By Paul Sullivan The Cubs aren't making any changes on the field yet, but they're definitely making some noise off the field.
An unusual, new advertisement art appeared on the west side of Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, just a few yards to the north of the Ernie Banks' statue near Clark and Addison Streets. The piece is meant to resemble a large, yellow, elbow macaroni noodle, and has the slogan "You know you love it" written across it.
"Noodle art," Cubs executive vice-president of marketing Wally Hayward said before Tuesday's rain-delayed game against Oakland.
Curious fans snapped pictures next to the giant noodle before Tuesday's game, wondering what it was supposed to represent.
The new ad is meant to advertise Kraft's macaroni-and-cheese dinners, but it didn't receive anywhere near the kind of fanfare the Toyota sign did when it was unveiled in the left field bleachers last Friday. There was no controversy, no announcement and no logo to inform people of what it's there for.
As the Cubs continue to flounder in the Central Division, the Ricketts' family is finding new ways of bringing in revenue for a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball.
"We'll continue to generate incremental revenue for the ballclub so we can continue to help the performance on the field," Hayward said. "And we'll continue to renovate and preserve Wrigley Field for the next generation of fans.
"It's outside the ballpark. It's out along the street. It's creating a lot of excitement. People are googling 'You know you love it,' and it takes them to the Kraft mac-and-cheese web site...It's a nice way to bring in a corporate partner at a significant deal without doing anything inside the ballpark."
Hayward took umbrage at the suggestion the Cubs are turning Wrigley Field into the Wisconsin Dells. He pointed to the billboards on buildings outside the ballpark which create revenue for others, but not the Cubs.
Hayward declined to say how much the Cubs were getting from Kraft, but since it's outside the park it won't make nearly as much as the estimated $2.5 million from the Toyota sign. Hayward said the noodle would be in place for the rest of the season.
Hayward is hoping the Noodle can become Wrigleyville's version of 'the Bean,' the Millennium Park sculpture that has become an iconic part of Chicago.
"We were generating nothing, and found a creative way to introduce it, and it's a great way for Kraft to create buzz," Hayward said.
The ads aren't the only changes. The Cubs have also stopped playing organ music to introduce their players when they come to the plate. Now they have taped music, like most other ballparks. Koyie Hill, for instance was introduced with his choice of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" on Tuesday.
The Cubs marketing department picked Alfonso Soriano's tune.
"That motivates people when they go to home plate," Soriano said. "I'll wait to pick the perfect song, and I'll be excited when I go to the plate."
As the Cubs continue to flounder in the Central Division, the Ricketts' family is finding new ways of bringing in revenue for a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball.
"We'll continue to generate incremental revenue for the ballclub so we can continue to help the performance on the field," Hayward said. "And we'll continue to renovate and preserve Wrigley Field for the next generation of fans.
"It's outside the ballpark. It's out along the street. It's creating a lot of excitement. People are googling 'You know you love it,' and it takes them to the Kraft mac-and-cheese web site...It's a nice way to bring in a corporate partner at a significant deal without doing anything inside the ballpark."
Hayward took umbrage at the suggestion the Cubs are turning Wrigley Field into the Wisconsin Dells. He pointed to the billboards on buildings outside the ballpark which create revenue for others, but not the Cubs.
Hayward declined to say how much the Cubs were getting from Kraft, but since it's outside the park it won't make nearly as much as the estimated $2.5 million from the Toyota sign. Hayward said the noodle would be in place for the rest of the season.
Hayward is hoping the Noodle can become Wrigleyville's version of 'the Bean,' the Millennium Park sculpture that has become an iconic part of Chicago.
"We were generating nothing, and found a creative way to introduce it, and it's a great way for Kraft to create buzz," Hayward said.
The ads aren't the only changes. The Cubs have also stopped playing organ music to introduce their players when they come to the plate. Now they have taped music, like most other ballparks. Koyie Hill, for instance was introduced with his choice of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" on Tuesday.
The Cubs marketing department picked Alfonso Soriano's tune.
"That motivates people when they go to home plate," Soriano said. "I'll wait to pick the perfect song, and I'll be excited when I go to the plate."
