MSS’s “That Grinds My Gears!” – Souvenir Cups.

In 2006, I was living in California. I was riding high on the 2005 Championship and my father went to a game at Sox Park. He walked around after the game and picked up multiple souvenir cups to send me some and keep some for himself.

I used these cups for the last 10 years, these are great cups. I retired them last year when I got the 2015 version.

These were only available during the weekend celebration for the 2005 team. I got a bunch that folks left behind. I was pretty excited to have a new cup in the rotation. Great graphics, great size for work or home, all around a great cup except –

They FLAKE. I first noticed this with a Memorial Day cup a few years ago. The paper/sticker they print the graphic on is pretty solid, but it doesn’t stand a chance against a hand washing. Disclaimer – I use these A LOT. I wash them A LOT too. But the flaking started a few uses in. I was pretty bummed. So what is the deal? I like the look, but if they can’t stand the test of time like the 2006 cups, what’s the point? They did other cups last year in the same style, the results are very similar.

I know what you are saying, much like minimum wage paying jobs, these cups aren’t supposed to replace the good cups that you would purchase at Bed Bath and Beyond. Or Pottery Barn. Or even Walmart. But Folks, this hasn’t been an issue in previous years. I give you the last few cups that the made before they started using these sticker based cups.

These are from 2011 and 2012. They are screen printed, so they retain the colors and the images. There is some loss on the graphics if you look close but overall these guys look pretty similar to the day they first came out. Very reliable. Speaking of reliable, the Sox’A’Rita glasses are top notch.

When the weather warms up in the 108, James the Sox’a’rita vendor is our go to guy. James has dreads and is one of the most friendly vendors that we have in the 108, so patronize him! We need to reward the good vendors so they keep coming back year after year! Your service will improve and so will your game experience, trust us, we’ve done A LOT of research in this area. So White Sox, please do me a favor and go back to the screen printed cups! I hate throwing these away and love to have multiple cups around the house. More importantly, my WIFE loves having them around the house too. Paying ~$6 for a soda (only available in sections 122, 140, 522 and 538) the cups should give you a few years of use too. Hope to see you guys in the 108 this weekend! From what we heard from our regular beer vendor they are expecting close to 30k this Saturday and 35k this Sunday. So get there early and party your butt off in that lot. Make that $20 ($10 on Sunday) work for you. Weather is perfect for grilling, drinking and Sox wins!

– MSS