SoxFest 2017 – We met some people, we gave out some shirts.

Posted on by mysoxsummer

In case you haven’t been paying attention to Twitter, SoxFest was last weekend.  If you’ve never been, and you like waiting in lines like the former U.S.S.R., you should really go.  But instead of getting bread or cheese, you get autographs from your favorite White Sox players!  Plus about all the free stuff you can handle.

I went in with 2 guys (@ricojr16 and @bigsexxy_75 #wallymoney), 2nd year we have done the ‘fest together. We always have a great time, this year was no different.  Lacking the star power of previous years, the attendance was a little smaller than last, but what a treat for anyone that bought tickets.

In other years, I was focused on getting bobbles signed.  Since the majority of the guys there were new, and didn’t have a Sox bobble, I was more focused on speaking the word of the 108 and getting baseballs signed.  I was prepared with 108 t-shirts and business cards.

I also had a special shirt that Chorizy thought up that we wanted to present to Rick Hahn to show our excitement and appreciation on his off season.  Because I am really lucky, I ran into him. Rick loved the shirt and asked for his cut.  I assured him once we made some money, we’d send him a check.

Rick Hahn is hella nice, just so you know.  I have met him a couple of times, both very briefly, but this last meeting was fantastic.  He was with his son, who was laughing the whole time, and he dropped a “fucking” during the course of our conversation.  I am sure he was terrified that I would eat him, so he treated me real nice like.  Giving Rick a shirt was on my list of goals, glad I was able to get one to him.  Also, over in that corner, the lovely Alexa was taking pics for fans with Dan Jennings. I wondered how many people wanted a pic with both of them.  Hmmmmmmm……..

If you haven’t heard of #southsidestachemen you better read this before you read below, cause shit won’t make sense.   We ran into Tim Anderson and Tyler Saladino in the Sox Social Lounge, so of course I let Tyler know who I was. We chatted for a bit about the contest, which is awesome, and I gave him a shirt.  Tyler is another really nice guy, engaged with the fans, and stood around forever talking about the original tweet and how awesome the contest is gonna be. So much awesome talk that I am scared that we’ll screw this up.  He also signed about a bijillion autographs.  Including the t-shirt that we will give the winner on the #southsidestachemen contest.  So get to growing guys (and girls, ewww) get this shirt and some free tickets!

Also in the lounge we ran into fellow 108 supporter Jason Benetti! Jason let us know that he’d be down for a game this year, so we are gonna hold him to it.  Didn’t have a size medium shirt on me, so I gave him one the next day. Jason then did something that got the entire 108 excited, he said they’d put it on the prize shelf.  Can you fucking imagine?  Ha.  I had Jason and Ed Farmer sign a shirt that we can give away too sometime during the season, look for this on our Twitter or FB.

Carlton Fisk was also in the Social Lounge taking pics with fans.  Was fun to chat with him about the blog and take a quick pic.  He was looking good, walking bad.  All those HOF years behind home have taken their toll.

20170127_202732_resized

And here’s a pic of me with Todd Frazier.  Todd is not a 108 supporter as he has had us blocked for about a year now.  He distracted me with a fist bump and being a cool guy so I didn’t ask to be unblocked.  He had a bum paw, said it was nothing to worry about for the season.  I hope so! We’re gonna need some good numbers from you Todd, so we can trade you away at the ASB.

img_50951_resized

Having breakfast on Saturday we ran into ROY 1983, Ron Kittle.  Ron is always good for stories and some dirt on the 80’s guys.  Told us some great stories and bullshitted with the best.  Asked about the shirts, so I gave him one.  We took a pic and he even put one on! Awesome.  We hope to see you this summer in the 108 Ron, first and final beer on us! Again, hell of a nice guy.  Sunday he said hi and we chatted some more, Harold Baines showed up too, was a great time.  Always a fun time when you are eating pancakes with your favorite player as a kid.

img_51061_resized

I always said I’d never pay to go to Soxfest and now, 2 years in a row, I have done just that.  If you like Sox baseball and feeling like one of the guys, the Sox really make these guys available to do just that.  They make the guys more personable.  Hell, I took a piss with Jacob Petricka and Eric Soderholm, while security watched us all. I was most impressed when Eric asked me how the sinks worked, and I told them I was happy to see them washing their hands.  I came home with tons of stories and lots of hope that we can actually make this rebuild work.  I liked the feeling at SoxFest, optimism was all around.  Hearing people that were still excited for this season was awesome.  Plus I hope we gained a few more followers.

Soxfest 2017 has put the 108 on the map.  If you haven’t already you can see me get skunked in trivia here. You can see our good friend Cyndee get a Cuban Sandwich here.

Didn’t get shirt?  Follow us on Twitter and start telling your friends! Hell, add your friends on our FB site. We have boxes of shirts that we’ll give away this year with a few new ones planned to sell.  We’ll keep you in the loop.

