Chicagoist: A Tough Cell

JD

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 23:37:28 -0600

"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.

Joel

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 10:11:44 -0600

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.

FF'sS!

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 09:52:12 -0600

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

me

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 19:25:29 -0600

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.

Chicago Socialista

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 18:18:10 -0600

The Cell? I've always heard it called The Joan...

franek

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:49:14 -0600

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.

e_five

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:45:29 -0600

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.

Benjy

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:15:55 -0600

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.

notabbott

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:56:33 -0600

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?

Benjy

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:34:07 -0600

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.

rb

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:23:41 -0600

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.

A

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:01:03 -0600

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...