The architect’s rendering of the rink at Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic. (Handout photo/NHL)
With the Wrigley Field being iced over from the Blackhawks game on January 1, they are going to let regular people ice skate on it January 4.
Sounds really cool, right? Ice skate on Wrigley Field. Want some tickets? Uh. Where do you get them? Nobody seems to know. The Chicago Tribune reports:
The Cubs sent e-mails to neighbors and neighborhood groups last week announcing a community skate on the hockey rink soon to be installed at Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic between the Blackhawks and Detroit on Jan. 1.
The skate will take place from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 4, just before the temporary rink is to be dismantled. Cubs neighbors will be given a chance to skate in one-hour shifts for $10 apiece, with proceeds benefiting Cubs Care.
Who are these “neighbors” of Wrigley? I live at Lawrence and Western–two and a half miles away from Wrigley. Am I close enough to be a “neighbor?” Are these only community organizations? It all seems kind of vague.
The Tribune is advertising this event to show this goodwill idea. But many people would like to know if they are considered a “neighbor” and can skate on Wrigley. If anyone has seen this secret email sent out by the Cubs, please let me know. Thank you.
That story really made me wonder too. Maybe the story was trying to convince people that only “neighbors” would be given an opportunity to skate, so “non-neighbors” would think “oh! I guess that means I can’t skate, so OK, I won’t go over and try to get in” … like the line to skate won’t be wrapped around the ballpark at least once! like it won’t be total chaos and a complete zoo! How are the organizers going to determine what constitutes a “neighbor”? How far in any direction determines what a Wrigley neighbor is? How are the organizers going to stop anyone who wants to show up from doing so? Do you have to bring an ID with your address on it to prove you are a neighbor? The story and the event have a lot of unanswered questions … and I really think the whole idea, while very cool, could be a big headache for the organizers. At least they’re not promising anyone they will be able to ride the zamboni!
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/ballpark/wrigleyville_neighbors.jsp