Chicagoist: Sam Zell Still Selling Naming Rights, Cubs

Timrasmussen

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:38:26 -0600

Our former governor seems to be talking out of both sides of his mouth regarding the benefits of the Illinois Sports Facility Authority purchasing Wrigley Field. I quote, Thompson said it makes sense for the authority to buy Wrigley. "The public would get a restored Wrigley Field, the most iconic baseball field in America, at no cost," he said. "If I can't sell it at no cost to the taxpayer I'm not much of a salesman." The Authority's proposal is likely to include the creation of a special taxing district at Wrigley, in which future growth in sales taxes over the next 30 years would go toward the cost of restoring the stadium. The difference between the projected revenue total and the renovation cost "is what would go to the Tribune," Thompson said. I guess Big Jim doesn't think the use of sales tax increment financing to pay for a few hundred million dollars of renovation comes out of the taxpayer's pocket.

tyler

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:53:36 -0600

go to hell, sam zell

JasonM

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:51:54 -0600

Sam Zell can grab the corporate board of Macy's and get lost. Seriously when did the "for sale" sign go up on all of Chicago's icons? Give me an finn' break.

Spook

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:55:18 -0600

Vit Vit Vit, dude, man, son, yo, kid, homey. Aint no hard and fast rules to nothing, except in Chicago it gets too cold during the winter.

vit

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:06:41 -0600

I know this is sarcasm but I feel compelled to state that much of my family is from New England, and I know lots of people there, and if you don't think that NE isn't capable of allowing rubes through their educational system, I invite you to visit New Hampshire with me sometime, upon your return, your mind will have been changed ;)

magilla gorilla

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:04:06 -0600

anyone not educated on the east coast is a rube. this is common knowledge

vit

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:19:23 -0600

So it is supposed to mean something that you were 'educated' east of Chicago?

spookhatespuppies

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:38:32 -0600

@Spav1: Delta Zeta? Sounds about like the DZ's at my school.

Spav1

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:07:07 -0600

Navin and Spook: dont you know? I am a paid operative of Chicagoist to be a bitch and increase page views. Seems to be working. and spook: I was in a sorority, pretended to be stupid to get laid, and wouldn't have given the time of day to boys like you.

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:35:01 -0600

I love all the crazy bastards on this blog. Except for spookhatespuppies. That guy is a TOTAL dick.

Pinko

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:51:58 -0600

So can we count on Spook crunking and moonwalking his ass over to Sheffield's tomorrow night? First Guinness is on me, and I believe spookhatespuppies has your first scotch...

Navin

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:22:07 -0600

Spav1, Despite the inflamatory rhetoric and frequent misspellings he still manages to at least come nearer to speaking truth to power than most of the commentors on this blog and in a much more entertaining way. On top of that he sounds at the very least like he'd actually be fun to go drinking with, while you sound like you'd be stone drag and would probably complain about good service and leave a shitty tip.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:06:40 -0600

Nope, Spavis! that dude sounds like a suburban or rural type. Your Spook was a pop lock'n, tic toc'n spinning on his neck, robot doing, moonwalking, electronic Boogaloo dreaming, break dancing, smart aleck, teacher annoying, basketball playing, B boy with a book always hidden some where on my person to be read when no one was watching. Actually I wanted to grow up, move to New York and be like Sugar Pop! word! It was only years later that I became a public intellectual, minor p minor i. And who were you Spavis?

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:20:56 -0600

Spook: You are like that hideous loner who sits in the back during creative writing class and then whips out insane misogynistic, violent poetry and everyone else just looks around wide-eyed and like, wondering if really OWN a hunting knife. And then when the teacher asks you about it, you get quiet and say that "no one gets it" and then you walk out. Jesus.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:08:18 -0600

Well Vit Honestly I do enjoy a certain degree of anonymity that this forum provides so I’ll just say that it’s about a two hour plane flight (I hate long car trips) out east. Actually once there I hated the place. But after graduation I realized what a socratic foundation it gave me based up an intellectual un-housing. I think it’s important to under go an intellectual vertigo to realize how much we don't know, and how much of what we think we knew was based on pudding. This is a very uncomfortable process. And most folks would rather avoid it. But no matter where you go or didn't go the above is very attainable IF learning and questioning is valued and placed at a premium by the individual, like talking about the cubs for instance. Can you imagine what it would look like if so many people got so worked up over a book? I can hear it coming now --Booo hissss, booo hissss! And see Spav1 We agree! No homeless smokers at a bars either!

