This will be the eighth year I have had a season ticket package with the Chicago Cubs...
I first purchased my season tickets in 2003. It was intended to be a bit of therapy for me as I was going through a rough stretch in my life.
Not much was expected out of the 2003 season as the Cubs were considered in a rebuilding process. Even with that, there was renewed optimism with Dusty Baker and his toothpick just being hired...one of the biggest names for a manager that the Cubs had hired in my lifetime.
In 2003 I could only afford to get the Cubs Double-Play season ticket package. This consisted of all the Wednesday and Friday afternoon games. It amounted to about 24 games. This was nice since it was relatively affordable and it gave me a chance to see what it would be like to go to a lot of games during the course of a season.
When I first got the season ticket package, I asked the ticket office if I would be able to upgrade my package in following years. They replied that yes I so be able to, but probably not in the same seats...but, yes, upgrading wouldn't be much of a problem. This was important for me because I was at a transition point in my job and might not be able to use the ticket package I had signed up for in future seasons.
It was truly exciting for me...especially early in the year. I loved going to those April games in the cold with only 20,000 people in the stands (if even that!). Very relaxing...able to focus on the game without any distractions. And it was exciting later in the year as the Cubs got better and took the division title. Being able to experience so much of that special season, having been a life long Cub fan, was great.
Well, we all know what happened in 2003....the Cubs had an unbelievably great 2nd half of the season, and they ultimately worked their way to 5 outs from the World Series.
Time came for me to renew my tickets for the 2004 season. Well, I knew I was going be much busier at work and that going to weekday afternoon games would be difficult for me. But after the 2003 season I decided I could never give up my season tickets...it was just too much fun. I just needed different games from the ones in my package.
With the success of the 2003 season, a new wave of popularity hit the Cubs, and in 2004 the Cubs sold out all of their season tickets for the first time.
This produced a problem for me. Why? The Cubs announced that they were not going to allow any upgrades or changes on existing season ticket packages.
Well shit!
I was suck with my Double-Play plan.
So for the next 6 years I had to pick and choose to go to only a handful of games each year, and try to sell the rest of my tickets for games I couldn't go to. I didn't mind too much, really. I actually felt lucky that I got in on season tickets before the Cubs ran out of seats. One other unfortunate thing was as the Cubs added night games during that stretch, the number of tickets in the Double-Play plan got fewer each year (since night games where not included in that package), giving me less flexibility in the games I could attend.
Now 2010 comes and the season ticket waiting list is over 120,000 people long. Something happened, though...the Cubs announced that due to various factors including stadium expansion and the fact the Tribune Co. didn't need a number of tickets anymore, they would be opening up a number of new season ticket packages and also opening up the ability for existing season ticket holders to upgrade their seats. The upgrades were only said to be within the season ticket packages that the person held currently and the availability of the upgrades were based on seniority.
I sent a note to my ticket rep and asked her if they would be upgrading any packages and that I have wanted to move to the Combination Plan for a number of years. That plan includes tickets for all the night and weekend games, which would allow me to attend more games without interfering with other parts of my life as much. The response I got was that they didn't expect to be able to do that this year, but to make the request on my renewal form anyway just in case.
I did just that.
That was back in the middle of December.
Over a month passed and all this had escaped my mind.
Then Tuesday I received an e-mail from my ticket rep offering me a chance to upgrade to the Combination Plan....the seats weren't as good...one section further down the baseline from where I currently was and a few rows further back...but it was what I had been wanting for a long time.
It's a lot more money, and I basically need my wife to get a new job, and I'll have to sell my house...but it's all worth it. (and before you have to ask, yes, I'm sure I'll be selling some of the tickets...so if anyone ever needs any...)
Thank you Cubs!!!