So everyone who doesn't want to see a new ball park, also probably wants to hear the great babbling Santo in the booth for ever. Let's move forward. It is a very proven fact that the day games then night games are very difficult for MLB players to adjust to. I love Wrigley, been going there for nearly thirty years, but it's time for something new, something that our world class fans deserve. How much more can we possibly do to renovate it? The idiot neighbors want the revenue the ballpark brings, but doesn't want more night games. So to anyone who says that "Wrigley and the Cubs are different than any other venue or team", they are exactly right. The Cubs,lord knows I love them, are different because they cant win and Wrigley is different because it provides absolutely no new amenities that other parks do.
Please let's get a new ballpark that holds more fans that has amenities and has the necessities that the players need, like night games. Get rid of so many days games so the players actually can perform to the level that other players do. If the neighborhood doesn't want them to move, then stop being the whiny yuppies that you are allow more night games. If you don't want to do that, then expect that the team needs to move to a new ballpark. We want a World Series, who cares about "Tradition". Oh wait, we have a tradition of losing. A tradition that I definitely am sick of seeing.
The Cubs are the worst franchise in the history of all sports. Sorry, but I've reached my breaking point. After 40 years of supporting this team it's over. The Ricketts are down defecating on the only thing the franchise even had going for them--the park. First the gaudy banners of all our "great" players, then the Toyota sign, now a giant noodle a stone's throw from the Ernie Banks statue, and Goodbye to the organist?! Goodbye to another fan! I usually go to 30+ games a year but will be spending my time on the golf couse instead this summer.
I will not be returning this year unless that ugly disgraceful Toyota sign is down. The Cubs and the new ugly sign have one thing in common, both are unreliable. I think I will go to Hawk Ford and buy another truck today.
I'm fine with the Toyota sign. The music is absolutely insulting to the tradition of Wrigley. It generates NO additional revenue and just makes Wrigley look cheap for trying to be like the rest of those other ballparks. Wrigley is (or at least) was different. I'm fine with generating revenue but trashing the historical part of Wrigley for no good reason is ridiculous.
Attention! Attention! This recorded at-bat music has to be stopped! It is annoying, unnecessary, and makes Wrigley just like every other park. Which is exactly what you DON'T WANT TO DO: don't be like everyone else. Wrigley's essential appeal,good teams or bad, is it was a unique park without the mascots and gimmicks like at-bat music. Don't the marketing people see that? It's so clear even Ronnie Millsap could see that.
Oh Walter! You are so clever! Did you come up with that all by yourself?
Useless! That is sooo original!
Showed nothing! Wow! Ha! You're another Larry the Cableguy!
Keep posting. Maybe someday you'll add something to a conversation. Maybe.
Then again, probably not.
@Max: Oh yes, you're the typical Cubs fan...You believe whatever management tells you to do, support it and pay through your bum to go to a game, watch the team lose, and then yell "This is Our Year at the Cubs Convention"...repeat same year after year
As far as anagrams, it's too bad you I can't some with one for Max. BTW: My dog's name is Max
Though, I heard you were hit in the head by a foul ball and the x-rays showed nothing.
Here's a mnemonic device for you: CUBS
Completely
Useless
By
September
Enjoy your Cubbies lose to the 'Class A' A's again
Redefines "cheezy"
PFnerd50, you are your name it seems, I can certainly see that. btw, its Elk Grove Village, its in the north west suburbs. If you could be educated enough to find a map, or use a GPS you could actually know where that is. You are a f*cking elitist fag who lives in the city and think that you own the world. Well you can be an idiot and live in the city and pay $1,500/month rent on a 20x20 single room apartment, while I can live in a 2 or 3 bedroom house with an actual yard and parking. Yeah, you rip on us suburbanites, you ignormamous. Look that one up too, if you don't know what that is...
So THAT'S what that thing was, eh? I saw it yesterday at the game and thought maybe they stole part of Milwaukee's Summerfest logo.
Sorry, Featherston, I meant Doug regarding the creepy suburban suggestions.
As for you Featherston, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about.
Apparently the honeymoon is over. The Ricketts have transformed into the McCaskey's is some fan's eyes. 3 months is all it took...geez.
