What would make you give up on the Cubs?

In Commentary And Analysis by andcounting72 Comments

Aisle 424 wrote last week about the paucity of fans at U.S. Cellular at the conclusion of the White Sox' sweep of the Yankees, and it got me to thinking. It got me to thinking so much I actually used the word paucity in a sentence. But mostly it made me ponder the possibility of the same thing eventually happening to the Cubs. Sure, in this current epoch of unconditional attendance (or at least ticket purchasing) by the Wrigley faithful and word-of-the-day Cubs blogging by yours truly, it doesn't seem like a remote possibility that a good Cubs team would ever have such a difficult time putting blue-bleeding butts in the bleachers.(Sorry, that expression is completely gross, but I'm keeping it.) But over time, it's a real possibility. 

If Cubs fans lost interest one by disappointed one, if the market for witnessing baseball melancholy gradually dried out, if you, dear reader, became the first domino in a chain of secession from Cubdom . . . the Cubs could eventually become unpopular. What I want to know is, what would it take?

What would have to happen to make you stop attending Cubs games altogether? I'm not saying you'd abandon all hope and start cheering for the Expos to make a comeback, I'm just asking, what would it take to make you so disinterested in watching Cubs baseball live that you wouldn't even go to a game in which their Cy-Young caliber pitcher had a chance to lead the sweep of the best team in the league? Let's face it, that's pretty much the pinnacle of attendance apathy.

I know some of the OV regulars have no interest in attending as it is. But if you are among the throng of willing participants in the conga line through the Wrigley turnstiles, what would it take to get you to hang up your . . . conga shoes? Here are some possibilities.

Maybe it's the rising ticket prices that could dissuade you from buying tickets. That would make sense. The Cubs are a bad baseball team charging really-good-team prices to watch them play bad baseball. But if cost is going to be the predominant factor in turning Cubs fans away, the Cubs would have to be absolutely obstinate about keeping prices high. For whatever reason, a lot of people are still investing a lot of money in buying tickets to Cubs games, and if that trend is declining, it's doing so slower than a Joe Mather curveball.

I'm laughing loudly at the idea of the Cubs collapsing. What's to collapse? It's not like the Cubs are a house of cards waiting to fall. They're a house of card. But I'm using C-words here, so deal with it. If the Cubs stay really bad for a really long time (and who among the living and reasonably sane doesn't think that could happen?), interest will wane. Judging by the current market, they'd have to continue losing, uninterrupted by success, for the better part of a decade. That can be tough. You never know when even an ineptly run team might accidentally be good for awhile, so the Thoyer Super Friends brain trust would have to thoroughly disappoint to sustain the current tidal wave of suck. I'm not saying it isn't a possibility, but the inertia of Cubs fans' loyalty doesn't seem to allow for a mass exodus due to bad baseball anytime soon.

Let's not forget that the White Sox are less than seven years removed from their last World Series parade. If the same thing happened to the Cubs, is it possible that fans would stop coming to Wrigley? Cubs fans could tune out the way Moonlighting fans did after David slept with Maddie. Once the seemingly endless chase for success finally comes to an end, maybe that could be the ironic last straw for fans just looking for a reason not to come to the ballpark anymore? Maybe Cubs fans only want what they can't have. Maybe . . . heh, shit, come on. This would never happen. 

This is has been a really, really boring team to watch. Maybe people for whom the novelty of new prospects playing at the major league level has become tiresome will actually slip into a state of prolonged unconsciousness. That might physically prevent fans from attending games at Wrigley, but it would, ironically, be just the thing to make the endeavor bearable.

This is the one I'd be most interested in feedback on. What if the Ricketts finally approved and implemented serious changes to Wrigley Field? Or maybe they blow up Wrigley altogether and start from scratch. What level of change would it take to kill your interest in coming? Replacing the troughs with civilized urinals? Cutting off beer sales in the top of the third inning? Orange shag carpeting in the mezzanine suites? Or, perish the thought, replacing the Wrigley scoreboard with a gigantic jumbotron that merely simulated the old-fashioned hand-operated scoreboard? Seriously, what change at Wrigley would keep you from ever returning?

Really. They are the Cubs. If there's one thing they can do, you'd think it would be getting people to stop coming. Somehow they're failing even at that.

What the hell is wrong with us?

 

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Comments

  1. mb21

    Great article, AC. Too bad I can’t answer this question since I’m one of the OV regulars who has already lost interest. (dying laughing)

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  2. mb21

    I was looking through Barney’s videos on mlb.com for some of his best defensive plays and saw the one below. If Jeter was making this catch he’d have dove into the stands after taking 8 more steps.

