what’s bugging me

So you know what’s really bugging me this offseason? It’s not the questionable stuff like Soriano or Derosa or no pitching or the idea of Jacque Jones, center fielder – that’s stuff I’m used to out of the Cubs. What’s really bugging me is the sale – well, not even that exactly. Nothing’s forever, and someday someone besides the Tribune will own the Cubs, and someday they’ll play someplace besides Wrigley, and maybe it’ll be better and maybe it won’t, but it’ll surely happen. I’ll most likely live to see it happen, and live to get over it. I’m prepared to deal with it.

The one thing I can’t even begin to prepare to deal with it is a split up of the Tribune properties, leading to an eventual breakup between the Cubs and WGN. All the talk by legitimate sources – you know, those not in the sports section – have pitched any Tribune sale as a complete one, not in parts, but there’s no guarantee whoever buys it will keep it that way. The moment the Cubs are in different hands than the radio and TV station, the broadcasts rights go on the open market and someone local is going to pay stupid money to acquire them.

Even as much as I’ve gotten out to the ballpark in the last few years, I’d have to rank the top 5 Important Icons Of The Cubs as…

1) the blue, red, and white of the uniforms
2) WGN-TV and Radio
3) Wrigley Field
4) [insert favorite historical player here – let’s say Santo]
5) the W flag

Even with the games moving elsewhere because of the WB/CW, there will always be Cubs baseball on WGN TV; it’s an essential part of their identity (and unlike the Bozo show, one that’s a happy positive for their economics.) The Cubs are responsible for WGN being what it is, and they’re equally responsible for WGN Radio being the Voice of Chicago, as they like to promote. WGN Radio’s is the authentic sound of Chicago, and the Cubs have become the authentic representation of Chicago to the rest of the world (surging ahead of Al Capone references) in part due to the wide reach of WGN Radio. They’re more the sum of their parts together, and I can’t imagine tearing those two apart.

The biggest proof of what the Cubs mean, as far as people watching and listening, was the end of the year ratings deal this year. You might have heard, the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. (It was in all the papers.) This year, their average rating (TV? Radio? I don’t remember) ended up slightly beating out the Cubs. Yes, a World Series defending team enjoying success and a playoff chase for most of the year just barely beat out a team with two horribly disappointing seasons, including the worst record in it’s league this year, and this was a huge success for the Chicago White Sox. That’s how big watching the Cubs is to this area.

I dunno if other people would feel the same, and I think the list is affected by me believing that whenever they build a new stadium for the Cubs, it’ll always be a homage to Wrigley Field on some level. That connection will never be forgotten, but the old station will be wiped from history as soon as possible by the new station. The new station would be maddening in itself. I can’t imagine the idiocy if the Cubs games ended up on either the Score or ‘MVP (though, if the Sox move is any indication, the flip flopping would be amusing), though I’m sure every station in town would take a run at the radio rights, and it’d seem to most likely mirror the Cardinals/KMOX divorce where the new owners buy a station rather than sell the rights (just a guess.)

When the season’s going, I don’t have to time to worry about such long term problems like this. Baseball’s good for occupying all your time by not giving you much time in between the game that just happened and the game that’s just about to happen. All I need is either games to start again right now, or the Cubs to make a solemn vow never to leave any WGN media outlet. That should be easy.