement but the neighborhood strides will form a foundation strong enough to sustain losing periods as well. I think the Sox, residents and real estate moguls are all doing their part right now. The telling moment will be when the White Sox start selling off parts of their vast parking lots for development. It could happen a lot sooner than many (such as Rick Morrissey) think. I think 10-15 years from now the landscape will have changed both mentally and geographically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 08:55 AM) EXACTLY. Lets face it, young kids are the ultimate bandwagonners. If you can capture that fan base with a few consecutive AL and WS championships, you will secure a solid fan base for 15 years from now. As a side note, I don't expect too many people's allegiance to change because the Sox are WS champs. If the Cubs had won the WS, would any of us be jumping ship? If anything, I'd be a bigger, louder Sox supporter. I expect an even more obnoxious Cub fan base this year. The diehards will always support their team. The Sox are trying to capture the casusal/bandwagon fan. They're doing a good job of that already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dam8610 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 02:57 AM) As I've said before, it's a Sox town where it counts. Think Cubs fan wouldn't trade being more popular for a World Series title? Not to mention a legitimate chance to do it again? The ones who are fans of the team would. The ones who are fans of the stadium and atmosphere wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomSlowik Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I've always thought that there are roughly the same number of die hard fans on both sides of town. Those people aren't going to change their alliances no matter what. They're actually knowledgable about the team and baseball in general. The difference is that the Cubs have had control of most of the casual fans for some time now. People who just like baseball or want to go somewhere for an outing or to have some fun go to that damn tourist trap in Wrigleyville. They're the ones that make a beer or food trip at least once every half inning and don't seem to care if their team has runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. They often struggle to name more than 5 players on the team, and continue to say that next year is their year regardless of the painful truth. We seem to have grabbed some of these types of people during the playoff run, but we'd have to sustain it in order to really take control of this group of fans and even up the attendance a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_genius Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 (edited) Rick Morrissey is a complete douche bag. The Sox used to outdraw the scrubs on a regular basis. A lot of Sox fans got pissed when Comiskey was torn down and JR made threats of moving the team to Florida. Sox fans will be back, the momentum is building toward the Sox. I live in Chicago and it is totally obvious everyone is talking about the Sox, not the Cubs. These Cubbune f***s are just freaking out because they know what is happening and they don't like it. They are kinda like a drug addict in complete denial of their hopeless addiction. I'm not saying 'die hard' cub fans will become sox fans, but casual fans will. Also, there is a large Sox fanbase that is going to start coming out in big numbers again. EDIT: oh yea, as far as his weak argument: the Cubbune gave the Sox lots of coverage while winning the world series, therefore they are not biased.... Wow, so a Chicago team is about to win the World Series for the first time in how any combined years and the CUbbune gives them coverage. LOL, if they were trying to hype the Sox what were their natural instincts while the Sox were winning it all? A expose on Carrie "Kid K" Wood? They were FORCED to cover the Sox because of the winning, not because they have an even interest in both teams. WTF, the sports section of that paper is a joke. Edited January 31, 2006 by mr_genius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Rowland Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 03:02 PM) WTF, the sports section of that paper is a joke. It is not just the Sports section that is lacking. You are giving the rest of that paper way more credit than it deserves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UC76 Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Morrissey is a tool. He's chasing Mariotti for "Worst Columnist in Chitown". But Mariotti shouldn't be worried yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 God, I hate it when people call it Chi-town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakyusox Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Hey everybody. I didn't get a chance to read all of the emails but I just wanted to say I grew up on the north side and started to follow baseball with the winning ugly 83 SOX Anyways, this was before the cubs had ANYTHING on the Sox. We outdrew them, we had a better team and ballpark (I still think we do) and couldn't stand watching the Sox go down. I watched it with a cub fan who had relish with his grin dog. THEN in 84 when I still supported the Sox I got s*** from everybody and I think this is the cub fans MO. To brainwash or threaten people in to submission and I even gave in for a while because it was cool to watch a baseball game during class and if