Bud Selig must have a boner: Mark Cuban won't own the Cubs

Bidding for ownership of the two-time defending NL Central champion Chicago Cubs is coming to an end with a resolution possibly coming as soon as spring training.

However, the bidding will go on without Mark Cuban. The fan-favorite who also owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks is not among the finalists, which likely will anger Cubs fans who were hoping the competitive and fan-friendly owner would be able to put forth enough financial and emotional support to push the North Siders to their first World Series title since 1908.

The three perspective buyers (not named Cuban) are Chicago real estate investor Hersch Klaff, the Ricketts family (who founded Ameritrade) and Marc Utay, a New York private investor and Chicago native.

The one thing that sticks out tome about each of these potential buyers is the lack of a sports or baseball background. To the average eye, it looks as if Tribune Co. is looking to sell the team to a mirror image of itself. Which awakens the fears of Cubs fans that ownership will revert to its ways of piss poor team management and a shrinking budget.

As for Cuban, he's got a lot to say in his blog in which he touches on the possible conflict between he and White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, how the financial crisis reared its ugly head to pester the sale and other things.

The most damning statement came at the end of his blog, which is how I will also close this offering.

"So when it came down to it, I did what I thought was the only smart thing to do. I asked for an extension. I knew that if they got the money they wanted for the team, well my bid was not going to be high enough anyway. if they didn't, or the other bidders couldnt come up with their money, they would come back to me.

I'm still waiting."

As are Cubs fans, Mark.

This Just In: Cuban charged with inside trading

The man that Chicago Cubs fans hope will own their team has been charged with insider trading by the Securities Exchange Committee.

While most newsgroups will break this down because of its newsworthiness, I'll pose the following question: Is he really much worse than the guys who currently own the Cubs?

You know, Tribune Co. The ownership group that helped lie about/hide every Mark Prior and Kerry Wood injury. The people that made Sammy Sosa's early exit in 2004 look like a federal crime. The head honchos who made a profit off losing teams, cried about losing money and then turned the tables when it was found that they were one of a handful of teams making a profit.

Oh yeah, and the same ownership group that held back a segment of tickets for "premium games," created a ticket brocker office and then sold the tickets at a major mark-up.

Yet, Mark Cuban is getting charge for what I would call getting a hook up. I didn't know it was a crime to take advice from your friends to save your money.

Whatever.

Nothing else to report here.

SEC Charges Mark Cuban With Insider Trading [Wall Street Journal]

This is why the Cubs continuously fail

Photo Credit: Dallas Observer Blog

UPDATE: Dallas Mavericks owner and perspective (and hopefully future Cubs owner) Mark Cuban calls your bluff, Anonymous Source ... wherever/whoever you are. He still wants in!

/breathes a sigh of relief

Back to your regularly scheduled post...

There is only one good reason (and I mean legit) reason that the Cubs have been monumental losers over time.

Well, actually, there are a lot.

Anyway...

Billy goat? No.

Black cat? No.

Bartman? No.

Curses? Of course not.

The reason the Chicago Cubs have been failures for 100 years now is because there is no commitment from the top.

There, I said it.

None.

The latest news out of the City of Wind is that Mark Cuban has no chance in hell of becoming the Cubs' new owner is more proof of that.

It all starts from the top.

Experts say the Cubs don't have enough talent in their minor league system to acquire Jake Peavy, the kind of front-of-the-rotation starter that could help push the Cubs beyond the first round.

That's not really news to Cubs fans, seeing that they were one of the last teams to implement a farm system. Why? Because ownership at the time believed it cost too much money to run a minor league team and a major league team.

And you thought being the last team with lights was a sign that the Cubs were behind in the times. Not having minor league affiliates set them back to the point where it still affects the team today because they don't have a history of young talent evaluators

And don't even get me started on the College of Coaches.

Fail!

Oh yeah, Tribune Co. hasn't been much better.

