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Everybody knows that the Cubs are a much bigger draw at Wrigley than the White Sox are at U.S. Cellular. And even though we cheer for the White Sox, Chicagoist agrees that Wrigley is a great place to watch a game -- we certainly don't want to blow it up! But we also think that The Cell gets an undeserved bad rap -- especially following the three years of enhancements.
Formerly known as Comiskey Park, the Sox stadium had the misfortune to be the last of the "modern" ballpark built prior to the retro park movement launched by Baltimore's Camden Yards. While it included many ammenities older parks lacked, it also lacked any sense of character. While Chicagoist has praised the sightlines of the field from the concourses and the best ballpark food anywhere, the sea of electric blue seats and bare concrete were not aesthetically pleasing to look at. And what's with the constuction crane reminants holding the scoreboards and outfield lights up?
However, in recent years the Sox have done a nice job of sprucing up the place. They've chopped off and covered the formerly vertigo-inducing upper deck; they've painted the blue and white metal expanses throughout the park a more classic dark green; brick facades have covered much of the bare concrete; blue seats are being replaced with green; they've added the Scout Seating section behind home place; and they've even build a kid's baseball diamond over the outfield concourse.
The changes even surprised Mike Veeck, son of former White Sox owner and showman extrordinaire Bill Veeck.
Nobody impacted Chicago's baseball experience like Bill Veeck. As a Cubs employee, he planted the ivy that covers Wrigley's outfield walls. Years later as owner of the White Sox he instituted the giant fireworks shooting, pinwheel scoreboard; held disco demolition night and even dressed the Sox in shorts. His son has continued the family tradition for creating a festive ballpark atmosphere as owner of a number of minor league teams.
So when Mike Veeck make suggestions on improving the fans' experience, his opinion shouldn't be taken lightly. Veeck was pleasently surprised by U.S. Cellular Field during his recent visit. He did have a number of suggestions, however. He suggested adding a sense of whimsy by periodically relocating statues and writing messages to fans in chalk on walls. He also suggested hiring "'ushertainers' -- ushers who sing opera or do magic tricks," something to commemorate the fact that Harry Caray and his "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" tradition started at Comiskey Park, and using drag queens when the infield dirt is raked mid-game. Chicagoist isn't so sure about that last one... but Veeck's right that little things can do a lot to draw more fans. Of course, so will winning the World Series this season!
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you think those south-siders jump out of their seats to beat the crap out of 1st base coaches... wait until they see drag queens rake the infield... heh
Best move: getting rid of those upper deck seats.. uugghh...
Everyone thinks Wrigley and Fenway are great because the parks are old-fashioned and such. However, Yankee stadium is only a few years younger and hardly anyone cares it will soon be demolished. Why? It's the neighborhood, stupid. Fenway and Wrigley have them--Yankee Stadium and The Cell do not.
Wrigley and Fenway have bars, restaurants, and dwellings all-around. The stadium hoods are safe and fun to visit. People even disregard the lack of parking and amenities at both because they can walk around without worrying...enjoying one beer outside the stadium for every two they buy inside.
The Cell, though, is surrounded by acres of parking lots and the city's planned ignorance of the neighborhoods around it. Reinsdorf and the Wurtzes killed business outside the park for fear they would drain from sales inside the park.
The end result backfired, though, and you now have less fans attending games at The Cell, fewer fans spending money inside the Cell, and the loss of a huge fanbase the SouthSide could rival against the Northside.
RB, I tend to agree with you to some extent. While Wurtz is a different story because hockey is often played in the evening and in winter, I do agree that the neighborhood surrounding Wrigley adds to it appeal while the lack thereof at U.S. Cellular detracts from it becomming more of an attraction. The pre and post-game barhopping and general festivities around Wrigley on gamedays is something special that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere.
So, bringing this all back to soccer, which is pretty much my job around here, do you think the situation would have been improved had the Fire built their stadium next to Comiskey, or did they make the right call by going to the SW 'burbs instead, where they're supposedly going to anchor some serious neighborhood development?
I can't see building the Fire's stadium near U.S. Cellular as having any benefit and I think it would suffer the same lack of neighborhood. What is the Bridgeview location like? Hopefully, Bridgeview will allow for more interaction between the fans attending games and the neighborhood surrounding the stadium.
I wonder what will happen around the United Center in coming years as the development head towards it. I remember when the Chicago Stadium was out in the middle of a ghetto wasteland, but now the trendy restaurants and new lofts are extending ever closer.
Take the building out of the equation. The Cubs have the second highest road attendance in Major League Baseball (measured in percentage of filled seats to capacity) while the White Sox are 22nd out of 30-- and were helped by the fact they've played three road games at jam-packed Wrigley.
the fire stadium will be just like the cell and the united center surrounded by parking lot and add to that the fire is also going to have a practice field beside... yea that'll spur growth, i don't understand why the couldn't building two or so parking garages and the sell the land beside the stadium for residential development.
The Cell? I've always heard it called The Joan...
have you ever been to yankee stadium? granted, the neighborhood isn't that great (but it's not THAT bad either...), but aesthetically it has nothing on wrigley or fenway. you can't compare them. yankee stadium is a total characterless pit.
ammenities,
constuction,
home place,
extrordinaire,
pleasent. yes, it's lame to point out spelling & typing errors on the internet, but almost every fucking post on this site has some glaring error. people pay to advertise here? rent a helper monkey
Franek's on to something...I grew up down in Florida in the 80s and early 90s and the schools I went to were crawling with Cubs and Braves fans...thanks WGN and TBS.
"Best ballpark food anywhere?"
Is Benjy referring to the stale churros or the polish grill with baked-on onions from 1996?
Granted, Dippin' Dots rule, but the food at the Cell leaves a lot to be desired. Ever notice that all of the napkins are Dunkin' Doughnuts napkins, but there are no Dunkin' Doughnuts in the ballpark. That's just lame.
Also, the efficieny of food service at US Cellular is the pits. The reason it takes two and a half innings at the concession stand isn't because there's 15,000 in the ballpark, it's because the SportsService personnel don't give a shit about moving things along.
Benjy, c'mon. The food is not good and the service is horrible. God help us if the fans start drawing 40,000 each game. Better to fill up on the peanuts for sale outside the ballpark.