Gorram you, Rod Blagojevich and the Chicago Tribune! Don't bring baseball into this!!
Okay, for those of you who haven't heard (though I doubt that's a lot of people), Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested yesterday for selling Barack Obama's Senate seat. I found out in my Traditional Grammar class right before I took my final exam. Yeah, political corruption is a great backdrop for a huge test.
Anyway, if that wasn't scummy enough, it turns out that Blagojevich also threatened the Chicago Tribune in an effort to make them fire certain editorial writers that had criticized his administration. Apparently, one threat was that he would withhold millions of dollars in state aid that would help the Tribune sell Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs because they're short on cash. I have two things to say about this:
1. Leave innocent baseball teams out of this. Government corruption is bad enough without mucking up the national pasttime.
2. Since when are the Cubs for sale??? Don't get me wrong, I despise the Cubs: I'm a lifelong Cardinals fan through and through (my gigantic extended family was originally from St. Louis, so yeah). But they can't be sold! Cardinals vs. Cubs is like Batman vs. the Joker, the Doctor vs. the Master, Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader, Chanel vs. Dior. The world wouldn't be the same without it! And too many people love taking part in this wonderful century-long rivalry to give it up now! Cardinals/Cubs games are the best! I hope some local corporation buys them so that two cities won't lose a wonderful tradition.
If the Cubs left and the rivalry was over, legendary broadcasters Harry Caray (Cardinals-turned-Cubs) and Jack Buck (Cardinals) would spin in their graves until judgment day. And we can't have that.