The Cubs have finally pushed Alvin beyond the brink of what he can accept.
He can accept years and years and years of a sucky team with no real plan in place to ever change that.
He can accept that his seat 400 feet away from home plate now costs as much or more than seats that don’t require binoculars to tell the difference between players.
He can accept that he won’t even be allowed to sit in his seat of choice until a good third of the season is over.
But now they won’t let him bring his baloney sandwich into a Spring Training game. As you probably know, Al loves to bring his baloney sandwiches into the games with him. He doesn’t like to pay for stadium food. He views this as his right as a Cubs fan and he is going to let the Cubs have it and he is not going to be nice about it.
Take it away, Al…
He goes on in some detail about how unprecedented this is and claims no other stadium in the world denies outside food, except for one that might be on “indian tribal lands” so the rules could be different. I don’t know, I stopped paying attention after the first few paragraphs. I really don’t care what his argument is and it has delighted me to see him this upset over a sandwich.
But here’s the thing about Al’s little rant about the loss of his sandwich: He’s not totally wrong.
It is a dick move on the part of the Cubs. If you want families with kids to be able to afford to come to the ballpark and spend 3+ hours there watching your team, it is in your best interest to allow them to bring in some outside food. Al is focused on the loss of HIS sandwich and HIS ability to be a cheapskate when going to a baseball game, but the issue is larger than that if Al could get past his own self-serving anger.
The Ricketts have gone on at some length about how much they love families and want families to be able to enjoy Cubs baseball, as they did here in a letter to season ticket holders after the 2010 season:
My family is committed to providing ticket pricing that allows families to enjoy Cubs baseball. In so many ways, our children represent the next generation in the Cubs family. We want to invest in providing families with opportunities to experience Wrigley Field
Well, some families can’t pay the increasing price of admission plus an additional ~$20 per kid on crappy food from the concession stands. So while they SAY they want families to attend and become part of the “Cubs family,” moves like this make that harder for most families to plan a trip to Wrigley or Sloan Park or wherever they decide to enforce the new “no outside food” rules.
So while I am really enjoying the old, bitter Cubs fan furiously attempting to rally the internet to his cause:
I’m hoping the Cubs think about the policy a bit more. They need young fans to be able to attend their games to fall in love with the game and team. If they make it harder for families to do that, they will lose out in the end.
Maybe they could change the rule so that only Alvin won’t be allowed to bring in outside food. Then everybody wins.
UPDATE:
The Battle of the Sandwiches has been won. Alvin has emerged triumphant. Long may he reign. For he is Alvin, King of the Dipshits and the First Sports Bloggers, Lord of the Cubs Nation, Father of Bleacher Bums, Breaker of Food Policies.
