Rick Morrissey calls out his own bosses

[whitesoxfan101]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...cs-home-utility

 

Not a hard sell, Tribune Co.: Get rid of Cubs

 

March 31, 2006

 

Go, Cubs.

 

No, I mean it: Go, get out of here. By "here," I mean Tribune Tower.

 

Please.

 

The Wall Street Journal is the latest publication to wonder in print whether an ailing stock price and a struggling newspaper industry will prompt Tribune Co. to sell the Cubs.

 

Tribune Co. has said the club isn't for sale. Say it ain't so.

 

A newspaper has no business owning a baseball team, in the same way a newspaper would have no business owning a cell-phone company, an insurance company or any other company it might have to cover as a news story.

 

I was sure of that when Tribune Co. bought the Cubs in 1981, I knew it when I came to the Tribune in 1997 and I was reminded of it the other day when I wrote in my blog that, against all reason, I was picking the Cubs to win the National League Central this season.

 

The response was predictable.

 

"Way to deliver the company line, Morrissey," wrote reader Ryan.

 

"I can't expect you to say anything else. You work for the Tribune," another reader commented.

 

And my favorite, from reader Gus: "We expect nothing less from you, Rick. You are, after all, management's 'boy' over there."

 

Yes, that's right, Gus. I can't count the number of times I've been asked to bring a pen, a notebook and my toady handbook to the office of Tribune Co. Chairman Dennis FitzSimons for the sole purpose of being told what to write. Wait, yes I can: zero.

 

But I understand how there could be that perception. Human nature seeks whatever is below the surface, even if nothing is there. The Loch Ness monster comes to mind.

 

Nobody was harder on Sammy Sosa over the last eight years than I was. Nobody considered him a bigger fraud than I did. At the height of his popularity, when most other columnists had to wipe the drool off their faces, I wasn't a Sammy fan.

 

And what did some people read into my criticism? That there had to be an ulterior motive, that Tribune Co. was concerned about giving Sosa huge money when his contract expired. Why else would Morrissey be ripping him? Never mind that Sosa was a me-first guy or that something didn't seem right about his sudden emergence as the next Babe Ruth.

 

My criticism had to have something to do with Tribune Co.'s ownership of the Cubs. That's what the conspiracy theorists thought.

 

I've argued until my face was Tribune blue that most of us in the sports department don't have an emotional

 

investment in whether the Cubs win or lose. What we do have is an emotional investment in a good story. But I have come to the realization that nothing I say or do is going to make a difference to the people who want to believe

 

otherwise. As you might imagine, some of these people are White Sox fans. That's OK too. It wouldn't be a Cubs-Sox rivalry without emotion.

 

But a plea to the mother ship from a journalist who is tired of the perceived conflict of interest: Sell the Cubs.

 

Sell them to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban or Aon Executive Chairman

 

Patrick Ryan. Sell them to somebody. Just sell them.

 

I can't speak for everyone in the sports department, but I would be

 

willing to bet most of them have had to answer in some fashion for the newspaper's ownership of the Cubs. And I would be willing to bet their answers didn't sway many of the questioners.

 

I can't explain why I believe the Cubs will win their division this

 

season. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are rumors at this point. Manager Dusty Baker seems to be on the verge of picking Jerry Hairston over Todd Walker at second base—a mistake. The outfield still has questions.

 

But with Baker and general manager Jim Hendry in a win-or-else position, this might be the year for a surprise. It's just a feeling, that's all. It's worth arguing about.

 

But it sure would be nice if the argument were based solely on baseball or my mental state.

 

Instead, it becomes a debate over whether the company that owns the Cubs is using its newspaper to drum up support for the team.

 

It occurs to me the conspiracy boys and girls will see this as the Tribune's attempt to raise its stock price. Somebody put me out of my misery.

 

Sell. Please. As Ernie Banks might say, the Trib and the Cubs Don't Mix in '06.

 

There has been some STRANGE anti-Cubs/anti-Tribune ownership stuff in this weeks Chicago Tribune. Is this some writing on the wall?

[southsideirish71]

Here is a picture of his car in the Tribune parking lot.

Ricks Honda

[NorthSideSox72]

I wonder what material financial effect the Cubs have on TribCo? According to Forbes' list last year, I think the Cubs were marginally profitable (gross at maybe 2% or something), but Forbes has to make some guess work to get those numbers because baseball clubs are so weird with their financials.

 

If the Cubs don't make money for the Trib in coming years, they'll sell them. If the Cubs contribute significant net income, then they will likely keep them. The conflict of interest card won't come into play in the reality of things - if it did, they wouldn't have bought the team to begin with. But if/when the Trib DOES sell the team, I guarantee they will cite that as a reason, and it will be total B.S. to placate Cubs fans.

[whitesoxfan101]

If it gets desperate enough, the Tribune might sell either way. Yes the Cubs are one of the few things the Trib has that makes money, but it would also net them the most money if they sold now.

[TheHawkaroo]

If it gets desperate enough, the Tribune might sell either way.  Yes the Cubs are one of the few things the Trib has that makes money, but it would also net them the most money if they sold now.

 

 

Yeah I don't see why they would sell it unless they were REALLY desperate. The Cubs are a money-making machine. Newspaper sales may be down but over-priced cub tickets are not. I Think they would only sell if they had to, if they were in debt and about to go under.

[NorthSideSox72]

Yeah I don't see why they would sell it unless they were REALLY desperate. The Cubs are a money-making machine. Newspaper sales may be down but over-priced cub tickets are not.  I Think they would only sell if they had to, if they were in debt and about to go under.

The Cubs appear to not be such a money-making machine, if Forbes is right. Baseball teams, even successful ones, don't make tons of profit.