Hey Featherston,
Shut it. Elk Grove where? Go shop at a suburban Wal-mart and keep your dopey suggestions to yourself.
And PLEASE, Wally don't compare this noodle crap to the Bean. The Bean has some artistic value and interest. This is a damned noodle.
“If all of you freaks are going to get this worked up over every little thing then they should just tear down Wrigley all together and build a carbon copy of Miller Park out in Addison or Lombard or Elk Grove Village. I mean, you are all proving the White Sox fans right, that Cubs fans care more about Wrigley itself then the actual Cubs team.”
It’s not an either-or choice. Corporate America tells us it is in such cases, and unfortunately people like you believe them. Over the past 30 years, this country has based most of its decisions on opportunity cost and short-term thinking, and it’s gotten us into deep trouble.
Maybe the seagulls will eat the noodle? Then all we have left is bad baseball with a packed house with a lot of seagulls.
Walter Bearstradamus Brzeski on June 16, 2010 2:28 PM
And, the Cubs need a leadoff hiter and hire a stats guru. What's next? The hiring of Jake Leinenkugel as VP of Beer Operations when you need middle relief help?
____________
Ahhh, the cluelessness of those who find anagrams entertaining.
Yes, there is no use for scouting,research, and player devolopment, because leadoff men grow on trees. And what type of franchise wants to emulate the Red Sox and Yankeess anyway? And please, your pathetic attempts at humor are actually getting worse as we go.
This column is getting funnier and funnier. Ricketts should not have been allowed to buy the team? By who? This is America. he offered the money and the Trib took it. Then there are so many people that talk about the "experience" of going to Cubs games. You know what the "experience" means to me? I go to watch baseball. I don't care about noodles, Toyota signs, or rooftops. The Cubs have been putting a crummy product on the field for years. But the idiots on this forum are upset about a noodle?
If all of you freaks are going to get this worked up over every little thing then they should just tear down Wrigley all together and build a carbon copy of Miller Park out in Addison or Lombard or Elk Grove Village. I mean, you are all proving the White Sox fans right, that Cubs fans care more about Wrigley itself then the actual Cubs team.
And, there is not way you should refer to that noodle as art. NO WAY. And get it away from Ernie Banks. That's a desecration.
Now we have to listen to the Cub players bad taste in music too? Do they really want people to stay home? I'm glad that Soriano can find the inspiration in music that he's missing in $15m a year.
The organ was at least a throwback. Gee, I guess they're giving the organ to Cub fans.
Wrigley is a dump.
I think they need a stautue of seaguls. They seem to have invaded Wrigley field. I am not sure if it relates to all the garbage in the park or how the team plays.
How does it feel to have a once sacred park in the baseball world turned into a cheap sideshow all in the name of making the stockbroker owners richer?
And the money from these ads and changes is really paying off in the standings, aren't they?
I'm all for bringing in more money with ads ala Fenway park, but this noodle makes no sense.
Okay, just to have some fun with this, here are suggested intro songs for several of the players:
Aramis - "Stone Cold" by Rainbow
Fontenot - "Short People" by Randy Newman
Soriano - "Jump" by Van Halen
Theriot - see Fontenot
GREAT! A giant noodle on the outside to go along with the meatballs they have on the field inside. And, the Cubs need a leadoff hiter and hire a stats guru. What's next? The hiring of Jake Leinenkugel as VP of Beer Operations when you need middle relief help?
The Cubs recently hired a statistical analyst manager.
A guy who has a pretty good rep around baseball.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5292732&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines
A sad thing is that Sully the Clown would rather report on advertisments that are OUTSIDE of the ballpark and the changing from annoying organ music to annoying recorded music.
Even sadder is that the "fans" will pay more attention to, and get worked up about advertisments that are OUTSIDE of the ballpark and the changing from annoying organ music to annoying recorded music.
Apparently, Blackhawks Fever has died down.
There's nothing to report about anymore.
Thanks for the waste of time.
Hahahah! Having a giant noodle outside of your historic ballpark. It's not just baseball, it's a way of life in Wrigleyville/ Boystown. What a bunch of jamocha shakes.
