Mark Prior's appearance at "Just Ducky" in Naperville is somehow worthy of...

[cheeses_h_rice]

...a 3-minute segment on Channel 7's 6:00 news.

Yes, a player making a paid, promotional appearance at a retail store is now considered newsworthy in this godforsaken city.

Hangar, thought you might wanna know...

[maurice]

I take it you missed the "Dusty makes a sandwich at Subway" segment that ran on numerous local "news" broadcasts only days ago.

[RKMeibalane]

Originally posted by maurice
I take it you missed the "Dusty makes a sandwich at Subway" segment that ran on numerous local "news" broadcasts only days ago.

Was this supposed to be in teal, or did it actually happen?

[Jerry_Manuel]

Originally posted by RKMeibalane
Was this supposed to be in teal, or did it actually happen?

I didn't see it on tv, but I heard about it. Has to do with the Cubs vs. Sox series, Ozzie was supposedly involved as well. They make their own subs, and people vote on them. Something odd like that.

[chisoxfanforever]

A friend of mine went there, and the only way to get an autograph was to buy a $200 baseball or a Wrigley commerative for $300!! They are huge Cub fans and they left. I would be curious to know how may people actually paid that much money for a scrub's autograph. What is with the Cubs? When Mags was in Naperville last summer, he signed anything for free.

[RKMeibalane]

Originally posted by chisoxfanforever
A friend of mine went there, and the only way to get an autograph was to buy a $200 baseball or a Wrigley commerative for $300!! They are huge Cub fans and they left. I would be curious to know how may people actually paid that much money for a scrub's autograph. What is with the Cubs? When Mags was in Naperville last summer, he signed anything for free.

That's because the Cubs are a bunch of greedy ****ers who don't care about their fans. Not that the Sox organization is much better, but at least their players don't ask fans to pay through the nose so they can sign a piece of paper.

[RKMeibalane]

This just in...

Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox will be visiting a Seattle-area Starbucks tomorrow morning between 9 and 11. Fans are invited to go and spend time with the greatest player in White Sox history. Thomas will be joined at the event by Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki. Autographs and pictures are free.

I can just imagine the negative press this would carry when only a few fans showed up, because it would be happening in Seattle.

Honestly, this is the kind of crap the Chicago media needs to ignore. A Cubs official (player or coach) makes a public appreance. Big deal! Celebreties do that all the time. I really am sick and tired of the way the Cubune and other Chicago papers try to build up everything associated with the Teddy Bears.

[Jjav829]

So as they billboard the story on ABC, they pan the line of people waiting to meet Prior. And what do we see about half way through the shot? A man in a White Sox jersey. It looked like a #36 jersey though I suppose I could have misread the number as the shot was quick. It might have been a 35 and a Thomas jersey. Nonetheless, I hope Hangar wasn't watching.

[RKMeibalane]

Originally posted by Jjav829
So as they billboard the story on ABC, they pan the line of people waiting to meet Prior. And what do we see about half way through the shot? A man in a White Sox jersey. It looked like a #36 jersey though I suppose I could have misread the number as the shot was quick. It might have been a 35 and a Thomas jersey. Nonetheless, I hope Hangar wasn't watching.

Sox fans trying to meet Prior? I hope he went there only because he wanted to tell Mark how much sucks.

[JohnBasedowYoda]

Originally posted by RKMeibalane
That's because the Cubs are a bunch of greedy ****ers who don't care about their fans.

Hey i'm no slouch

[santo=dorf]

I was listening to ESPN 1000 and Harry said it was a complete disaster. He only signed autographs if you bought a $500 jersey or a $300 Wrigley Field ornament. Some guy called in and said that the place normally sells them for $100. After an hour and a half, Mark quit signing and complained of hand cramps. People weren't allowed to take pictures or shake his hands, so I guess he was like an art exhibit for another half an hour. Harry said the store manager broke down in tears twice and said there were a ton of little Cub fans crying and even saying stuff like "I hope he loses tomorrow," and " I hope he gets rocked." The true Cub fans sure love their players.

