WRIGLEY FIELD: Beyond the Ivy

I liked it as much for the things that it isn't as much as the things that it is. Finally, someone has done a baseball-related movie that doesn't include scratchy film footage of great plays from long ago; or interviews with self-important millionaire ballplayers; or cliche-ridden pontification from journalists about the beauty of the game. Instead, the filmmakers have crafted a film about fans, fanaticism, obsession, and the atmosphere and excitement that is part of attending a ball game in one of the last remaining classic ballparks. "Wrigley Field: Beyond the Ivy" relegates the game and players to the background, and puts everyday people like you and me in starring roles.

We bought the video this summer as a souvenier of our visit to Chicago, where we attended our first Cubs game. And what a great reminder it continues to be about the neighborhood surrounding the ballpark. We catch new things everytime we watch. I crack-up with laughter every time I watch the part about the ticket scalper. My wife was moved to tears the first time she saw the section about the janitor who lives across the street from Wrigley. My son loves the comedy section with the poor fellow who can't find a place to park. And my daughter loves any time that William Peterson (from "CSI"), the host of the film, is on screen.

Anybody who has ever spent time in the Wrigley Field neighborhood, or who wants a lasting visual remnder of the beauty of the ballpark (afterall, it's not going yo be there forever) or who is a "people-watcher" should absolutely own this video. They will not be disappointed!

This movie captures those stories the way the Greeks captured Troy - by sneaking up on them. Some of the characters it depicts, I've actually bumped into at Wrigley. Others I've heard the rumors about. I have been that parking maniac! I have yelled out at those ball-hawks in the left-field bleachers. I have been that Clark Street sot (for a nite or two). I have scored seats off that ticket scalper! As for "Woo-Woo", the unauthorized Cubs mascot who screams like no one else: I have hearing loss from that guy! These, along with others in "Beyond the Ivy", are the people who make Wrigley Field into a living thing. The ball game becomes almost an alibi!

Of course I wished the Cubs would make it all the way this season. But I also knew that if they did, it would change the society of Wrigley, maybe forever. This movie gets inside our little society (of which I'm an alumna with frequent homecomings) through the stories of people who started going to the games about when I did, and never left. If the Cubs ever do win a World Series, this movie will be a time-travelog to remember the way it was.

And if losing does build character, then Cub fans have the strongest, strangest character or all sports fans. This movie proves it!

I hope there is a place like Wrigley Field in every city. (Each place like that should have its own movie.) If they haven't, they're welcome to visit ours, either in person or through "Beyond the Ivy". A nice-but-naughty valentine to our magical spot and its everloving goofball fans!