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Sam Zell, the motorcycle-riding owner of the Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Cubs, talks with a potty mouth and has been known to drop F-bombs and MF-missiles in crowded rooms. So I wonder what he'll say if and when baseball commissioner Bud Selig tells him that he can't sell his team to the highest bidder.
That highest bidder could be Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. He reportedly submitted a bid of $1.3 billion that is said to be the highest. But it may as well be the lowest because Selig doesn't want the brash and outspoken Cuban as an owner, a baseball source told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Zero chance" is how the source put it.
Given that Selig has already rigged the sale of one baseball team and he's allergic to controversy, something Cuban has been known to create, I'd say the chance is less than zero.
Look, I'm not sure whether Cuban would be a good owner for the championship-starved Cubbies. All I know is he turned the woeful Mavs into a winning franchise after purchasing a controlling interest in the team in 2000. And he'd want to win the World Series as bad as any Cubs fan. Cuban would spare no expense to bring the long-awaited title to Wrigleyville, and that has Selig and other owners more scared than seeing Cuban screaming at umpires on SportsCenter.
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Comments (39) Add A Comment
The Cubs will still choke... so I don't really care.
PackersLP21
Titletown, WI
Total Comments (14582)
Why am I not surprised that a fan of the **** would say that?
cubs/bears
Total Comments (1265)
No loud mouth azzholes allowed in the old, fat, white guys club. Ted Turner was one lesson learned.
Wanted Man
Lincoln , NE
Total Comments (1174)
MLB IS JUNK LEAGUE
KingFortis
Dallas , TX
Total Comments (67)
Being a Cardinals fan I hate the Chubs. I however am a huge Cuban fan and think he brings a winning attitude to any team that he owns and would be a great shot in the arm of a stale league run by a corrupt commish that can't even run a World Series the right way. Just because Selig would hate the challenge the he would bring to his beloved Brewers to whom he has bent over backwards to give them every advantage as his time as commish...including moving the Astros home games against the cubs to Milwaukee (What a joke)! Cuban would be the best thing for baseball other than getting rid of Selig.
lizardking71
League City , TX
Total Comments (2)
What's wrong with Cuban? He has a team-ownership resume.
How often does a sport league receive a bid/offer from a proven sports team owner? Mark Cuban makes honest attempts at building a team, he treats his players well and brings marketing value to the franchise. What more could you want?
A Nom
Total Comments (2153)
Write your congressman. Baseball has been given anti-trust exemptions, for which they owe a great deal back in return. I don't care if Cuban gets to own the team; all I want is for Selig to go. He's destroying the game.
wooster
Danville , VA
Total Comments (1)
this makes me almost convinced that Barry Bonds was colluded against...and i hate Barry Bonds
blueintheblood
Honolulu, HI
Total Comments (297)
If you were Selig, would you want to deal with Cuban for the next twenty years???.... I didn't think so.... the NBA repeatedly fines idiot Cuban, but he just pays the fine and continues acting like a fool....
Sir Robin (again)
Camelot, UK
Total Comments (11174)
He was colluded against in the sense that nobody wanted the baggage or the headache of a 43 year old whack job with a huge head.....
Sir Robin (again)
Camelot, UK
Total Comments (11174)
So what's convenient for Selig should be more important that what would be good for baseball, Cubs' fans and the seller?
Omagus
Austin, TX
Total Comments (590)
You sir, are a moron...that being handled, the idea that the owners are allowed to black ball someone is antiquated at best, and ought to be illegal.
unklesam
Philadelphia , PA
Total Comments (174)
All the more reason for Bush to be baseball commish. Just retire Selig. I do agree with Selig on one issue the steriods allegations. No Government allowed in sports.
jpersing
Ashburn , VA
Total Comments (5)
wow...almost similar isn't it? selig doesn't Cuban's "baggage" and headache...
blueintheblood
Honolulu, HI
Total Comments (297)
being a cubs fan and following this as close as i can, i believe if cuban is not approved he will take the mlb to court and challange the ant-trust exemption. if you believe the reports the front runner is a group supported by selig and it was the lowest bid, i don't belive sam zell will go for that. i believe the threat of law suit ( and in this economic climate) a long and expensive lawsuit is the last thing the mlb wants. i don't know what kind of owner cuban would be, but i do know this, as a cub fan it would be fun.
bigteebone
Total Comments (1)
What is the MLB afraid of? He'll just be another owner in the Bigs that likes to spend money. That's nothing new. The Yankees have been doing that for almost two decades and now the Mets have joined that party. Maybe the MLB just doesn't want that kind of free spending to keep spreading like a virus through the Midwest and then through the rest of the League.
dryanpat
Apo, AE
Total Comments (5)
Is it legal to prohibit someone from buying a franchise simply because certain owners or the commissioner don't like his/her personality? I think Mr. Cuban may have some legal recourse over this matter.
Maekchu
Total Comments (31)
It wouldn't be Cuban who would have legal recourse it would be Zell. He would be the one being stopped from choosing the buyer.
And I don't follow baseball so I am not sure how the system works per se but isn't it like in the NFL where the owners select the commissioner and he works for them?
BigBlueNJ
Total Comments (508)
fwiw, we Red Sox fans are pretty happy with the rig-job Selig did steering the team to John Henry and away from that moron Dolan of the Knicks
tommy9central
Newport , RI
Total Comments (128)
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