They've shunned management (Dallas Green), their best players (Greg Maddux, Mark Grace) and even their fans (remember when they were scalping their own tickets?) and have gotten away with it.

Why?

Because beer, blondes and the occasional baseball game are enough to keep "the other 15 percent" coming out to Wrigley Field for a good time.

And yes, the Tribsters have shelled out money the last two offseasons at Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis (why?), Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano and Kosuke Fukudome and it's been great. It's the kind of commitment they should have had all along.

But it's not genuine. The heads at Tribune Tower thought they were playing with house money, backloading contracts to let another owner pick up the bill.

If this keeps going, I hope for Tribco.'s sake that they have a contingency plan.

And then there was Cuban.

A knight in shining armor if a Cubs fan ever saw one. A man who has taken the Dallas Mavericks from the NBA doorstep to the doorstep of an NBA title. A man who cares so much about his team, he doesn't sit in a box: he sits courtside.

Yet, Bud Selig and his cronies aren't going to let that happen.

Thanks, Bud. The Cubs don't need your help to further frustrate a fanbase that hasn't seen a World Series winner in its lifetime. They do fine on their own, thank you very much.

Douche!

Daily Dosage: T.G.I.F.

Seriously, there isn't a better day than Friday.

Sure, Saturday's great and so is Sunday. But there is no day I look forward to more than Friday.

To celebrate what will hopefully be a Happy Friday, I bring you Tina Fey.

Yes. I've had a crush on the former SNL starlet in a geeky kind of way since forever.

It's the glasses.

Enough is enough.

It's time for the Dosage.

Rose 'terrible' in preseason opener. In a city that is known for gloom and doom, is it too early to panic over the Chicago Bulls selection of Derrick Rose as the No. 1 overall pick?

In a word, yes!

Rose scored 10 points in his professional debut, but the Bulls were downed by the Dallas Mavericks 110-102 as the Chicago native also turned the ball over six times.

It's too early to judge the Bulls because it is truly a difficult task to evaluate talent in the first exhibition game of the season.

With that said, I'm happy that the Bulls scored more than 100 points. That's a nice start, Vinny Del Negro. Now it's time to hold the opposition under 100.

[Chicago Tribune]

A Cuban-Economic Crisis. Gas prices are high ant tuition continues to rise, yet my concern about the economy is whether or not Mark Cuban is going to buy the Chicago Cubs.

Cuban, one of the finalists possibly in line to buy the team, said the United States' fledgling economy is slowing down the sale process of the Chicago Cubs.

Cubs fans have dreamed about a new owner for years, but since Sam Zell took over at Tribune Tower, the sale of the team has dragged.

The good news is that it looks like it will be business as usual this winter, according to Cuban.

''Nothing's going to change,'' Cuban said. ''They weren't asking everybody about whether they should opt in on Rich Harden. They're doing what they need to do."

Mark, if they ask you for some advice, tell 'em to give CC Sabathia a box of donuts and a blank check.

[Chicago Sun-Times]

Tree choppin' on the comeback trail. Looking for a rebound isn't an act reserved for members of the SIU basketball team. The Saluki football squad is looking to rebound from a difficult 35-27 loss at North Dakota State University, in which the Bison were able to erase a 20-0 deficit with 35 consecutive points.

Luckily for SIU, lowly Indiana State comes to Carbondale winless this season (0-5) and winless on the road since 2004.

I'm not taking the Sycamores for granted, because I know as well as anyone that any team can beat another on any given day. But the annual cellar dwellers might be just what the doctor ordered - a confidence boost.

[Daily Egyptian]

Quality Linkage:

• Guess who's gonna be at the NLCS? [*touch* 'em all]
• T.J. Simers isn't a fan of the Illa-delph. [L.A. Times]
• What's better than phone sex? Let a Playboy bunny explain. [The Big Lead]
• More gold for the great Michael Phelps. [Fan IQ]
• Great golf headlines. [With Leather]
• BONUS LINKAGE: Check out DUAN! for the greatest picture ever! [Deadspin]