All of you are chanting FIRE LOU and FIRE HENDRY, but the real person that need to be FIRED is RICKETTS! He is without a doubt the WORST owner in sports! We should have won the World Series by now, but instead all we have are NOODLES! Why hasn't RICKETTS said anything about this yet? A good owner would be on TV every night pounding his FISTS and demanding that the Cubs play BETTER! A good owner would show up in the dugout and CHEW OUT LOU after every dumb move he makes. A good owner would have RUN out on the field after D-Lee's two errors and got all up in his face! A good owner would have taken a led PIPE to Soriano's knees and then worked out an injury settlement to get him off the team. RICKETTS sucks and he should do what the Packers do. Sell the team to the community! All us bright people on here knows what's GOING ON! We would get the Cubs in SHAPE in a HURRY!
Finally, a reason to go to Wrigley Field!
the noodle simply promotes obesity.
lathered in chemically processed cheese, worst stuff in the world for you next to fast food.
Couldn't agree with you more "Lee E. Lia"
As much as it pains me to say, a lot of "Cubs" fans come to Wrigley not to watch a way sub .500 team, they go because its all they know. They pay the way over priced tickets because they can't stay away. They still take their kids to the game and spend 50 bucks+ on a 7 year old because Wrigley is what baseball is supposed to be.
No gimmicks. No mascot. No between inning BS. Just baseball (bad as it may be these days).
The more the Ricketts "add" to the stadium and to the fan experience, the more they actually are taking away from it.
And to all of those people out there ripping on us fans who are "complaining", hell ya I'm complaining because I am a FAN not a stockholder in the team.
This is just another example of how the Cubs are not about baseball. All this hoopla over a frickin plastic noodle.
Now all the wimps will be rushing over there to take their pictures with the noodle.
Who cares if the Cubs win or lose.
Kraft Cheese and Macaroni - It's the Cheesiest, just like the Cubs.
This was a horrible decision to allow them to become the owners. They clearly have no respect for Wrigley Field...cutting organ music, adding commercialized, UGLY billboard signs, big random commercialize statues of products next to legends...what's next, a new scoreboard, adding a giant pickle next to Harry's statue, changing the name of the field??? I think it is time to start a fan strike against the new owners.
I officially name the Noodle: AL DENTE
IF they want to preserve Wrigley Field for generations, then bring back the traditional organ music and forget the boxed music.
Robert Johnston- I get your point, but you misunderstand me. I don't give a damn about Tom Ricketts. But Cubs fans act like they own the Cubs and Wrigley Field and that everything has to be done their way or else. Hey, what do they care- it's not their money. Well, in a way it is- but they can choose to spend it or not spend it. But, they don't allow Ricketts that right? I dare one of the naysayers here to say that if he was the owner, he would not be looking for revenue streams.
They traded the organ music for a noodle. Wonderful.
Funny how people are glad the Trib doesn't own the team anymore. Um, how many times did they make the playoffs during their tenure? Not saying it was good enough since they never won it, but it's not the owner's fault when the team gags. Cub fans used to complain that the owners were cheap. Now it's 'trade, blow up the team, too expensive'. Cubs fans are such whiners. Go follow another team.
Funny how people are glad the Trib doesn't own the team anymore. Um, how many times did they make the playoffs during their tenure? Not saying it was good enough since they never won it, but it's not the owner's fault when the team gags. Cub fans used to complain that the owners were cheap. Now it's 'trade, blow up the team, too expensive'. Cubs fans are such whiners. Go follow another team.
A wet noodle in front of Wrigley Field summarizes the way the Cubs have been playing.
The Cubs should get Tidy Bowl as a sponsor. They could have a statue of the Tidy Bowl Man, and a speaker could make a flushing sound. Most appropriate for Wrigley Field.
The Bean is the very definition of cheesey. If it were put up in a place like Vegas, the "experts" who call it culture, merely becuase it's in Chicago, would be calling it tacky.
DSS36: Well said!! You captured it perfectly. Eroding the Cubs gameday experience with generic gimmicks like obnoxious at-bat music is weakening the very thing that makes Cubs brand value strong despite weak ballclubs. Wake up!!
dss36 on June 16, 2010 9:04 AM
Meh, the Ricketts family's ploys to grab more money are the same tired, uninteresting gimicks you see in every other ballpark.