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:37:16 -0600

@Spook: WOULD YOU LET A HOMELESS PERSON SMOKE IN A BAR? I would not. Cigarettes are expensive and you know they wouldn't have their own. @rhos: Don't be spiteful. Not the place.

vit

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:35:50 -0600

And where exactly did your 'education' take place Spook? Please tell me so that I know where not to send my children.

rhoswhen

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:33:53 -0600

I hope Zell DOES rename it something "commercial." Cuz I hate the Cubs. Sorry guys, but it's true.

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:31:43 -0600

@Mike_Thoms Fine. Depending on the success of tomorrow night, I propose a Chicagoist Fantasy Baseball League to determine the greater fan.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:59:50 -0600

Word Pinko! And you know I like the name "Pinko", and I am looking for a vice commentator! and yea I know people give me much beef about the "enabling crazy, homeless alcoholics since 1998!" But on the real, don't they deserve a drink too? I mean being homeless is hard work. Give me all the logic you want, but like Spav1 smoking at the bar, I aint changing on that one.

mike_thoms

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:54:26 -0600

I.) Sox fans didn't like the change to U.S. Cellular a.) Spook is a douche b.) If Old Comiskey was still the White Sox stadium there would have been an even bigger public outcry over the name change. I'm a Cubs fan and I still would have been irritated by it i.) Spook is a douche II.) The iconic Wrigley sign will not go anywhere a.) The park has landmark status b.) The name of the park will most likely be changed to something like "________ Park at Wrigley Field" with the corporate signage/logo going right above the iconic sign III.) Really sick of all the pink hat talk, the yuppy talk, the non-fan talk. a.) Spookhatespuppies...also a douche. b.) Similarly...Peteypants...douche.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:53:06 -0600

Sorry Yoko, my education aint midwest and I'm proud of that ;-) But I do have two copies of Zinn, and Illusion. and most of the other folks you mentioned! See, you my friend, are stuck in a midwest intellectual construct. learning should be continuous, which means brushing off the classics now and then and refreshing yourself or as I like to say, getting reacquainted. Cleary from your remarks you were not intellectually engaged in school, but thats how it is for most Americans right on up to the President! Heck I just reread Hamlet for the 20? time. And we can also kick around some Morrison, as in Toni. Heck looks like I'm gone be at this desk for a few so we can do this! My advice? Let folks like Beckett, Tolstoy, Chekov, James Baldwin, A. Miller, T Williams, Ellison, etc, etc, etc, back into your life! Its a sin to read them for credit and leave them behind or even love them and leave them! No! Like Prince said “I don’t care pretty baaaaaby just take me with you” as in them! You feel me? As Tupac said "Holla if you hear me!"

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:42:11 -0600

@Spav1: So am I... So am I... @Scoot: Sorry, never noticed that one before. Thanks. @Spook: I kid because I love. And if you notice, I wasn't laughing at the lady. I was too worried about her fucking up my PA equipment or falling off the stage and suing me.

Pinko

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:34:39 -0600

Spook: A Man for the People, Suckas (Can you count?!) Keepin' it real in Chicago and enabling crazy, homeless alcoholics since 1998! Punch the Spook ballot (or just the candidate himself) in February '08!

Scooter Libbby

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:28:30 -0600

spook....: It's Rogers Park, there's no apostrophe in it! It's named after Philip Rogers, not Roger!

YoknapatawphaTourismBoard

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:26:08 -0600

Has anyone else noticed that Spook seems to be finishing his general education requirements for a BA? This month he's name-checked Hegel (in a weird context...), Beckett (every Sophomore with a crush on the TA's fav WfG), and now Chomsky (the growin-dreads-cuz-I'm-not-livin-at-home club's number one cultural critic). Wagers on the next mad props to the undergraduate canon? Zinn perhaps? Freud's "The Future of an Illusion"? A Nietzsche misappropriation?

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:24:29 -0600

How interesting Hatespup! We might have passed each other like ships, yo! Cause indeed, I wasn’t too far away from you! See I was at the Green Mill, son. And while You (probably wearing a red argyle sweater and kaki Dockers),were trying to be the next Jerry Seinfield along with a bunch of others of your ilk, laughing at homeless women and such, your boy Spook was at the Green Mill Poetry Slam rocking rhymes, laying lyrical wreck, and mentally slaying wack MC’s! Furthermore, your whole style is chump, you laugh at homeless women, while I buy the homeless drinks if they can make it pass the door man. But on the real, any body notice how Nola( unlike Chicago) is a lot more tolerant of its "crazy/Homeless" denizens and even often giving them special cultural status? Oh and I see you Ed (Ma and Pa) Knittle! Like James Brown said "Watch yo self!" this race gets dirty son! And I'm more like Paul Welstone with the school bus! And are you sure Barack O'Bama does not use a apostrophe in his name among certain audiences when he autograph’s his book?????? Holla at ya Spook! The terminator commentator-elect

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:24:08 -0600

@spookhates: I am so excited for tomorrow!