Get that ‘stache a growing for opening day!  Tweet at us and Tyler with the hashtag #southsidestachemen.  Free tickets!  Free shirt!

-MSS

The 5 – Promotions We’d Like To See

Posted on by mysoxsummer

As we all know, attendance has been an issue the last few years.  I’d like to think that with the Sox trying to make major changes, the fans will support them by buying cheap ass tickets ($15 corners, $7 uppers for most games). But more than likely they won’t buy shit till we start winning again, much like last year when we started winning, future games started to sell.  100k tickets in a week. You know what to call that –

follow_us_fromthe108

 

So here are 5 promotions that we’d like to see –

1. BOGO (Buy One Get One) Tuesday. We used to have half price Monday for the tickets (they were overpriced at that time anyways) but people would lose their shit cause they thought they were getting a deal. Much like Kohls, they showed you that saved a bunch of money but you were still getting ripped off.  I remember one Monday watching a girl, who was White Girl Wasted, fall down about 15 rows on the cement in 512. She got grabbed about 3 rows before the bottom, which might have hurt her more.

So anyways, let’s have a day where there is an item that is BOGO.  Pizza, Pretzels, Nachos and our fave in the 108, BEER.  Yes, I think there should be one day (a random Tuesday night in April) that they sell 2 beers for 1.  You don’t have to announce it in advance, but rather do it when people get to the game.  It should be a reward to everyone that is attending a vs. Twins game while it is 35 degrees out.  Get Drunk On Us Night.

Summary – On Tuesdays early in the year, one item will be BOGO. It can be any concession, but one night has to be beer. 

 

20160409_142624_resized
MGD is better (kinda) when it’s 2 for 1.

 

2. Free Food For Kids.  If I had a dollar everytime someone used the “Food Prices” as a reason not to go to the game I would have enough money to pay off James Shields‘ contract.  One, I am always shocked that people are shocked at the high prices.  Two, you can bring literally ANYTHING food wise into the game.  One game I saw a guy eating a carrot I am sure he stole from Mr. Ed.  Three, I am REALLY REALLY shocked that people are shocked you can bring in anything.  So let’s follow the masters of promotion, Denny’s, and give the kids FREE FOOD!  It is a similar take on the Kohls example, if people think they are getting a deal, they will spend more.  What’s a profit margin on $6 hot dog?  Give away 2 to sell two.  Plus, you can give away those hot dogs that they sell for $1 4th of July weekend. Those are tasty, especially the 6th one followed by your 8th Lite.  You’ll sell more tickets, more people will come and you’ll sell more food.  Easy peasy.

Summary – Every weekday game, KIDS EAT FREE. Simple meal of a hot dog, chips and a small pop.

kidseatfree

3. Punch cards. For years and years, BeefLoaf has argued for a charge account that is connected to your seat so you can get loaded without having to have cash on you.  He has also asked for pizza slices delivered to your seat.  Neither is really ground breaking, or all that hard to make happen, but the Sox don’t seem to be interested. So give us a punch card!  Any item over $5, you get a punch.  For every $5 you spend, you get a punch.  Once you hit $100, you get $25 in Comiskey Cash.

Summary – Get a punch for every $5 you spend. Every $100 you spend, you get $25 in Comiskey Cash.

pizza_punch_card_1007004_01_lg
Just one I found on the net, but it works!

 

4. Cat Day. We already have a very successful Bark At The Park! Day.  Sells out (for dog space anyways) every year.  Like Elvis night, I don’t try to understand it, but just get drunk at it and enjoy the extra people.  So why don’t we have a Cat Day / Night?  Cats are cleaner, don’t piss and shit all over the place and honestly fit the Sox fan demeanor a bit better.  Cats don’t give a fuck, they use you for their purposes and only when they want to.  Which to me describes a majority of Sox fans.  BeefLoaf owns several cats and now a dog that looks like a cat.  The guy loves pussy, that much is clear.

Summary – Cat Night.  Make it happen!

o74zv6-b88711710z-120160513152833000gssgi16t-10
Faster than Abreu.

5. Hang With An Alumni Player Night. Yes. Hell yes. Want to eat churros with Dan Pasqua?  We can make that happen.  Wanna have a hot dog eating contest with Ron Kittle? We can do that too.  Just be careful cause Kitty can eat (and drink) like a madman.  Create a contest, it can be on a weeknight too, for a guy to spend a game with an ex-player.  They get a free meal, the fan get’s a once in a lifetime experience.  I’d love listening to Carlos May‘s stories and thoughts on the young bloods coming up.  Sounds like a win win for all involved.

Summary – Alumni Date Night on the Sox!

ron-kittleresz-e1423966412676-330x220

 

-MSS

Big things are coming for the 108 in 2017.  We have some t-shirts getting printed as I type this.  Look for us at SoxFest and maybe you’ll get a “108 Exclusive” shirt.  Follow us on FB here! We go live from time to time, mostly while drunk. We also have our Twitter that you can follow here!