Papa Ricketts May REALLY Make Things Bad For The Cubs
Joe Ricketts via New York Times
From Friday’s St. Louis Post Dispatch:
ST. LOUIS • Leave it to the woeful Northsiders to get caught up in an attempted political hit job that landed with a thud on both sides of the aisle.
The latest source of misfortune for the Chicago Cubs is not Bartman or a black cat, but an abandoned blueprint for a smear attack against President Barack Obama.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that billionaire Joe Ricketts — whose family bought the Cubs in 2009 — was considering financing a bare-knuckle campaign against Obama drawn up by “Demon Sheep” Fred Davis.
The $10 million “Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good” focused on Obama’s ties to controversial pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and sought to show “the influence of that misguided mentor” on the president.
“Our plan is to do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the plan states.
Apparently, Joe Ricketts won’t let them do it either. The same day the leaked plan was printed in the Times, Ricketts, founder of the online brokerage TD Ameritrade, declared he would not be bankrolling the proposal.
The plan was also panned by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who called it “the wrong course for a PAC or a campaign.”
It’s not that Republicans are against attacking the president, of course. It’s that the approach proffered by Davis does not offer any groundbreaking information, and has more potential to spark a backlash against the GOP than it does to win over voters.
The billygoat, er, scapegoat, in this scenario could end up being the Cardinals arch rivals, whose chairman is Ricketts’ son Tom. The Cubs are working with the city to get millions in tax incentives to help revamp Wrigley Field.
And just who is it that holds the reins at Chicago City Hall? Mayor Rahm Emanuel, otherwise known as Obama’s first chief of staff in the White House.
Emanuel is said to be “livid” at the proposal and has cut off communications with the Cubs controlling family.
Ricketts and the Cubs may have to wait until the uproar settles down before continuing their pursuit of public help to spruce up the Friendly Confines — as they say in Wrigleyville, there’s always next year.
Related articles
- Family drama leads to PR mess for Chicago Cubs (prdaily.com)
- Billionaire Cubs Owner Joe Ricketts Commissions Study To Destroy Obama (chicagoist.com)
- Cubs’ Ricketts calls anti-Obama tactic ‘divisive’ (espn.go.com)
- Joe Ricketts’s Retreat From Obama Attack Campaign: Are the Chicago Cubs to Blame? (thedailybeast.com)
- Latest GOP Ad Player: A Lover of Bison, a Hater of Earmarks (abcnews.go.com)
Chicago vs. Chicago-Cubs vs. Sox Video Fun
I wanted to share the second episode of Funny Or Die and New Era Caps “Chicago vs. Chicago series on this blog, but the system won’t let me add videos to the witty blog posts. So, you’ll have to visit my main blog for the fun.
Drop on over to Mark Edwards Uncensored and see the two great videos showcasing the Cubs and White Sox rivalry on the eve of the Sox visit to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. You’ll be glad you did.
Cubs Come To St. Louis For Cards Home Opener, City Welcomes Them With Shower Of Blue!
Let’s face it. It’s already been a tough year for the Cubs. Now they get to spend Friday The 13th in St. Louis for the Cardinals Home Opener. But there is a silver lining, besides the 50% chance of rain at game time.
Blue Fountain in Kiener Plaza (courtesy stltoday.com)
A tradition in St. Louis is to have a giant Opening Day Rally a few blocks away from Busch Stadium in a park called Kiener Plaza. The park’s centerpiece is a huge fountain, and historically the city has colored the water in said fountain red, as in “Cardinals Red”. This year, however, the St. Louis Blues are in the NHL Playoffs with games Thursday and Saturday, so the city colored the fountain BLUE to fire up the hockey fans.
So when the big annual Cardinals Opening Day Rally happens Friday the 13th, the Cardinals fans will not see Cardinal Red, but Cubbie Blue when they look upon their beloved Kiener Plaza fountain.
Let’s hope it’s the first of many curses Friday the 13th brings to the Home Team. Not wishing anyone ill, just sayin’…
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Mark’s 2012 Opening Day Rant
The sort of annual commentary at the beginning of the Cubs season. But this year, besides the fact it’s brought to you in crystal clear High Definition, the rant is different than the usual hooliganism you’re used to.