Ed Knittel

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:36:45 -0600

@spookhatespuppies: thanks for the LULZ. You delivered the punchline beautifully.

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:29:33 -0600

I vote for "Old Style Park". And I used to run this open mic stand-up showcase in Roger's Park. Every week, this crazy old lady would come in, and do the most bizarre five minutes I'd ever seen. She'd get by on crazy facial expressions, prolonged moments of mumbling into the mic punctuated by the sudden screaming of random words like "Broadway!" and "Corn!". And every week, she'd get laughs. Not the "Wow, she's a sharp writer and has a unique voice" kind of laughs, but "Who the fuck let the bag lady on stage?" kind of laughs. Anyway, that's what I think about every time Spook submits a comment. (Hugs!)

A2

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:14:19 -0600

I am just saying he is a multi-billionaire already, is it asking too much for him to spare an icon? Believe me I couldn't care less, I didn't grow up here. But I mean pretty soon it is going to be the Chicago Energizer Batteries instead of the Cubs and the Denver Broncos by British Potroleum. When does it end? I'm not offering this up as startlingly original thought, just adding my voice to the chorus of people who think some things should be left alone no matter how much cash there is to be made.

Ed Knittel

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:14:16 -0600

@Spook It's Power Puff not Powder Puff -1 point It's Obama not O'Bama (what, is he Irish?) -1 point It's Viva Le Revolution not Via (Latin - "by way of") Le Revolution -1 point Your campaign is falling apart. Commenters are looking for solid leadership with sharp looks and a smart mind. I'm afraid you're the Giuliani in this Chicagoist race. I may have come into the race late but I am fighting for a brighter Chicago! ---- On point: Selling the name of the field will do little than confuse the hell out of Santo. I can only image what that first broadcast would be like. "Pat, where the hell are we again? Fuck it, I'm calling it Wrigley."

peteypants

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:51:12 -0600

that golden mean philosophy (Heartless Corporation Park at Wrigley Field) works better than that "for the greater good" bullcrap, for sure. also, there's an entire neighborhood (where i live) referred to as wrigley, wrigleyville so that name ain't going nowhere.

Slaphappy

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:41:46 -0600

I think when (not if) he does sell the naming rights, it will be similar to what the Denver Broncos did -- their stadium is called Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. So I'm guessing something like (Sponsor) Park at Wrigley Field. Gay, yes, but it's better than getting rid of the name entirely.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:35:54 -0600

Oh get the F*ck out Spav1! Put that crack pipe down! who’s running your campaign Matilda? Just because you got an Barack O’Bama button on your pink Powder Puff Girls back pack, don’t mean you can inspire any body! I’ve got this race locked up. I’ve got most of the delegates, the momentum, and a buck fifthy cash on hand and a pocket full of pistachios! Under my reign its gonna be a new day, Starting with Hates Puppies surrendering the Spook moniker Then watch out Macy protestors, The New Chicagoist will lead a movement of agitattion,organizing and protest to change the name of the old Comiskey Park to Noam "Chomsky Park"! The Cubs will be called the Cubans playing in Fidel Castro Field! Via Le Revolution! signed, Spook-Commentator for a New Chicagoist!

Pinko

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:28:06 -0600

Though I might miss the old Wrigley sign a little bit, it doesn't matter. Hasn't Wrigley Field been given landmark status? If so, then I believe the iconic sign will have to remain, no matter what they rename the park...

simplecreature

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:27:23 -0600

Events like this should serve as a reminder to sports fans of all stripes and sides that sports is a business and they could give a rat's fuck in hell about your childhood memories of holding grandpa's hat while he bought you a dog at Wrigley or Comisky or whatever. Sports teams bully brow-beat communities into funding their expansions (luxury boxes) to stadiums all the time. Miller is out to turn a profit, the biggest one he can. You don't matter and all the letter-writing and stamping of feet won't change that. They're corporations and scummy ones at that. All the strum and drang and raging and wailing and gnashing of teeth means nothing, you'll still line up, pay up and bend over to take it from your sports team again, and again and again. Only way to win is to go outside and play.

peteypants

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:25:33 -0600

wow, i totally missed the fact that SAL-E's pic was used for the post. he's great on feast of fools and apparently bff with zell.

peteypants

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:19:43 -0600

the cubs are one of the more profitable teams in mlb. no matter what they call the park, drunk suburbanites will still be clamoring to get in. there's no such thing as bad publicity, as they say.

