http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/02/web...campaign=359524

 

CHICAGO (CBS) — A new Web site has honored Wrigley Field with the dubious distinction of number one – among sports fans who fail to wash their hands after going number one.

 

The Web site, UFE.com – the “UFE” stands for “urine, feces everywhere,” ranks the iconic 98-year-old home of the Cubs as the least clean ballpark in Major League Baseball. The site blames the trough urinals in the men’s room – that well-known, if awkward, feature of the ballpark that makes it easy to hit the restroom and get one’s business done while missing as little of the game as possible.

 

The consequence of the quick and easy trough urinals, UFE.com says, is that the men who use them head back to their seats without washing their hands. And those round stainless steel sinks in the center of the men’s room don’t have nearly as much space as the urinals, the Web site points out.

 

“Basically, the facility provides at least thirty men to pee at once, while only a fraction of that number can wash their hands at once,” a UFE representative is quoted by the Web site.

 

Given that “pee/wash ratio,” the number of people who have potentially harmful bacteria on their hands is “very high,” the Web site says. Although urine is sterile, the Straight Dope has pointed out that the “boxer shorts region” is covered with coliform bacteria and washing is necessary after contact with it.

 

But observers from the Web site said for every 100 men who went to the restroom at Wrigley, 79 didn’t wash their hands. For women, the rankings are vastly better – only eight out of 100 failed to wash their hands after using the restroom.

 

UFE accompanies its ranking with a deliberately repulsive photo of one of the trough urinals at Wrigley, shown lined with pink urinal cakes, old beer cups, and discarded peanuts.

 

The Chicago Sun-Times reports the rankings — issued back in July — are the work of John Vallone, a dentist from Bourbonnais, who envisions a scenario in which a man uses the restroom without washing his hands, then stops to get his wife a hot dog and pushes on the ketchup and mustard dispensers.

 

U.S. Cellular Field fared vastly better in the rankings, as the 12th dirtiest ballpark in the system. UFE says the restrooms were clean to the point where crews were cleaning when fans were using the facilities, but a concession stand was seen covered in condiments on the counter.

 

UFE collected their ratings based on 79 health-related criteria, focusing largely on restroom hygiene, the Sun-Times reported.

 

Vallone, a Sox fan, and his wife inspected 26 of the 30 ballparks personally, but not left Wrigley and U.S. Cellular to others, the newspaper reported.

I will never forget when I saw a guy drop his cell phone into the Wrigley trough. I didn't stick around to check if he washed his hands.

I will never forget when I saw a guy drop his cell phone into the Wrigley trough. I didn't stick around to check if he washed his hands.

Reminds me of one of my favorite TV ads ever (see phone-in-urinal moment about halfway through).