Under a front-page headline so large it precluded proper coverage of the paper's latest sweepstakes winner or the R-Kelly trial, the Sun-Times Tuesday morning shouted, "ZELL NO!" meaning that Sam Zell will not be selling Wrigley Field to the Illinois Sports Facility Authority and will instead "(plan) to package the Cubs and their landmark stadium in a private transaction."

The article by Fran Spielman and David Roeder continues:

...sources said Zell has rejected the state's proposed terms because it relies on a novel and untested financing plan: the sale of individual seats at Wrigley as if they were condominiums. The idea is called equity seat rights and has been advanced by Chicago area business executive Lou Weisbach, who has applied for patent rights on it.

Zell, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney and their advisers have concluded that the equity plan and its tax ramifications would violate both the Internal Revenue Service code and the rules of Major League Baseball, the sources said.

...often go awry. So we may be reminded as the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority prepares its bid to purchase The Friendly Confines from Tribune Company and its owner, Sam "The Grave Dancer" Zell.

Former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, current head of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, appeared on WSCR radio Sunday morning and confirmed the state is about ready to lay its money on the table. Assuming the ISFA and Zell agree on a price, the state legislature and the City of Chicago (that's Mayor Daley to you and me) would then have to approve the deal.

Thompson also reiterated a point made in recent days by Chicago Cubs chairman, Crane Kenney, that the parties involved believe the people who would "benefit" from the sale of the ballpark to the State of Illinois and the ensuing rehabilitation should be the ones who bear the expense of that rehabbing.

The financial instrument that would allow this to happen, according to Thompson, is Sales Tax Increment Financing, the aptly nicknamed "STIF."

Here's how Ben Joravsky, writing in The Reader a couple of weeks ago, explained the concept:

Under the plan, the state would issue bonds to pay for rebuilding Wrigley, adding new skyboxes and club seats and constructing the parking garage and retail operation the Tribune Company had planned to build. Here’s the tricky part: sales taxes going to the city would be frozen and any increase in revenues spurred by the renovation would go to the state to repay its loans.

“The city would have to give up their share of the sales tax increment for the next 30 years,” Thompson said...

Clearly the state’s trying to bamboozle the public—it’s a variation on the spin the city puts on conventional TIFs, which freeze property tax revenues going into the pool for schools and parks and the like, sending increases to a discretionary fund controlled by the mayor. Just watch: Thompson will try to tell you that a sales tax increment doesn’t do any harm, the renovation will pay for itself.

Don’t let ’em fool you. Tax dollars spent to refurbish Wrigley are dollars that can’t be spent anywhere else. The needs of institutions like the schools and parks will have to be offset by service cuts or other tax hikes. As Zell likes to tell his employees, there’s no such thing as free lunch.

Funny--when I heard Thompson explain it on the radio Sunday morning, it all sounded like such a swell idea.

One other funny thing: Mayor Daley, who will surely bring his own agenda into any discussions of the Wrigley Field sale, is publicly questioning the viability of the whole idea.

"You talk to anybody dealing with schools, you talk to anyone dealing with the problem of gun violence in society," Daley said. "These are priorities. And I don’t think (a Wrigley sale) is one of the priorities in Springfield."

Update: Turns out everything you just read in this post about the political challenges faced by Sam Zell and Jim Thompson was an understatement. Tough going, fellows.

– The Chicago Tribune reports that a new investor group has announced its intention to get in on the bidding for the Cubs. Called Robinson-Greenberg and Associates (after Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg), it "would represent the first African-American majority ownership of an MLB franchise."

Principals include: a Lutheran minister named Anthony Williams; real estate investor and catering company owner Marshall Bynum, Jr.; and entrepreneur Harold Davis.

According to the Tribune...

Bynum said the group intends to purchase both the Cubs and Wrigley Field, and is prepared for a price tag of $1 billion dollars or more. Tribune Co. has indicated it prefers to sell the stadium and team separately.

The Trib story also quotes a baseball official who questions whether or not this heretofore unknown investor group could possibly be a serious bidder for the club.

– Alright, it's my fault. I dared to think that the Cubs might go through the Cactus League season and the regular schedule without losing a game, and look what happens.

On Friday afternoon in Mesa, Les Walrond was tagged for an eighth-inning grand slam by the Giants' Eddy Martinez-Esteve, as San Francisco turned a 5-4 deficit into an 8-5 lead, eventually dumping the Cubs 8-6. Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill gave up a combined one earned run over the first four innings. Kosuke Fukudome collected two more walks and scored two of the Cub runs.

Alfonso Soriano, who sat out the Spring Training opener on Thursday, made his debut Friday and went 0-for-2. Aramis Ramirez was absent from the lineup for the second straight day owing to a "tight right shoulder."