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  3. mb21

    @ Rice Cube:
    No, same site. We’ll be re-designing the site, but you’ll notice very little difference on the desktop. It’s a responsive theme so it will adjust to the size of the browser it’s loaded on. Don’t know when we’ll make the switch, but probably at least a week and as I said, you won’t really notice a difference except viewing it on a mobile device will be a hell of a lot more user friendly than now or when we had the mobile theme.

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  4. Berselius

    Cubs fans could tune out the way Moonlighting fans did after David slept with Maddie.

    Spoiler alert, ass. What are you going to do in the next article, tell us how Rosebud was a sled?

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  5. WaLi

    mb21 wrote:

    Great article, AC. Too bad I can’t answer this question since I’m one of the OV regulars who has already lost interest. (dying laughing)

    You answered last thread saying the Cubs could not start their ace in the playoffs. I guess for that to happen the Cubs would have to actually make the palayoffs, so you are stuck being a Cub fan for a while (dying laughing)

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  6. WaLi

    I don’t live near Chicago and probably won’t again so cost or change wouldn’t really affect me. Like you said, the Cubs can’t really collapse so cross that off. Maybe coma.. If the Cubs were to be bad like the Pirates have been for years in combination with completing fire sales like the Marlins but without the World Series. I don’t think Being champions could dissuade me from being a Cubs fan unless they win like 20 world series in a row due to Thoyer putting in a cheat code (up up down down left right left right b a start). That would still be exciting though except for the obnoxious Cubs fans, it they are here already so that’s out.

    Damnit, looks like I’m going to be stuck being a Cubs fan.

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  7. mb21

    @ WaLi:
    That’s the point where I’d stop being a Cubs fan, but I think AC was asking when we’d lose enough interest to not want to watch this team. Been there for awhile already. (dying laughing)

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  8. SVB

    I’m going to repeat my thoughts on Strasburg from the last comment of a thread about 2 weeks ago:

    SI (july 30 issue on Dylan Bundy):

    From 1981-2000 there were 102 high school pitchers selected in the first round of the draft…
    Those who threw more than 150 innings in their first full year were much more likely to reach the majors (78%) than those who didn’t (51%) and more than twice as likely to reach 20 career wins (57%) than those who didn’t (27%). These include guys who threw more than 150 were guys like Maddux, Al Leiter, Tom Glavine, etc.

    SI quotes folks suggesting that the breakdowns of Wood and Prior made everyone limit innings. Since 2002 the only HS 1st rounder with more than 150 innings in year 1 was…..drum roll…..Chris Volstad. ((dying laughing))

    Anyway, one point made in the article which some of the comments earlier today echoed was that pitch quantity matters far less than mechanics. If you see a pitcher throw out of his slot, you pull him. If he tires, you pull him. If he suddenly can’t get his curve to work or whatever, you pull him. If he is throwing quality pitches (for him, I guess) and his mechanics are good, then the innings should be fine. I realize that the SI article was referring to a prospect in the minors vs Strasburg, and that Strasburg is coming off an injury, but the key point to me is that you have to have coaching personnel that really know their players, and can protect them by pulling them when they are tired, not when they have reached 180 innings or 99 pitches.

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  9. uncle dave

    I dunno, a basic understanding of the concept of sunk costs and the minimal analytical ability to apply said concept to the choices I make in my personal life? Seriously, the only reason I’m still following this team is because I’ve wasted so much of my life doing so. I live 2000 miles from Wrigley, get maybe 20 games on TV (soon to be far fewer), and have ready access to two teams who are in playoff contention on basic cable and via public transportation.

    Damn, I’m a dumbass.

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  10. SVB

    Here’s my answer for AC:
    1. Having a string of years when the players are absolute dicks. It doesn’t bother me that players change year after year. But if they field a team where the core players are the second comings of Jim McMahon and his ilk and the coach channels Ditka, then I’m done. Payton couldn’t save the team image from itself, though he’s probably still my favorite football player. Or worse, if they had 18 John Rocker-types on the roster. I just can’t take cheering for assholes, and I always have the Tigers to fall back on.

    2. Leaving Chicago or changing their name. Even though, like WaLi, I don’t live nearby and probably never will, this is their identity and they have no reason to leave or change. But if they pull a Baltimore Ravens and move because they’ll profit more, then I’d give up, because it would put ownership in category 1, and Art Modell was horrible.

    Tearing down Wrigley wouldn’t bother me too much. I partially saw a lot of games in old Tiger stadium and it was awful. Wrigley is better, but it doesn’t hold a candle to PNC Park, which is AWESOME. When I visit Chicago, I like to go to a game if possible. Pricing could stop that, but wouldn’t stop me from watching on TV or the Tubez. I’ve been cognizant of being a Cubs fan since 1974, so I don’t think a prolonged losing streak will matter to my support.

    PS: Home run AC. Nice job.

