Tribune Downplays Cub Trade Rumors

A sagging stock price and hard times for the newspaper industry have led some to wonder whether Tribune Co. might sell the Chicago Cubs.

Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune, one of the company’s flagship newspapers (The Times being the other one), was among those disheartened by the announcement that the team isn’t for sale.

“Say it ain’t so,” Morrissey wrote.

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A matter of perception: A “perceived conflict of interest” surfaced anew when Morrissey predicted the Cubs would win their division.

“Way to deliver the company line,” commented one reader.

Morrissey responds: “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.”

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Trivia time: Which two golfers have played the most Masters without winning?

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More Masters: Golf magazine chips in with these Augusta National tidbits: The average membership age is 72; the average handicap is 13.2 (the course is much shorter from member tees), and the wealthiest member, with a net worth of $46.5 billion, is Bill Gates.

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Low priority: Major League Baseball is trying to halt the online sale of Mike Moorby’s popular “Yankee Hater” caps.

Fumes Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun: “Baseball has guys trotting around the bases with syringes stuck in their buttocks, and it’s wasting time and money trying to shut down a guy selling baseball caps out of the trunk of his car.”

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Screwball humor: From Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: “Centenarian survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake will throw out the first pitch at the Giants’ home opener. Presumably, the catcher will be crouched at the foot of the mound.”

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Super-sized: The top five guards eligible for the NFL draft weigh an average of 332 pounds. Says Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post: “The top-rated one in the bunch? Georgia’s Max Jean-Gilles, who checks in at 6 feet 4, 355 pounds, give or take a vacation to McDonald’s.”

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Enjoying the ride: Myron Duarte is an athlete who takes life by the horns. At a news conference presenting the upcoming Professional Bull Riders’ Myron Duarte Maui Challenge, the 20-year veteran of the sport confessed to the Maui News:

“There isn’t a day I wake up I don’t want to get on a bull.”

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Like old times: Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle, on the mood in L.A. -- with the home team’s experienced lineup conjuring memories of the glory days -- before the start of baseball season: “Everything’s so upbeat around Dodger Stadium, they might as well be pitching Koufax and Drysdale in the first two games.”

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Trivia answer: Tom Kite and Gene Littler were each non-winners in 26 appearances.

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And finally: From Jay Leno: “According to the latest statistics, there are now 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Here’s the part that surprised me: Over half of them are on the Yankee pitching staff.”