The Cubs (Jason Marquis) will visit the Angels (Jered Weaver) in Tempe on Saturday.

– The Cubs have already sold 2.7 million tickets for the upcoming season. That's a franchise record this far out from Opening Day.

Put another way, it's more tickets than the White Sox, Mariners, Rangers, Blue Jays, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Indians, Twins, Orioles, Reds, Nationals, A's, Pirates, Royals, Devil Rays, or Marlins sold in all of 2007.

– The Wrigley Company is not reacting to Sam Zell's reported desire that they pony up for the naming rights to Wrigley Field and, in the words of the Sun-Times, start to "pay for what the chewing gum company has been getting for free," i.e., the promotional value of having their name on one of the world's most famous sports venues.

The Sun-Times says that Zell would prefer to peddle those rights to Wrigley since that would allow him to put many millions of dollars in the Trib's corporate pocket and spare Cub fans the trauma of having to attend games at Boeing Park or McDonald's Field.

Always thinking about the fans--Sam seems to be really great that way.

Be sure to watch the entire clip to hear Mr. Sam Zell's two-word sign-off following his answer to a questioning Orlando Sentinel employee.

A hint: the two words aren't "Bye-Bye."

– The Cubs have started running their 2008 ad campaign. (You can see a couple samples here.) The graphic design is standout and the headlines are so well written...well, let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs sell a lot of tickets this year.

– When I picked Sam Zell to be my TCR Cub Man Of The Year, I was assuming he would unload the team without ever actually operating it. My nomination simply reflected the importance of his decision to sell and his role in handing over the team to someone else, who would presumably chart a dramatic, new, un-Tribune-like course.

Who knew Zell would actually remain involved with the franchise long enough to prove himself a jerk?

– I don't link to other Cub fan blogs nearly often enough. This is one of my favorites. It's well written, frequently updated, and so sarcastic, I often wish I had written it.

– The most recent Stat of the Week from John Dewan at Baseball Info Solutions, under the headline, "Who needs a leadoff man?":

When the Cubs got their leadoff man on base four or more times in a game, their record was 20-26 in 2007. When the leadoff man got on three times or less, they went 65-51. They are the only team in 2007 and only the second team in the last six years (180 team seasons) to have a winning record with three or less leadoff men getting on in a game and a losing record with four or more...Go figure.

Friday's edition of the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Company newspaper, carried coverage of Tribco's acquisition by Sam Zell and his plans for the Cubs ("Zell says Cubs are No. 1--to be sold off"). Relative to Zell's declaration that the Cubs would have a new owner by Opening Day 2008, the article says:

Zell's timetable appears highly optimistic, because the bidding has not begun and major league owners must investigate and approve a potential buyer. Even one of Tribune's sale advisors, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sale, said the deal would be more likely to close when the season ended next fall than when it starts in April.

In the meantime, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig wants to examine the Cubs' management under Tribune's new ownership. Cubs President John McDonough left the team last month.

The Cubs' new management and pending sale are on the agenda for the Jan. 16 owners meeting in Arizona, Major League Baseball President Bob DuPuy said.

"The commissioner will review the situation," DuPuy said.

The Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908 and have not even appeared in the Fall Classic since 1945.

You know what the most hurtful part of that passage is? One little word: "even," as in, "have not even appeared..."

You're cold, L.A. Times. Ice cold.

Regarding the Commissioner's decision to "review the situation" surrounding the Cubs' new management and pending sale, I believe that's Bob DuPuy code for "have a good, long laugh with all of the owners at Mark Cuban's thinking he has a prayer of being approved as the next purchaser of the Chicago Cubs."

For the second day in a row, Tribune Company staged a major news conference. One difference between today's and yesterday's was that today's did not include Japanese interpreter Matt Hidaka.

Thursday's event marked the official acquisition of Tribune Company by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell. In outlining his plans for the company's future, Zell said the Cubs will have a new opener by Opening Day '08. He also said the team may peddle naming rights to Wrigley Field.

As reported Thursday in Crain's Chicago Business:

Based on transactions at other ballparks around the country, (Zell said) such rights could be “extraordinarily valuable..."

Mr. Zell is selling the team and related assets, such as the ballpark and a cable TV stake, to help pay off Tribune’s $13-billion debt. He may sell the assets separately to boost his overall take from the transaction. As part of that strategy, he has been working on a possible deal with the governor to sell Wrigley Field to a state entity.

“We believe that that transaction, when completely vetted, is very beneficial for the city of Chicago and for the Cubs,” he said of the possible sale of Wrigley Field to the state.

A spokesman for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. declined to comment on whether the candy maker would consider purchasing naming rights for Wrigley Field, which has carried the Wrigley name since 1926.

"At this point (selling naming rights) is just speculation," he said. "There is nothing concrete for us to comment on at this time."