Sale of Chicago Cubs to Finally Conclude?

I honestly can't remember what it was like with the Cubs' ownership firmly in place. We've been dealing with talks of the ownership for the past few years, things ranging from Mark Cuban's involvement to Sam Zell trying to sell Wrigley Field and the Cubs separately to the situation handcuffing any possible trade talk with the Padres for Jake Peavy. Like the presence of Mark Prior for years, it's lingering without any positive returns.

Anyway, it appears the sale of the Cubs from the Tribune Company may be seeing a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

The Chicago-based media conglomerate has been evaluating bids since the beginning of December and could make a decision within a week to 10 days, sources said.

Just when we get our hopes up, however, there is a caveat.

But one source cautioned that the process of narrowing the auction to one bidder still could be derailed, and Tribune Co. could pull the team and its landmark stadium off the market.

Sigh. Can't we just get this crap overwith already and allow Jim Hendry to add payroll?

You know where I'm going with this. The Cubs cannot take on the salary of anyone else -- say, Peavy, maybe? -- at this point without the new ownership approving it. They can't do so unless they are actually new ownership.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank Sam Zell for buying the Tribune Company. I know there are legalities and tons of red tape with an acquisition like this, but for God's sake, just sell the team if you want to. He's previously set several deadlines and never stuck to them. The latest one was "by the end of 2008."

With all this in mind, I guess we have to take the latest "news" with a grain of salt.