I rooted everybody knew I was a expletive expletive Sox fan. Since when have the cubs developed this plastic aura around their ballclub (taking pride in curses). They should rename Wrigleyville; Bizarroville. I'm a new member, but I7m enjoying the news I can't seem to get anywhere else. Thanks. By the way "yakyu" means baseball in Japanese. I'm in Japan now and am feeling more home sick than ever after I couldn't be there for the parade. :headshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(dmbjeff @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 02:20 AM) i like being with the average joe fan in the stands watching baseball and discussing baseball rather than hit on cute drunk chicks, Not that there is anythig wrong with hitting on cute drunk chicks..right?. Edited February 2, 2006 by knightni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Rowland Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 1, 2006 -> 07:33 PM) Not that there is anythig wrong with hitting on cute drunk chicks..right?. Wimpy, I looooove hitting on drunk chicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUGGERNAUT Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I emphatically disagree & here's why: He is still comparing the MLB marketplace with what it was back in the mid 80's & early 90's when the WGN superstation became a national cable phenom. We don't live in that world any more. Hawk & DJ are bigger than any pair of personalities the Cubs can muster. We live in a world today where ALL the attention goes to the winners. Losers are afterthoughts. He says it will take a generation or several World Championships to change it. Who's he crapping? How quickly did attention shift right back to the White Sox after the Bears run fizzled out? How does one of the worst Hockey teams in the NHL, & a team that is still struggling for the 8th seed in the East conference impact the White Sox? They don't. All the attention goes to the winners. I don't even think it will take another World Series championship next year to drop the Cubs below 3 million in 2007. It just takes another below .500 season by the Cubs & some post-season victories by the White Sox. Just enough to keep the dream alive in a city with depressed dreams. The other thing Morrissey completely ignores is that 2006 will see more fans at the Cell than at any time since it's inception. Does he really believe feedback on that experience is going to be ho hum or like it was in the mid 90's? He's cracked in the skull if it does. I think the vast majority of the new fans in attendance next year are going to have a great time & want to come back. There is so much to take in, watch, & explore at the Cell. Far more than there is at Wrigley. If the White Sox are smart they will continue to feature something new (no matter how small) as an added attraction each year. Something to get the casual fan to talk about outside of the game of baseball. It's no longer the home to the White Sox. It's home to the World Champion White Sox. No one can ever take away the fact that the White Sox won a World Series in their most recent ball park. Perhaps the real curse of the Cubs is Wrigley itself. It's an unpredictable place to play & even worse of a place to pitch. Perhaps the curse is rooted in that under the lights, the pressure of the fans, & the wind blowing out no one can pitch a team to a World Series in that ball park. I'll make a bold prediction that even Morrissey can understand. If Cubs finish with a losing record & the White Sox make the post season agin the White Sox will beat the Cubs in TV ratings. Everyone says thats' what put the Cubs on top in Chicago so if that logic holds true a changing of the guard is on the horizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Nice post Juggs. I agree with pretty much everything you said, real strong post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin57 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 07:02 PM) I'll make a bold prediction that even Morrissey can understand. If Cubs finish with a losing record & the White Sox make the post season agin the White Sox will beat the Cubs in TV ratings. Everyone says thats' what put the Cubs on top in Chicago so if that logic holds true a changing of the guard is on the horizon. I hope...and suspect...that you're right "J." Please, please, if you are, write our dear friend Morrissey and tell him what a great baseball mind he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthsideNorthsideFan Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 QUOTE(rventura23 @ Jan 31, 2006 -> 02:55 AM) I dont really care if people view Chicago as a Cubs town or a Sox town. If being a Sox town requires converting a lot of Cubs fans to Sox fans, then it can stay a "Cubs town" the Sox outdrawing the Cubs and gaining on overall fan base would be the best thing that could happen for old time cubs fans... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CluelessJoe1919 Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Chicago will become a Sox town THIS season...Watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 QUOTE(SouthsideNorthsideFan @ Feb 11, 2006 -> 09:04 PM) the Sox outdrawing the Cubs and gaining on overall fan base would be the best thing that could happen for old time cubs fans... God I love that avatar. Old man Ryan kicked Ventura's booty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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