Politicians First At The Chicago Playoff Trough Like Everywhere Else

It is they who get the first thoughts of the baseball chieftains list of skids to grease, making sure they keep those fat cat politicos happy first and foremost when they divy out the sacred tickets.

Tickets that tens of thousand of more deserved die hard baseball fans supporting their teams day in and day out cannot get their hands on as a result, and certainly not at the so called face value price the pigs pay for them to circumvent free gifting laws and regulations, $60 for tickets the averaqge Joe has to shell out $2500 for at playoff time. I wouldn't doubt some of the bums in office probably scalp em back through others to cash in on that deal, although I would hope the teams have provisions in place to make sure that doesnt happen.

Politicians' tickets part of game -

- chicagotribune.com: "Chicago may be the city that works. But when it comes to getting Cubs or Sox playoff tickets, this is the city that works the political angles better than any strategy Lou or Ozzie could devise between the foul lines.

As die-hard fans scratch and claw to score a pair, they can rest assured their elected officials don't have to hassle with long-shot lotteries, brokers or—say it ain't so—scalpers.

Many Chicago politicians have plans to be safely seated in the friendly confines of Wrigley or the Cell, assuming the Sox can get it together this weekend. That's because, in many cases, public servants only had to wait for the ballclubs to check on their needs and desires.

They got a call or a note from the teams asking a simple question: Do you want to go?

Senate President Emil Jones, the South Side political power broker who has waited 72 of the last 100 years since the last North Side world championship, said yes and is waiting for details.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who once said he would like to be buried under home plate at Wrigley Field, was offered a couple of prime seats near his usual spot. He plans to take his oldest daughter, Amy.

They're among the winners in the grand tradition of making tickets available for city and state politicians known for their abundant capacity to get what they can.

Sure, the tickets aren't free. But they are face value, and the politicians can always tap their campaign funds to cover the tab.

The Cubs are offering the chosen few two tickets that run roughly $60 to $80 each, a team official said. At StubHub, single seats averaged $490 last week for a Cubs first-round ticket with a top price of $2,500. continued

As I said, the public getting screwed by politicians coming and going.

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