Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I really should do an assessment of the post-season moves. Maybe I will make it my next project. Honestly, aside from retooling the pitching rotation with some chancey acquisitions, not much went on. The Cubs are likely a better team now than they were in September, but then, how could they be worse?
To my mind, the biggest news to come out of the Cubs convention was Alfonso Soriano's threat to end his career as a Cub and to finally bring a championship to Chicago. To the mind of cynics like myself, these are two mutually exclusive propositions.
The other big news came in the form of the release of plans to refurbish Wrigley Field without government assistance, at least of the monetary kind. I rather welcome the recognition on the part of rich men who own sports franchises that are literally gold mines that it is their responsibility to build or remodel their own facilities.
Chicagoans and Cubs fans probably need to read the fine print, though. In return, Cubs management is asking for some easing of restrictions on the landmark status of the ballpark and how the park operates in the neighborhood.
Personally, I have nothing against increasing the number of night games. I've lived within walking distance of Wrigley Field the majority of my adult life. This neighborhood has changed a lot. Right now it is a far cry from being a classic residential area. In fact, especially along Clark Street, it is mostly congested all the time anyway.
In fact, I would wager that most of the opposition to proposed stadium changes will come from the rooftop owners who seem to have a lot of political clout and are and have been a blight on the neighborhood to begin with.
From the drawings presented by the Cubs, the actual physical changes to the park don't seem that bad. It looks like they have left the relatively iconic elements alone, things like the ivy and the scoreboard. The devil is likely to be in the details, especially the demand for a freer hand in allocating advertising within the park itself.
One thing I do think would be objectionable though, from an architectural standpoint anyway, is the design for the new or rebuilt upper deck. The whole cantilevered look is kind of cool, but it seems totally out of character with the rest of the stadium's architecture.
The rest of the plans, i.e., the concourses and lavatories and batting cages and stuff look good, but one wonders how they are going to shoe-horn all this into the limited space available.
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