What made the Cubs organization a valuable commodity (from a business perspective) was that the gameday experience was unique and unlike anything you could see in every other ballpark. It spawned a fanbase that stretches across the country.
By making gradually the Cubs product indistinguishable for any other baseball franchise, the Ricketts are eroding the competitive moat they had around their prodcut. They'll fetch a quick buck this year and next, but this is a long-term strategy for value destruction. The coming generations won't feel any attachment or nostalgia for a Cubs franchise that is totally indistinguishable from any of the league's other franschises.
Don, what do you know about art? The Bean is "incredibly schlocky and appeals to the lowest common denominator, if anybody?" Are you one of these clueless folks who thinks that only paintings of people's faces, preferably painted before 1840, are the only things that can be art? Are you one of those people who blabs the whole time they're in an art museum about how they "don't get it?" Probably not; I doubt you'd even set foot in an art museum.
It looks like Ricketts and Kenney want to turn Wrigley into just another ballpark, but are trying to sell us on the notion of new revenue streams. Here's a novel idea: spend less! The Cubs needed to sell off parts in the off-season. It was obvious that they weren't going anywhere this season, but they missed their window to sell. I understand that a lot of the highest paid players have no trade clauses (thanks, Hendry) but players like Dempster, Ramirez, Fukudome, Lee, Theriot and Lilly have all seen their value decrease this season. Blow this team up, send Lou on his way, send Hendry on his way and bring in someone from a team like Minnesota or Florida who actually knows who to develop a farm system.
New owner, same problems.
It compares to the bean in that they are both incredibly schlocky and appeal to the lowest common denominator, if anybody.
Yo, disgusted, how has the dumping of money on lazy/washed-up bums with name recognition been for you? This sell-out-for-the-money=winning is such a fallacy, you don't even see it. Problem is, Cubs fans don't have the stomach to back up the truck and field a team of youngsters who will learn and grow their way into a pennant over the course of a few years. Think Ricketts is your friend? Look at what he's done already. He's tear down the rooftops, or take them over, if he had a chance. He's somehow gotten Tunney into his back pocket now. I can't imagine that the new monstrosity is legal under signage laws. You sheep enjoy your Wrigley. You'll never see me there again.
Quote: Gordon Phoenix on June 16, 2010 4:15 AM
Wow, Toyota sign & now giant noodles? Good to see the Ameritech owner knows how to invest in the Cubs. His firm, like all stock firms, are a little profitable for investors in the last 10 years. What a joke.
It's Ameritrade, Einstein.
A giant noodle? And that's supposed to be akin to the Bean downtown? Dude - it's a giant cheap plastic piece of macaroni. How can you even compare the 2? What an idiot. The whole reason for going to Wrigley is that it is NOT like every other ball park. Get rid of the crappy ads, bring back the organ music and restore the place to what it should be - a classic ballpark. You don't need all that BS to put together a winning team...
This is really degrading the Cubs and Wrigley Field.
It's about time they got rid of that organ, Go Ricketts!
How does this piece of fiberglass compare to the bean? Does it "reflect" the stadium? Will people pose next to the giant noodle? Does it have to be polished from time to time? Finally, how much was the artist paid for it? I think people from Denver would gladly trade the blue Mustang sculpture out side DIA (nicknamed Blucifer) for the giant noodle!
Does anyone know when the new Dancing with the Stars begins? I'm starting to get tired of watching the reruns and nothing is quite as exciting as the new dancers getting started each year. I can't wait.
All this discussion is making me hungry. Mac N Cheese it is!
Some of the Cubs fans here are utter morons and don't understand business very well. Please, please, Mr. Cub owner, spend a lot of money on players so we can win a title. But don't raise ticket prices or use any other way to make money, because we don't like that and it goes against tradition. What do you people use for brains? I especially get amused by those that threaten never to go to Wrigley or buy Cub gear again. I put that in the same category as "the check is in the mail".
After hearing an incredibly misogynist ad this morning for a Kraft product, I've decided I'm never buying anything made by that company again.
