October 31, 2020: Not So Marquee

When I heard the prospect of an exclusive Cubs channel, of course I was excited. So 24×7, all day, every day, any time I want Cubs content, I have it? Well, that’s what I thought… Paid programming? Product advertising? This is not what I want to see if I want to see some Cubs content late at night or early in the morning; WTF? I love football, gambling on sports, and poker too, but when I turn on the Marquee network to view CUBS material, this is NOT what I want to see. A show about the viral videos of the week? Where is the Cubs content? How can there be an entire day of scheduling and not one Cubs show? This channel isn’t everything I thought it would be… it’s really not so marquee…

On top of having to pay for it, and wait for the final minute before getting the channel before the season started, this channel has been unimpressive. With all the Cubs games in the archives… I mean take 100 years and multiply it by 162… and then by a minimum of 3 hours… Sure, there are plenty of losses out there; take those out and you still have a ton of content. Give me some random game from the summer of 1984. Show me an April game from 1989. How about a late September game from 1998? It doesn’t even have to be a playoff year for that matter. Just show me some random Cubs win. I’d certainly watch a regular season game from back in the day with Ernie, Billy and Ron… I don’t care. If you’re supposed to be a “Cubs” channel, then show the Cubs…

I think we’ve been had. Is this really a Cubs channel, or are they trying to be something else? Have we seen some of the countdowns? Let’s take the most memorable moments at Wrigley. I don’t want to see moments that went against the Cubs; Will Clark’s big day in the 89 playoffs… seriously? There ain’t enough big Wrigley moments to show that benefit the Cubs? I know we were the loveable losers and all that stuff, but come on… The biggest games at Wrigley were all out of whack too. How do you rate the Montero slam and the Cardinals clincher so low? What about the best defensive plays? I know… I can watch that Kris Bryant fielding of a relatively easy ground ball 100 times, but it is NOT the best defensive play of all time. Ranking these plays based on timing of occurrence and result of getting that out or outs vs the actual skill required to make the play was a mistake IMO. It just feels like there should be folks who are Cubs fans that are running this network…

I’m not that even impressed with the whole game day coverage. Cole Wright? Is that his name? Not impressed. The list of random ex-Cubs that they roll out… you couldn’t find anybody better? Ryan Dempster; not a big fan. He’s got his own show; they’re constantly involving him on content. Enough. Then they make Len and JD wear suits for the broadcast? Not only is Marquee underwhelming to watch, but they sound great to work for. The big corporate machine that Marquee feels like, dropping out of certain TV packages as we speak, does not have the Cubs as the most important thing on their network. That is disappointing…

So I still have to go to YouTube if I want to watch an old Cubs game? Even if you don’t want to put any games on, put a show talking about the Cubs on overnight. There are millions and millions of Cubs fans in the world. You can’t get enough viewership sticking strictly to Cubs content? This is starting to sound like a Hate File… but no, can’t do that to a current Chicago team member, although Marquee certainly doesn’t act like it. Is this what the YES network is about? Is it all Yankee material or everything but like Marquee? They’ve came up way short in what should have been every Cubs fan dream. But I guess this theme of disappointment goes right along with the last few years’ end result… Regardless of all the losing we’ve experienced over the years, there are way more great moments that happen year in and year out that we should be able to view on a dedicated Cubs network… Where do I submit my resume for the head of programming over at Marquee?