May 27--There are now two giant video boards in Wrigley Field.
And I love them. They are, dare I say, classy.
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts has managed to begin transitioning the facility into the new world while honoring the past and keeping the place recognizable. Other than the video boards -- and the empty, still-under-construction right field bleachers -- I had a hard time discerning what was new.
Although this is just Year 1 of a multiyear renovation, the more than $100 million invested thus far seems to be panning out.
I tuned out the stranger seated next to me this week. While taking a break from penciling in his scorecard, he leaned over and told me that although he couldn't believe he was uttering this, he missed the Toyota sign.
"While the older brain has a difficult time processing too much motion and clutter, the younger brain does not," according to a 2014 Nielsen webinar on marketing to Millennials. "In fact, they prefer motion, interaction, animation and dynamic communication."
Guilty.
I expected these video boards to at least display the score.
Nope!
Runs, balls and strikes remain the purview of the old manual scoreboard.
Wait, I still have to add up the runs?
Other than the continuing need for arithmetic, the forest green backgrounds on the video boards are perfect matches for the green on the old center field scoreboard. The white lettering matches nicely.
I could see the 7th-inning stretch being led, this time, by some country singer I've never heard of.
Thanks to high-resolution replays, the fans knew the home plate umpire had made a bad call -- yes, that pitch did hit the batter -- before the umpire's replay confirmed it.
The text on the second, smaller video board in right field displayed the lineup during Monday afternoon's game.
Because that text is rarely reordered or changed, it nearly deceives one into thinking it's a second old-fashioned scoreboard.
The boards are that good.
Technology is almost always better, isn't it?
And it's good for business because it allows for advertising, which helps offset the costs of stadium upgrades.
During one segment, fans got to watch the players squirm as they were "grilled" with the question of how much money they make.
Grill maker Weber is a team sponsor. Subtle, isn't it?
Which brings me to another point about those ads.
The ad mix on the two boards is just right. Please, Mr. Ricketts, no more.
By the way, the quality of that ad with the golf carts that race each other around the bases on the big left field board needs to be improved. The computer images appeared pixelated. Is that intentional?
Thanks to video, I also got to relive a pristine, Sandberg-era triple play against the Pirates that transported me right back to summer afternoons watching WGN-TV. Our remote control, circa 1983, had a cord.
The alternative to progress is letting the paint chip off the seats, the concrete floors crack and signs accumulate dust and dirt.
That's not nostalgia. It's neglect.
This is better.
mmharris@tribpub.com