Junk, pure Junk. The ownership, the management, the product on the field, the stadium, all of it is junk. Yet -35,000+ morons continue to show up to that crap hole on game days and yell, "Go Cubbies" in between beers and text messages. 75% of those fake baseball fans don't have a clue what inning it is and what the score is when they are attending the games. I was a die hard Cubs fan for 35 years and have now vowed never to step foot in Wrigley again or pay a dime for any Cubs merchandise until the Cubs clean house.
I'm glad they now have a noodle outside of Wrigley. Just another wonderful thing for the fans to experience along with the new Toyota sign inside Wrigley. This is as bad a time as it has ever been to be a Cubs fan. Junk. Pure Junk.
"That motivates people when they go to home plate," Alfonso Soriano said. "I'll wait to pick the perfect song, and I'll be excited when I go to the plate."
How many years will it take him to pick the "perfect" song.
When do we get the Midgets and the clowns? Oh wait we alreadt have the clowns...
to Jeff Richards...I am seated in aisle 209, row 9 seat 11 on weekends and nights...so you can see me there to argue this, but WHO CARES WHAT ADS ARE AT THE PARK! THe Cubs are a privately owned company that the RIcketts paid a boatload of money for. WHat I care about is the product on the field (as poor as it is lately) If putting up ads will help pay down the debt and allow the Ricketts to put more money into the team (as Ricketts has said it would)..Hell...wrap the field with McDonalds ads, paste Starbucks posters on the outfield walls, Put strange looking noodles All around the park. I would much prefer them to get Ad money than to raise my ticket prices again. Wrigley is a working ballpark...it is not a pristine museaum. If you want that, build the CUbs a new park and let them play there and get the money from the park...let someone buy Wrigley and turn it into that museum that you seem to want and let those people lose money trying to keep up an almost 100 year old park.
What does this say about the CUBS when a Toyota sign and a giant tacky fiberglass piece of macaroni garner all the headlines. Way to go, Ricketts family, the cheesification of Wrigley Field, a Chicago landmark. We already knew the team is a bunch of limp noodles. Hopefully, the same heavenly forces that sent a destructive lightening bolt into the fiberglass "touchdown jesus" statue on the Ohio interstate two days ago will cook this macaroni, too. Suddenly, Wrigley Field is looking like any other ballpark in America.
The new owners sure are trashing up Wrigleyville!
Disgraceful!
Great reporting. Just top-notch.
Why is adding advertising newsworthy?
The team should use this is their marketing, and advertiser who goes with them will get all of this extra coverage from the local newspapers too. With all of the attention, Toyota got their moneys worth before the sign was even up.
The guy in that picture is running out to buy Cubs tickets and then some Kraft Mac & Cheese. After that, he plans to tell his BFFs, Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria and Ubaldo Jimenez, to work out trades to the Cubs so they can play under the famous Toyota sign. It's all coming together, Cubs fans!
BREAKING NEWS: Giant Manwich statue seen outside Wrigley Field. Manwich: Official sloppy joe of the Chicago Cubs.
what a hideous poc.
Music for motivation at the plate? Isnt it motavation enough the fact that you are a professional baseball player being paid to play.
I walked by this noodle yesterday and of course thought of mac & cheese. But there was no company name on this object. I asked a parking-lot employee about it. He was sure it represented what I thought it did. I commented that I hoped there's a hole in the bottom, otherwise it's going to collect rainwater and breed mosquitoes. Personally, it just brought back some bad memories. Last month I accidentally broke one of my lower incisors - no, not playing hockey - and had to live with a temporary crown for 2 weeks while the permanent crown was being made. The temp was held on so insecurely that the dentist's aide told me to not use my incisors for eating. I had to insert food through the sides of my mouth, and most of it was macaroni & cheese. It never tasted bad, but I'm sick of it now! I don't know what's in various brands of cheese sauces, but as a rule of thumb think that the natural cheese types which can't be melted and poured all over stuff are more healthful for us.
If people go crazy for an over budget $20 million dollar "bean", why wouldn't someone think people would go crazy for a large noodle? It's common sense.
Meh, the Ricketts family's ploys to grab more money are the same tired, uninteresting gimicks you see in every other ballpark.