[DrCrawdad]

Originally posted by santo=dorf
I was listening to ESPN 1000 and Harry said it was a complete disaster. He only signed autographs if you bought a $500 jersey or a $300 Wrigley Field ornament. Some guy called in and said that the place normally sells them for $100. After an hour and a half, Mark quit signing and complained of hand cramps. People weren't allowed to take pictures or shake his hands, so I guess he was like an art exhibit for another half an hour. Harry said the store manager broke down in tears twice and said there were a ton of little Cub fans crying and even saying stuff like "I hope he loses tomorrow," and " I hope he gets rocked." The true Cub fans sure love their players.

I love Harry Teinowitz, even though he's a Cubbie fan!

It will be interesting to see amount of coverage The SCORE gives this tomorrow and I'm sure the many Cubune outlets will give plenty of time to what Harry reported...

[Vsahajpal]

Heh, sounds credible.

After his two starts at Lansing, he donated money to the Lugnuts charities, bought the team steak dinners after each start, and signed autographs even though the Lugs GM said no.

Same thing at Iowa, the tab was $1100. He also took at a half-page ad in the Des Moines Register thanking the fans.

What a dirtbag.

[DrCrawdad]

Originally posted by Vsahajpal
Heh, sounds credible.

After his two starts at Lansing, he donated money to the Lugnuts charities, bought the team steak dinners after each start, and signed autographs even though the Lugs GM said no.

Same thing at Iowa, the tab was $1100. He also took at a half-page ad in the Des Moines Register thanking the fans.

What a dirtbag.

Yeah, you're right you just can't believe a thing that Cub fan Harry Teinwitz says.

And oh, you know if someone does something good one day that proves beyond any doubt that they could ever do something wrong another day.

Anyway, it could very well be that Prior reacted the way Cub fan Teinwitz said because this was a public appearance BEFORE a start and not AFTER as you described. It would be reasonable to me if he didn't want to tire out his right hand the night before his first start in MLB for the season.

[DrCrawdad]

Originally posted by Vsahajpal
Heh, sounds credible.

After his two starts at Lansing, he donated money to the Lugnuts charities, bought the team steak dinners after each start, and signed autographs even though the Lugs GM said no.

Same thing at Iowa, the tab was $1100. He also took at a half-page ad in the Des Moines Register thanking the fans.

What a dirtbag.

Napervillle Sun, June 4, 2004

Fowl bawl

Cub pitcher no hit at Naperville's Just Ducky store

By Bill Bird

staff writer

Mark Prior's appearance at Just Ducky proved to be anything but.

The store's owner and some patrons said the Chicago Cubs pitching star left scores of bewildered fans in his wake following a chaotic autograph-signing session Thursday evening at Just Ducky Too, an interior-decorating and gift shop at 2867 W. 95th St. on Naperville's southwest side.

Prior had gone to the store to promote a limited-edition Studio 56 collectible home decoration in a Wrigley Field motif. The shop stocked 1,000 of the pieces.

For their $299 purchase, Studio 56 collectors were to receive tickets to meet Prior in the store, have him sign the decoration and shake hands or pose for photographs with him. Prior also agreed to sign baseballs, jerseys and related merchandise stocked by the shop, said Brandon Donofrio, one of Just Ducky Too's owners.

But Prior and the three men who accompanied him cut short the star player's appearance, scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m., by more than half. Prior and his entourage left about 7:15 p.m., Donofrio said.

"Mark Prior got here and changed everything around," Donofrio said. "He wasn't doing any handshakes, and after the first 20 people he said, 'No more photos.'"

"He just went ballistic," Donofrio said of Prior. "He was saying no pictures, and suddenly he got up and said, 'I'm out of here.'

...There were reports of young boys being reduced to tears by Prior's disappearance before they were able to meet him...

...Chris Solfa, who said he was one of the few patrons to shake Prior's hand, agreed with his wife, who said that children were crying both inside and outside the shop.

The speed and impersonality involved in keeping the line of fans moving through the store reminded Chris Solfa of "people like lemmings going off a cliff. We saw a lot of angry people," he said...

Damn Naperville Sun isn't credible either. It's probably owned by a Sox fan!