hawing

I'm going to guess that the current brewerfan(atic) audience nowadays is a mix of people who remember the plane flying a loop over County Stadium hauling a HEARTBREAKERS - 95th AND NATIONAL banner before games. Not my kind of venue, but it brings back County Stadium memories. 🙂

I hope you went to Heartbreakers.

Late to this particular party, but I'm mostly* over the Craig Counsell job change thing. I'll allow for a slim chance that his "huge crowd" comment was in response to a leading question from the Marquee folks (or whoever he was talking to). Otherwise, that little dig wasn't necessary. There will be more than enough ill will between the fan bases, both online and at the respective parks when the two teams meet. There is no value to adding to the ill will, unless perhaps you're in the media and need more content that will draw reactions. Having said all that...I'm unconvinced that there isn't some kind of bad blood between Craig and some component of the Brewers. It's one of several events to which I look forward to someday reading or hearing an oral history. (That and the 2022 trade deadline.) *mostly = as far as I know. 🤷‍♀️

Let's go.

I only want to add here that I really enjoyed this bit. Though I'm sorry your house is a challenge.

The ballpark app includes a parking voucher image that we show to the designated driver folks. (Pro tip if you're thirsty for soda: You can show it at multiple designated driver stands and there is no way for them to know.) "Fans purchasing day-of parking will scan a QR code posted on signs in the lot, enter their license plate and payment information." This part is not going to go quickly for fans who still resist smartphones and get their tickets printed. (I don't know how they do that nowadays, but we see folks around the ballpark regularly who are clutching printed tickets.) I lead a charmed enough life to not have had to deal with companies like Interstate or Metropolis, so I still don't fully grasp how they're capturing our license plates, to compare with what we enter on the app. I guess explain this to me like I'm six. 😄

I was just coming here to post that. Based on my initial read of the press release, it looks like self check-in for parking customers now, which will increase dependence on the Ballpark App. That's not a problem for the hawing household but might be for others. I would not be surprised if parking lot cashier is one of the positions the Brewers have had trouble filling, so that checks. I do wonder how they will identify parking violators (since it looks like you can just drive in and park). Anyway, the new system's first test will be the home opener. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm just glad we didn't have to decide between trying to make the trip and eating the ticket prices. (I won't be surprised if this makes the Brewers reluctant to try it again, but time will tell that)

Another Brewerfan(atic) traditional thread, with a random start date to boot! You may resume keeping it random.

Two weeks into 2024 is better than even later. But being two weeks late to start this thread bugs me. Blame covid.

I'll tell you what's bugging me. Someone gave me covid for Christmas and one of the many many things that got delayed while I recovered was closing this 2023 thread and starting one for 2024. 😠

For those of you who don't watch college volleyball regularly, this was truly the only clunker in Wisconsin's 2023 season. Extremely unfortunate that it came when it did, on a national stage. Both Wisconsin setters (Ashburn and Hammill) are done now. There's a super recruit coming in to set next year, but I don't even know who that person's backup will be. 2024 will be different.

As another who remembers the early days of FOX 47 in Madison, I checked out that video and OMG the promo at about 1:30 in. "What do you do when your opponent desperately needs to win to wrap up a division pennant and YOU desperately need to win to finish even and stay out of last place?" Besides that being just sad in a very late-1980s Brewers way, I'm surprised the promo was game-specific. I don't remember those at all - although the mid to late 80s were my undergrad years and I didn't always have a TV then.

Now that Wade's back...

I'd like it if they could spell Wiemer correctly. They did get it right for Andruw, Jahmai and Rickie, though!

In our diabetic household, this is another thing that makes Culver's popular.