What made the Cubs organization a valuable commodity (from a business perspective) was that the gameday experience was unique and unlike anything you could see in every other ballpark. It spawned a fanbase that stretches across the country.
By making gradually the Cubs product indistinguishable for any other baseball franchise, the Ricketts are eroding the competitive moat they had around their prodcut. They'll fetch a quick buck this year and next, but this is a long-term strategy for value destruction. The coming generations won't feel any attachment or nostalgia for a Cubs franchise that is totally indistinguishable from any of the league's other franschises.
Wow, do the Cubs ever miss McDonough (sp?).
He gets a Stanley Cup to the Hawks, and the Cubs get a limp noodle from the new brains of the marketing biz.
@ Captain Obvious: additions on the field....with little to no money is the guy with the 2nd highest batting avg in the NL...Byrd. I mean the Cubs as a team such but that was a great pickup as was the Silva trade.....Castro and Colvin should be good players. We are stuck with aging huge contracts in Soriano, Lee and Ramirez. We gotta rebuild. But to blame a first year owner is ridiculous and shows how stupid the avg poster ont his site is....
The Ricketts have been a joke so far. They sit idly by and don't hire a proven baseball man while letting Genius Jim Hendry continue to be the GM. The Cubs need to go into significant rebuilding mode now, and that means cleaning house and hiring a top flight baseball man to run the show. Tom Ricketts is wholly unimpressive and is starting to rival Michael McCaskey.
great hey I have an idea lets focus on baseball!!!!!!!!
Ricketts are lame i will never give them a dime!!!
I like the noodle. It is funny. So are the Cubs.
What I do not understand is how are the Cubs "a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball" - I mean really - how about we pay for performance? I guess the players think they do not have to win since it is tradition to be a losing team but enough is enough. If you are gonna kill us on ticket prices then give us a winning team and keep the "Wrigley Experience" traditional so we are at least paying for something different than what we can get at every other park in the country. I know I am just a 30 year old female and not a die-hard baseball fan but even I have my limits for what is acceptable for the Cubs.
Let's check the Ricketts' scorecard so far: retaining Tribune empty suit Crane Kenney, adding a Toyota sign that mars the view of the bleachers, the PNC Club that most fans can't afford, and now a silly looking giant macaroni ad outside the park. And improvements on the field? Anyone? Just the sound of crickets... Disgrace.
I dont mind them adding some revenue...with the ridiculous contracts this team has to eat (not the ricketts fault btw for you morons whining) somehting has to be done. At leat the Tribune doenst own the Cubs any longer. Maybe I'll wait more than one year before deciding the ricketts are terrible owners, but you whining morons keep bitching about the things that dont matter cuz that's been helping for the last 100 years :-)
NO FAIR!! You guys get a NOODLE statue and all we get is a stinkin' World Series sculpture at the Cell!!
How appropriate to end this article with the sorry Sorriano, who needs taped music to get him excited. Maybe they can play a tune that will get him to stop looking for 5 minutes after he hits a ball. It will be so exciting when this slacker leaves the Cubs.
this team and the new owners are a total JOKE! we all new tommy boy was only in it for an investment not a winning product on the field...
The recorded music SUCKS. Here that, Ricketteseseses.
All the more reason to experience the real Chicago baseball team. Go Sox!!
The best thing about this Cubs season is seeing them come into their own with advertisers, i.e. BP (everyone's favorite), Toyota, (also a most popular brand these days) and now Noodle Heaven. And when you see the outstanding product on the field, you can't help but think, NEXT YEAR IS HERE. (just like every other year of anyone born since 1908 who is still above ground).
Look at Tom Ricketts...does he acutally look like he knows anything about the actual game of baseball? So he met his wife in the bleachers. That oughta tell you what kind of fan he is. No one out there cares about anything except being as obnoxious as possible, stacking their beer cups and picking up women/men. No one out there knows the score..heck, they probably don't how the score is kept and couldn't care less. Ricketts is probably the first one standing to sing the 7th inning stretch - a giant smile on his face - with some pro basketball player that doesn't play for the Bulls or any local team (and less than 1% of the fans could identify who he is)leading the song after the Cubs have given up three unearned runs in the same inning to fall hopelessly behind...you know, like last night. This team reminds me a lot of the teams in the mid-70's, early '80s. Has-been "stars" and never were (or will be) prospects. Yuck. Get used to 90 loss seasons folks.
