As one of the people on the season ticket waiting list (#2684 until they update the renewals for this season),
I received an email today about a 13-game presale going on tomorrow (Jan 15).
I could rant several pages on how I think Cub fans in general are getting fleeced (yes, I get that it's a business, but you gotta wonder if any of these people ever watched "Rookie of the Year" or noticed that most of us Cub fans have become poorer and poorer by the minute.), but I digress.
I bought into this presale last season, mainly because it included the opportunity to get Cubs vs. White Sox tickets. I'm still on the fence on whether I'm even going to purchase tickets this year, as I'm beyond crushed and disappointed that a certain baseball team failed to show up during the playoffs last year and got swept (blown away?) harder than the bleachers after 70's night (hurricane force winds - boy was THAT fun!).
If I were in the unlikely mood to buy tickets, I would definitely be hesitant to buy in to this 13 game deal again.
To start with, you are required to choose from specific sets of games the Cubs generally have difficulty selling during the regular sale date. They throw in a few token "good" games to hook you in (like the crosstown game). You must buy at least 3 (probably 4) games in April. Many of the April games are night games, which is great during the summer, but not in Chicago in April. I typically have one standing rule for April games. If I must purchase a game in April (and trust me, this is a last resort), I will choose a day game on the chance that the game might get some unseasonably sunny day. It happens, but usually you're stuck with rain or wintery conditions in April. May isn't a whole lot better. Plus, if you are stuck with extra tickets, as I often am, you are pretty much stuck with the tickets as most casual fans want to go to a summer-night game or a weekend game. I haven't heavily analyzed this year's list of available games yet , but those are usually pretty rare in this package.
The plus side of this deal is that if you have enough of a flexible work schedule and can get days off, you can obtain a handful of decent games in the middle of the week and it's one more opportunity to get tickets outside of the cluster-fudge that is the Late February Virtual Waiting Room Hell. Don't get me wrong, you will still have to deal with the dreaded VWR, but at least you have half a fighting chance to get tickets, if you for some irrational reason are still giving the Cubs a chance after 100 years of failure.
Feel free to comment on this. I'm too irritated by the Cubs to write any more about them today.
Below is a screenshot of the games they are making available for tomorrow's presale:
p.s. - Cubs Club is now 3 different payment levels and Vine Line subscribers are now getting bumped up in line on the season ticket waiting list? WTF IS THAT?!?!? Come on! It's hard enough for people to get these things!
p.p.s - Welcome Milton Bradley! Keep it Cool! You know what I mean.