A takeaway that is important to me is that I am once again younger than the Brewers' manager. 👍

Welp, here's the first IGT with Craiggers at the helm:

"I wonder what hawing thinks." Said by few if any of you, but too bad, you get to read my thoughts now, after a week of taking all this in. 😬 I'm having a hard time not feeling played by Craig. Perhaps he simply did a solid acting job reading the script for that “Born a Brewer” commercial in 2016 or whenever. I'm disappointed to realize that he doesn't feel that way now, and (per his comments in Chicago today) hasn't for at least the last couple of years. In a relative vacuum, Craig’s job change makes plenty of sense. New gig, doing what he enjoys, more money, no immediate need to relocate the fam. Indeed, one of my coping mechanisms when favorite players move around is to remind myself that ultimately, they all pretty much work for MLB, and the goal of the front office is to try to time acquisitions so you get people while they're at their best, as often as you can. But the Illinois/Chicago/Cubs-Wisconsin/Milwaukee/Brewers dynamic is some pretty critical context. The former's superiority complex and the latter's inferiority complex are not Craig's fault. But did Craig really expect Brewers fans to be sanguine about his moving to CHC? His professed surprise today comes across as disingenuous. (Those emotions aside, it’s uncool to aim for a job that’s occupied by someone and get that person the boot. We know it’s not the first time CHC has bounced an under-contract manager when someone they decided they liked better came along. I’m not impressed with any employer that does that.) Having said that much, I'm more disappointed in the Brewers' front office. In recent years, the organization has felt noticeably less fan-friendly - specifically, less interested in fan engagement. I expect the pandemic put something of a dent in that, but it has deteriorated even more since 2022. I follow the organization closely, attend a lot of games, and pay a lot of attention to the fan experience. I think my take is pretty knowledgeable in this instance. The difference is not in face-to-face guest relations interactions, but with communication from the top. For example, Mark used to put out an open letter to fans at the end of each season. That hasn’t happened in a while. There was no explanation for (or even acknowledgment of) the absence of a winter fan event in 2022 or 2023. Why not just admit that they're still concerned about covid or want to avoid the Wisconsin Center while it's expanded or the players hate winter or whatever? I get that they may not want to deliver a negative message, but no messaging at all frankly leaves fans assuming the worst, so the vibe is already negative. Another example: Sometime during the 2022-23 offseason, Mike Attanasio was named the Brewers’ VP for Fan Engagement - a position which a look at media guides suggests didn’t exist before. In January 2023 Mike asked on (at the time still) Twitter what Brewers and Norwich City FC accounts he should follow. He got a lot of Norwich responses, and interacted with some of the posters. I politely replied with some Brewers suggestions (including Brewer Fanatic, of course) - and got crickets in response. Maybe the 2022 drop-off is total coincidence, and has nothing to do with fan reaction to the 2022 trade deadline, followed weeks later by Mark A’s investment in the football team. I'm skeptical of that - and I’d need more inside information than a fan is probably entitled to - to change my mind. I understand that the Brewers’ fanbase could do worse than the current ownership, but it’s still hard not to wonder if we could do better. How much do you have to suck to drive noted hometown dude Craig out of the organization?! I’d feel better with an owner whose heart still seems to be in the work. Other thoughts: I absolutely lack the personality for a sales career, but I would hate hate hate to be a Brewers ticket rep right now. Imagine the ire of current customers they've had to absorb this past week; not to mention how do you attract new customers right now? How does the org attract (decent) free agents? In a similar vein, I cringe when I think of the front office’s current attempts to attract state and municipal government support for the Brewers’ longer-term future. That task already was hampered some by the Brewers’ prompt exit from the 2023 postseason, and after the past week I’d understand if legislators and local politicians are currently wondering just how solid an investment the organization is right now. Finally, for those who have marveled at (or been dismayed by) how insufferable CHC games in Milwaukee have become for fans...wait until May 27, 2024. I remember attending Paul Molitor's first game in County Stadium since joining the Blue Jays. I couldn't boo him, but I didn't feel like cheering him either. It was uncomfortable. Craig coming back with CHC will be worse.

At midday Monday, when the Counsell news was maybe an hour old, a colleague from HR in our building stopped by my office with a 💩 eating grin, saying "I'm just here to give you 💩." You will not be surprised to learn that this colleague favors chc. I want the Brewers to move past this and succeed just to take the grin off that person's face.

On the surface, it doesn't leave a great impression of the organization at a time when the Brewers might want to have their best foot forward. Legislators might wonder if the investment they're being asked to make is sound right now. Between this and the prompt deflation of 2023 postseason hopes, it's unfortunate timing. ETA: Some legislators may be able to take the longer view. Some of the Joe/Jo Taxpayers who don't follow baseball closely will be like Don't tax me for that clown show.

The real question is how can the Attanasios monetize this.