How Not to Own a Sports Team

Probably few readers of The Normal Blog (or anything else currently published) have been Cubs fans longer than TNB who remembers as a young boy when his team was last in the World Series (that's right 1945). For sheer futility there has certainly never been a team in any sport that could equal the Cubs. But yet the true fan carries on--hoping beyond all reason that something good will happen "soon".


When the wealthy Ricketts family that had made its fortune by developing the online broker TD Ameritrade bought the Cubs from Tribune Co. in 2009, there was a glimmer of hope (for no real reason)that things might get better, which has hardly happened yet. But patience, patience!



All this hope and patience came crashing down last week when it was revealed that the family patriarch, Joe Ricketts, had apparently commited $10 million to help a SuperPac finance a vicious attack on President Obama --including dredging up Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the birther issue and other long discredited lies. Free speech, if this where Joe wants to throw away his money you say?


Not so fast. Joe's son Tom, the nominal Cubs president, was in the midst of delicate negotiations with the City of Chicago and State of Illinois trying to get public funds to renovate ancient Wrigley Field. Upon hearing the news Mayor Rahm Emanuel, formerly Obama chief of staff, became livid and future City of Chicago financial aid to the Ricketts family looks as likely as the Cubs winning one-third of their games in 2012.


For which TNB says bravo! Let Wrigley fall apart--after all, the iconic stadium has been the main attraction for a long time as opposed to the team itself.



If Joe has an extra $10 million he probably has an extra $100 million that should be used for rehabbing the old ballpark, rather than the family hypocritically asking for public money from politicians they despise. Joe could start by replacing the troughs in the men's rooms, which come to think of it would be an appropriate place for him.