Tower18

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:04:14 -0600

Besides, that's a bit different anyway, because nobody gave a damn about that hole of a stadium in the first place. Signed, Not a Cubs fan.

InsaneNewman

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:04:11 -0600

...on the other hand, is there really a company out there with a desire to be reviled that much that they would buy the naming rights for Wrigley? I mean, this is Chicago... you've still got people boycotting Macy*s over a name, for god's sake (instead of boycotting them for more logical reasons like, for instance, a lack of service or quality merchandise).

Tower18

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:03:03 -0600

"We didn't really piss ourselves when they went to "U.S. Cellular" That's funny, I remember it a little differently. There are quite a few fans who refuse to call it anything other than Sox Park.

Not_another_username

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:55:19 -0600

I never called the new park Comiskey. I don't mind calling it the Cell. I don't think anyone who doesn't have to would call Wrigley anything but Wrigley.

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:51:28 -0600

Spook: As you have yet to get a comment saying that you INSPIRE people, I believe I am front-runner for commentor of the month. Also, you are boring. HAHAHAHAHA!

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:50:37 -0600

Seriously, did your mom drop you on your head or something? Like for an hour?

magilla gorilla

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:47:03 -0600

they've been slowly adding more and more advertising at wrigley for a while. every year, it's a little bit more. it wasn't that long ago that there was no adverstising there. also, wrigley gum has been getting free advertising off this park forever and i'm guessing zell is using this threat to coerce the company to pony up

A2

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:46:26 -0600

Spook, Your comment is too boring for me to address.

Spook

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:39:59 -0600

"I believe wholeheartedly in free enterprise, but there's a time when capitalism should take a backseat to the greater good." "greater good" seniors and children first? no! heathcare for all, nope! housing for all, heck no! free equal education for all, who them? No way! The Cubs?... YES,ITS About the greater good, Capitalism should take a back seat to a stupid basemball team that suburbanites and yuppies love along with a few o.k. people. You sir are a Red Eye Reading Moron, Regards, Spook Commentator( and one hot potata!) of the month-elect

formula27

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:36:40 -0600

I think of myself as a Cubs fan and I could care less about what the name of the park is. Though I might miss the old Wrigley sign a little bit, it doesn't matter. It won't make it any less fun to go to a game based on what the official name of the park is. If anything the additional revenue would only help the team.

spookhatespuppies

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:26:45 -0600

This is why it's great to be a White Sox fan. We didn't really piss ourselves when they went to "U.S. Cellular" and we got over it pretty quickly (i.e.- "The Cell"). Championships help you forget things fast. Meanwhile, this will be a years-long saga and every pink-hatted Cubs "fan" will scream that the sky is falling as the team itself cruises to another soul crushing sub-par season.

Pinko

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:22:52 -0600

I hope he sells the naming rights TO HIMSELF just to show all of you! That would be a very costly way of burning us...

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:09:13 -0600

Wrigley is a gum and a MAN. So, would no one care if he renamed it Zell Field? By that logic? I hope he sells the naming rights TO HIMSELF just to show all of you!

A2

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:08:22 -0600

I believe wholeheartedly in free enterprise, but there's a time when capitalism should take a backseat to the greater good. If he were building a new stadium, I wouldn't begrudge him "Google Field" or "Southwest Airlines Park." But it is an iconic structure for crying out loud. And he has a lot of nerve talking about "most of all, what's important to the citizens of Chicago." I mean, it's one thing to MF somebody, but you don't have to lie about it. I think it's fair to say that most Chicagoans would think it's "best" to keep it named Wrigley.

vorare

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:05:08 -0600

The stadium was called Weeghman Park when it was owned by Charles Weeghman and it was called Wrigley Field when it was owned by William Wrigley (with a brief interlude as Cubs Park prior to renovations).

mike_thoms

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:01:58 -0600

It's not really name rights if the guy who owns the team is named Wrigley. It's not like Wrigley paid himself to have the park named after him. and i'm sure it was named after him as more of a vanity thing than anything else. Zell just seems like a real jag. I don't care what he does with the name in the end because under his guidance the Trib is going to go down faster than a $2 whore.

Spav1

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:52:23 -0600

Um, isn't Wrigley Field like the FIRST park EVER to have name-rights associated with it? Am I missing something? Who cares. Everyone will still call it Wrigley.