Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
As American as baseball, hot dogs and … cancer
A non-profit organization is linking cancer to hot dogs outside one of the most iconic U.S. sports parks.
The Cancer Project is reminding fans of the Chicago Cubs baseball team of the connection between consumption of hot dogs and the occurrence of colorectal cancer with a billboard outside Chicago’s storied Wrigley Field.
The 48-foot-wide billboard (pictured above) — featuring an image of hot dogs jammed into a cigarette pack labeled “Unlucky Strike” — is scheduled to debut on Monday at the intersection of W. Addison and N. Halsted, just east of Wrigley Field.
The organization is not asking the Cubs to ban hot dogs at Wrigley. (They don’t want a fan insurrection after all). The group even lauds the Cubs for offering such vegetarian options as veggie burgers and hummus at Wrigley.
from DealZone:
Tribune Co reopens talks on Cubs sale with rival bidder
And it's not even the dog days of August, when pennant races heat up.Talks to sell the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team have reopened with a rival bidding group even as negotiations continue with the Ricketts family, tapped in January as the winning bidder with a $900 million offer.Cubs owner Tribune Co, which filed for bankruptcy in December due to its heavy debt load and the weak publishing sector, is now also negotiating with private equity investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery, three sources familiar with the situation said.The National League team, popular for its "lovable losers" image and national following, as well as its iconic home park Wrigley Field and a stake in a local sports TV network, have been on the block since April 2007, when Tribune Co agreed to an buyout led by real estate magnate Sam Zell.Some of the sources, as well as analysts, believe by adding Utay and Hindery's group to the mix, Tribune Co is seeking to pressure the Ricketts family to settle at terms desired by the media company. Sources had previously said the Ricketts family wanted to mark down the value of the Cubs' broadcast contracts.But the Cubs are used to pressure. After all, their fans have been waiting for a World Series title for more than a century and this year has not gone according to plan as the team has struggled to a losing record.(Reuters photo)
Cubs bidder admits he is (horrors!) a White Sox fan
John Canning Jr, who came up short last year in his bid for the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team, made a shocking admission on Tuesday.
The chairman of Chicago private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, speaking about his industry at a breakfast meeting, said he roots for the cross-town rival White Sox.