Yes, I Just Made A $19.95 Donation To The Cubs
I really don’t know why, but I’m a sucker for the Cubs Club. The only real benefit you get out of if is a membership card, but flashing that around St. Louis can bring big fun and start a conversation about the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry that can go on for years.
This morning, the annual e mail arrived. It’s time to cough up a double sawbuck and join the Cubs Club. You can pay more for extended benefits, but since I don’t know how any games I’ll see this year, I stuck with the basic membership, which nets the Ricketts Family and Major League Baseball about a 90% profit.
What can I say? I’m a giver.
And addicted to the Cubs.
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Could This MLB 12 Commercial Be A Sign Of The Future?
This is the full length commercial for the MLB 12 video game:
Complete with the voice of Bob Costas. Could it be a sign of things to come?
It might be.
At least a Cub Fan can dream about what could be.
Related articles
- MLB 2k12: Why This Year’s Game Is a Must Have (bleacherreport.com)
Toast Harry Caray On March 1st!
Now if THAT doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will.
Again this year, Grant DePorter, the owner of the Harry Caray’s restaurants in Chicagoland, is organizing a Worldwide Toast to Harry Caray on March 1st. Here’s the scoop from the official Facebook page:
Join us on Thursday, March 1, 2012 from anywhere in the world for the 14th Annual Worldwide Toast to Harry Caray. As is the tradition every year on the legendary Hall of Fame announcer’s birthday, fans across the U.S. and in countries around the world will raise a Budweiser (Harry was known as the “Cub Fan, Bud Man”) or other beverage in his memory. Harry estimated that he consumed over 73,000 Budweisers and 300,000 alcoholic beverages throughout his lifetime. USA Today has called the toast an “international phenomenon.” It has been featured on countless television shows and newspapers from The Today Show to Good Morning America to the LA Times to the front page of the New York Times
You can even download a full sized Harry Face Mask (as pictured above) from the page. They’ve got contests, lists of bars participating (not enough in St. Louis, I might add) and more.
To me, Harry was always larger than life, and he had a huge influence on the game of baseball, both in Chicago (at both ballparks) and even here in St. Louis. I shook his hand once and said three or four words to him. Wish it would have been more, so I’ll try to make up with it by lifting an ice cold Budweiser (even though they wouldn’t hire me to work for them) to a legend who will live forever.
Who’s with me? Comment below.
Giddyup! Cubs Spring Training Tickets Go On Sale Today!
I know, deep in my heart of hearts, that I shouldn’t be so excited about this. I know the Cubs will be on a massive rebuilding campaign after last year’s, uh, disappointing season. I know there will be a bunch of guys in Mesa with three numbers on their backs. Yet I’m strangely excited by the fact that Spring Training tickets for the 2012 season go on sale today.
Keep in mind that I’ve never been to Cubs Spring Training, despite either resolving to go or actually trying to go for the better of two decades. Something always seems to get in the way, like my job or having kids or something like that. But there is something magical about Spring Training, when you get a chance to see your heroes up close and personal in a very different environment that Wrigley Field.
I’ve been to other Spring Training games before, but not those of my heroes. It was a great experience, the kind of thing that really stays with you because the players and staff are more like regular people than “stars” when they’re in the Cactus League or Grapefruit Leagus. The whole vibe is more relaxed and much more comfortable than when the MLB rules kick in for the regular season. And it will be extra comfortable this year as Carlos Zambrano won’t be there.
So I’m resolving again to try to make it to Mesa this year. In a perfect world, I’d 
be there as the new Cubs Director Of Marketing, a job that I have applied for and probably am more uniquely talented to do than anyone else in the application pool. (Theo Epstein, are you reading this?) But even if the Cubs don’t see the huge benefits of hiring me for their Front Office staff, I’d love to be sitting in the stands watching baseball in March, knowing that the scores really don’t matter but that seeing the beginnings of a new season is a reward in itself.