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  11. uncle dave

    @ Rice Cube:
    Your guess is as good as mine. There’s a tepid proposal from San Jose on the table, though (just like every city in California) they’re flat broke and Wolff apparently still thinks he can get public funding for the ballpark. Jean Quan, the mayor of Oakland, also came out in support of a new proposal to redevelop the area around the Coliseum, but as that’s heavily contingent on private market development in probably the worst neighborhood in Oakland and the city (just like every city in California) is flat broke, who knows if that’ll happen.

    I strongly oppose public funds going to a ballpark everywhere, and especially in Oakland, which has insane shortfalls in funding for basics like education and public safety. If the new Coliseum Village thing can be done by private developers, though, it would be pretty cool — it leverages a BART and Amtrak station and links to a decently developed commercial area on the other side of 880 via the new BART airport connector that’s currently under construction. I still don’t think it will happen, though Quan seems serious about it. She was at a game a couple of weeks ago and sat in the left field bleachers for like 15 innings for a game that lasted until about 1:00 am. She looked cold.

    Wolff is bluffing everyone by threatening not to renew his lease on the Coliseum, though with no realistic offer from St. Joe in hand, I doubt that’ll get him very far. This is all to say nothing of the apparent unwillingness of the Giants to surrender their territorial rights in the south bay. I’m sure that’ll be worked around if a serious offer comes from San Jose, though.

    In other words, nobody knows nothing. For the time being, I’ll enjoy $2 seats at the Coliseum every chance I get.

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  12. Rice Cube

    @ uncle dave:
    It’d be better if they stuck around I think because of the public transit funneling into the area. I am also a fan of cheap seats, went to many more A’s games than Giants games when I was there. Though obviously I like the Giants park a lot more.

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  13. Mish

    mb21 wrote:

    Great article, AC. Too bad I can’t answer this question since I’m one of the OV regulars who has already lost interest. (dying laughing)

    +1

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  14. uncle dave

    @ Rice Cube:
    Yeah, it’s mostly cost for me, though I’ll cop to liking the vibe at the Coliseum more. AT&T feels a lot like Wrigley, lots of rich and beautiful people who are really not concerned with baseball hanging out there. There are a number of actual fans there, I’m not trying to hate or anything, but the Coliseum is just a place to go if you’re interested in catching a ballgame. It looks like Oakland, too, wihch as a mushy white liberal hunting down diversity by proxy warms the cockles of my heart, or something…

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  15. mb21

    I still watch the Cubs. I’m watching them right now and have actually watched the more over the last 3 or 4 weeks than I have over the last couple years. It kind of feels like the 90s again. There’s no stress, I can turn away for an inning or two and not miss a damn thing. I have no reason to think they’ll be better in the next year or so. It’s just like the 90s and I get to enjoy watching the Cubs again.

    However, I have no interest in paying money to see them. At least not at Wrigley Field.

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  16. Author
    AndCounting

    @ SVB:
    Thanks, SVB. I think moving the team would be the surefire way to turn off the fanbase. And it’s not entirely impossible. If Wrigley reached critical status and the funding just wasn’t there, it could happen. I guess “collapse” should have been about Wrigley itself instead of the team. (dying laughing)

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  17. josh

    I don’t know when I would quit being a Cubs fan. I would think another season like this would push me pretty close. I’d be right back there if they got good again, though.

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  18. Suburban kid

    Gordo Sez

    Prospects heading to the Arizona Fall League: Infielders Javy Baez and Rubi Silva , outfielder Matt Szczur and pitchers Dae-Eun Rhee , Zach Rosscup , Nick Strunk and Tony Zych . Right-hander Kevin Rhoderick is on the AFL ‘‘taxi squad,’’ meaning he’s active only Wednesdays and Saturdays.

    Nick Stunk?

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  19. WenningtonsGorillaCock

    The only way I’d ever quit the Cubs is if I lost interest in baseball. I think the only thing that could turn me off to baseball is if it starts being packaged like the NBA – constant loud music at every break in the action (and often during the action), and a playoff structure that makes the regular season almost completely meaningless. Otherwise, if I’m a fan of baseball, I’m a fan of Cubs baseball.

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  20. WenningtonsGorillaCock

    Just got an e-mail from the Cubs for various things you can buy:

    Gourmet pre-game meal in the United Club with a current player. Find out what it is like to play in the oldest ballpark in the United States. Listen to stories about his journey to the big leagues. See what the game is like through his eyes, on the field and in the spotlight. Ask for an autograph, have your picture taken with him and leave with a fan experience you will treasure forever. $50

    Exclusive pre-game reception at the Captain Morgan Club, featuring complimentary food and beverages plus tickets to the game when they purchase now with their card. $48

    Share a meal at Wrigley Field with Tom Ricketts, chairman of the Cubs – 9/20 $75

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