Wrigley Gum Corporation Field

Although the Iowa unwashed are messing the backs of their overalls about the possibility of The Wrigley Gum Corporation Field being renamed after....... uh...... well........ a corporation, the Official Paper of the Cubs (todays space could be declared a tie - Sox got extra column space --due to two games played - the Cubs, as has been the usual all spring -got the front sports page. And the front Tempo page. What- don't believe me? Try reading the Trib. It really seems to be getting worse - maybe they still haven't corrected the balance when the Trib was forced to follow the Sox in '05) had an article from their excellent architecture critic Blair Kamin on the true dangers of this situation. A far more important issue is @ stake than the feelings of the tourists from Iowa - namely that if Zell or whoever gets the city to change landmark status on Wrigley, fucks like him mite use this example to run amok on the rest of the cities landmark buildings and districts.

Yes, I always love taking the piss out of Cub fans, but Wrigley without a doubt must be protected. It's one of three -oops, just about two now - remaining old buildings that fans can hoist up the sign "Babe Ruth played here" as they did @ Old Comiskey's last game that sad September day in 1990. Like Fenway and Yankee's, it's nice to sit in the stands and think about all the old players - and all the old fans who were here before. Although never as homey as the Sox's old home - remember Harry's peonna(sic) to Comiskey "Ah ya can't beat fun @ the Old Ballpark"-it's a great place to take in a game -as long as one can get past the yikky yokals. Chicago has lost too many sporting treasures to let anyone mess with Wrigley.

Now they have 'messed' with Wrigley before. The bleachers , for example- no, not adding 2000 seats several years back, but the entire structure itself. The upper deck and the scoreboard are also not original. And it was future Sox owner Bill Veeck who planted the ivy. But to-gether, it works well. By the twin fortunes of its surviving baseballs- and societies @ large- 'tear down era' and that neighbourhood turning from a shitty area to unwashed uppy central (ick!! -I am old enough to rememebr when that neighbourhood actually was a real cool city area instead of what you got now -what, would you hang out there? Really: Where? The Cubby Bear?? Or that place across the street from it? Hey guys - Let's get a drink @ THE CUBBY BEAR. Even Cabaret Metro rarely has kool shows these days) has allowed Wrigley to become an reminder of the old days of baseball. It should be protected. Remember, Cub fans - lose Wrigley and suddenly the Devil Rays mite suddenly become the choice of those from the hamlets of Iowa.

But the issue is more than the survival of Wrigley and grand old buildings like it are @ the center piece of Kamins article. It's more than sports architecture and rivalries. Shitheads like Mayor Daley, the Tribune Corporation, Zell, Trump, real estate developers - fuck, I'll even drop Robert Moses's name - who only see $$$ when we see garish efidices, horrid condo buildings, parking lots where there used to be class structures, and ripped out neighbourhoods - must be counteracted.

Cub fans - now that you have moved off the farm and into the city, please make as much fuss as you can about respecting the integrety of gum corporation baseball grounds. This city has lost way too much to people who do not care. Although the digg on cub fans is that when @ wrigley they do not pay attention to the game - remember, YOU ARE @ WRIGLEY ITSELF, and if you enjoy that atmosphere, @ least strive to protect it. I know that you get an enormous amount of grief from baseball fans, please fite for this. it's not just wrigley - it's the whole city's integrety @ stake.