By the way, YOU can help convince the Cubs to hire me as Director Of Marketing. Join this Facebook Group and make YOUR voice heard! https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarkEdwards/
Related articles
- Cubs trade pitcher Carlos Zambrano to Marlins (sfgate.com)
St. Louis Reacts To Pujols Leaving The Cardinals
So Albert Pujols, perhaps one of the best players in St. Louis Cardinals history, has announced he’s leaving and going to take a boatload of money and a TEN YEAR deal with the Angels. To say the least, the locals in St Louis aren’t happy. Here’s our town’s so-called newspaper website. Nice headline.
Welcome to the real world, where cash is King and nobody stays with a team for life. People I’ve spoken to this morning are, well, in mourning for the Albert Pujols they thought would be here as long as the Gateway Arch. Hey, the dude didn’t die, he made a business decision. If someone offered me $250,000,000, I’d be out of here faster than a thug holding up a convenience store in North St. Louis.
As a Cubs fan, I can certainly understand the feelings of loss and sadness the locals feel. I’ve felt similar feelings, to a greater or lesser extent, for over half a century. But we Cubs fans didn’t just win the World Series.
Cardinals fans need to get over it and move along. At least Albert didn’t go to the Cubs or even stay in the National League. It could have been a lot worse for Cardinals fans, and a lot better for Cubs fans.
The next 24 hours will be painful for St. Louisans. First they lose Tony LaRussa, now Albert Pujols. Virtually all molecular motion will end in most workplaces as people talk about how they’ve personally been wronged by this betrayal of trust and wonder how they can move forward without number 5 at first base.
I sure hope the marketing people at the Cardinals are working on their “New Look Cardinals” campaign in hopes they can sell enough tickets to get people in to see what will definitely be a very different Cardinals team in April. As one of the most expensive stadiums in the game, it’s going to take some real deal making and image building to get people to cough up the cash for the high priced seats and food Busch Stadium is known for.
Hey Cardinal Nation, welcome to what it feels like to be a Cubs fan.
Related articles
- Surprise! Angels sign Albert Pujols to 10-year deal (thestar.com)
- Report: Albert Pujols To Sign With Los Angeles Angels (tracking.si.com)
- The Daily Pujols – 12.08.2011 (pitchershiteighth.com)
St. Louis Businesspeople Reach For Extra Beer After Reading Evening E Mail From Business Journal
So the St. Louis Business Journal, which is a pretty good version of its genre, especially since it usually has to report bad business news, sends out an e mail every afternoon with the big stories of the day. Imagine the angst amongst the business community in the STL when they saw THIS hit their inbox:
Cubs court Pujols
St. Louis Business Journal by Kelsey Volkmann, Web Editor
Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 11:58am CST
Related:
The Cubs are interested in signing Albert Pujols.
As expected, the Chicago Cubs are pursuing St. Louis Cardinals star first baseman and free agent, Albert Pujols.
The Cubs are also interested in Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder as the club looks to rebuild, sources told Fox Sports.
Pujols will seek an estimated $30 million a year in contract negotiations.
At 31, Pujols, is three years older than Fielder, but sources told Fox Sports that the Cubs are “more willing to go long-term with Pujols, who is the better defender according to advanced metrics.”
Also interested in signing Pujols are — obviously — the Cardinals, as well as the Miami Marlins. Fielder’s suitors include the Brewers and Washington Nationals.
Christmas came early this year for Cardinals players, who are splitting $20.6 million from the players’ pool of gate receipts for winning the World Series.
Now, most people know Albert is shopping himself, especially since manager Tony LaRussa left the team. But of all the teams for this marquee player to go to, nothing would make the St. Louis fanbase more insane than him going to the 2012 Chicago Cubs.
As people who have read the e mail stop off at the grocery store for another six pack or bottle of vodka, I’m just hoping Theo Epstein is doing he right thing up there in the office I should be occupying now.
Related articles
- Source: Cubs call Pujols’ reps, express interest (espn.go.com)
- Cubs After Albert (elmaquino5.wordpress.com)
- St. Louis Cardinals Offer Albert Pujols Arbitration (tracking.si.com)
- You: St. Louis Cardinals Parade: Albert Pujols Will Receive Hero’s Farewell (bleacherreport.com)
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