The end of my social life
The Mediacom cable company in Des Moines announced today that they are dropping FOX Sports Chicago from their programming menu in favor of FOX Sports Midwest. What does this mean? Only the elimination of 72 Cubs' baseball games from the local television schedule in favor of 112 Cardinals games. This is enormous news! The Cubs' games in question were moving to the Comcast sports network, and a contract agreement could not be reached between Mediacom and the network.Cubs fans at work today were not amused. Eighty-one games will still be seen on WGN, along with the nationally-televised games on ESPN and FOX-- and, of course, 16 games against the Cardinals :) (Imagine Des Moines' Cubs fans finally being forced to watch the rivalry games on the Cards' network. It will happen on April 20th and 21st, August 11th, and September 7th.)
Can you feel the balance of power shifting, people? The men and women I work with may be only mildly agitated, but there's a new generation of young hearts and minds out there ready to be won.
I don't remember the Cubs being the popular team in Iowa prior to my ninth birthday in 1984. Fans my age and somewhat older were latching on to the Cardinals, Royals, White Sox, or other national teams that had had more recent success on the field. The Cubs may have been a sleeping giant going back two generations to their success in the National League in the first half of the 20th Century, but it was their NL Eastern Division pennant drive in '84 that served as a springboard for fan recruitment in the Hawkeye state. It was around that time that cable television systems began mushrooming in the small towns across the state. Couple that with the team's hiring of, perhaps, the greatest ambassador in baseball history to be their TV play-by-play man (Harry Caray, in 1982), and you've got a winning formula for success. WGN came to my Grandparents' home in Newhall in '84, and it changed their day-to-day lives. For retirees, children, or for anyone, it was three hours a day spent with the Cubs. By September of that year, the Cedar Rapids Gazette was counting down the Cubs' "Magic Number" to clinching the division on the front page of the paper. An angry 9-year-old, I considered that an official endorsement of the team.
The beginning of the end for the Cubs came in the late '90s. For some inexplicable reason, the Tribune Company began pulling the games of the team it owned off it's cable Superstation, replacing them with games of the cross-town Chicago team they didn't own, the White Sox. This was asinine. Other games left WGN when the station committed to the WB network prime-time schedule. "Gracie" was out, and "Buffy" was in. They were killing off the Golden Goose. The impact of WGN on the national popularity of the Cubs is absolutely immeasurable.
Almost a decade after these hideous baseball and business decisions, the Cubs are in a transitional phase and ripe for a loss in fan support. Their most popular player for the last fifteen years forced the team to trade him in February, and before he left he poisoned the clubhouse, which may have indirectly caused the departure of the team's television broadcasters. Color man Steve Stone was almost universally beloved on Cubs broadcasts. Play-by-play man Chip Carey caused sharper divisions among fans, but for everything he was or wasn't, he was Harry Carey's grandson and that meant a lot.
Already a Sunday fixture on Des Moines' WB television affiliate and coming off a World Series appearance in '04, the Cardinals have now secured a powerful position in Iowa's Capitol and largest media market-- a market in which they were probably only the fourth most popular team just a decade ago. (When I moved to the market 12 years ago, the Cubs, Royals, and Twins could all be seen on local television. The baseball strike in '94 severely damaged the popularity of the two American League teams.)
There will be a new ballpark in St. Louis next year. The manager and a core of All-Star sluggers are under contract through the transitional period. But it's not a Golden Age yet by any means. Cardinals fans in Iowa carry a huge responsibility to create visibility and spread the "good news" of Cardinals baseball. Mediacom needs to be convinced over the next year that we are a group of consumers to be reckoned with and respected-- not just a bargaining chip to be used against the Cubs' corporate partners. With a daily jolt of energy from my television, I suspect I'll be able to keep an intensity level that will make a positive difference. I hope you feel the same.
posted by CM @ 11:38 PM
2 Comments:
True Cubs fans, just as it is with any true fan of any team, won't be suddenly drawn to the Cardinals due to increased TV coverage.
Assumingly speaking as someone who still gets to see every Cubs game, I'm glad that more of Iowa's Cardinal fans are being recignized and better represented. It should be good for the rivalry.
(You probably know this, but our one and only Quad City Swing are in the Card's minor system. I'll let you know if I hear how that affects their popularity.)
I thought about that minor league change as I was writing. I'm glad you brought it up.
Unfortunately, the Cards lost the Peoria affiliate to the Cubs, which sparked the move. The Quad Cities are a great location for the Cards, though (as it would be for the Cubs.) The Cards' Triple A is now in Memphis, and the Double A team just moved from New Haven, CT to a new ballpark in Springfield, MO. It's a nice triangle.
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