Mack Newton wouldn't have allowed a noodle outside of Wrigley.
i didn't mind the car sign in the bleachers but i hate the idea of rock music being played for each player who goes up the plate, and i LOVE music, and rock music too. i like the traditional organ music. One of the things i liked about wrigley is the fact that you can sit and hear the person next to you. i've gone to games at other stadiums like Miller Park in MKE and wasn't able to carry on a conversation with my brother in a half empty place. i hope this doesn't blare out everything.
Regarding the noodle, everything looks stupid when you're losing. So, this is bad timing when they play like little kids who eat that stuff. i don't love it, i'm lactose intolerant. i'm even more intolerant to not hitting to the opposite field, not being able to bunt, not pulling a pitcher when he's thrown a good game but is running on fumes in the 7th, so many noodles on this team. i'm not a yankee fan, but those teams that won in the late 90's did so with guys like Paul O'Neil who would try for a single to the opposite field instead of a game saving HR. They had talent, yes, but even more so, they had team players who knew how to win. we need that, not more noodles.
i'm sure the cubs notice the empty seats. i can't stand this team, and i had luke warm expectations at best. i can barely listen to the games on the radio at times also. uncle keeps saying the same things over and over, like he's going to play colvin more. he said that 3 times or more, but never did, then when stone calls him out on it, he lashes back, and then he says it again, although this time for real. colvin's not the answer. he's a rookie, who may or may not turn out, however, his performance, and lack of recent performance by the other outfielders, he's worth a shot. wake up lou. this move is a month too late. yes, you've won a lot of games, but if you haven't noticed, players skills diminish over time. perhaps yours have too.
I thought this was an article from the HECKLER at first
It's so funny that so much of what Cubbie fans boasted about "The Wrigley Experience" as better than The Cell has been changed to copy The Cell (and other ballparks).
Daytime baseball only. Gone and pushing for more night games every year.
No advertising. Underwear ads on the outfield walls and more advertising every year.
Only organ music, no "canned" intro music. Now that has changed too.
One thing though that hasn't changed at Wrigley, it's never had a Cubbie World Championship team.
While I'll be the 1st to admit our team sucks, Chicago better get accustomed to new forms of advertising to pay for our pathetic losers. Without selling advertising space, we won't be able to sign our next batch of underperformers.
It's hilarious they are comparing that piece of junk eyesore macaroni to the incredible Millenium Park bean.
Way to bring class to Wrigley Ricketts (sarc).
It is going to turn out that we are all dead.
Wow, Toyota sign & now giant noodles? Good to see the Ameritech owner knows how to invest in the Cubs. His firm, like all stock firms, are a little profitable for investors in the last 10 years. What a joke.
As Ann Landers used to say, "forty lashes with a wet noodle" for whomever dreamt up this advertising extravaganza.
i hope them mayans were right, as i think i can only stomach about 2 more years of this crap.
I knew we were in trouble when the Rickett's rolled out the new radio ads on WGN this year. They're all about the "Wrigley Experience" and not at all about winning or seeing good baseball. So we have that to look forward to for the next however many years. The highest priced tickets in baseball to see a single A talent team, but we can enjoy that "Wrigley Experience", which features giant signs in the park and giant noodles outside it. Very intelligent marketing.
sad really... so far it looks like the ricketts are in it for the money. sure hope all these ugly BS ads pay off. from my view it just looks like typical corporate america. first toyota, then BP... ten bucks says tomorrow there's a new study about how bad noodles are for your health.
then again, i get the ricketts' vision... just make it a complete temple of failure... who cares if its baseball or the US... it's all goin' down a crapschute anyways...
i look forward to your reply, as always i'll be in sect. 208, row 8, seat 1..
I see this and I think, Lou is going to go off on Steve Stone again, for some reason.
A giant noddle???? wtf? The Ricketts just want they're money how about getting someone who can really hit??? a giant noddle HA!!