Wrigley Field

Full disclosure - I work for the Tribune Co. that Zell runs and is actually newly owned by an employee stock option program that's too complicated to be explained here. And more full disclosure - I freely admit that the circumstances regarding the new ownership and all its implications have a fair amount to do with how I feel about this, so if you have any complaints about how my opinion is influenced by self-interest, you can save the keystrokes. It's already admitted. Zell, who made a fortune in real estate and is a Chicago guy himself, makes the point that the gum people have been getting a free ride on the ballpark's name since then-Cubs owner William Wrigley named it after his family in 1927 and perhaps it's time that they pony up the cash like every other corporation that has its name on a sports building.

The National team, coached by former major league manager Larry Bowa, topped the American squad, 6-4, in the 2011 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game Saturday at Wrigley Field. The American team was coached by former Oriole Bill Ripken. Ripken's nephew, Ryan, of Gilman, was the lone player from Maryland and played for the American team. The game was delayed in the middle of the third inning because of heavy rain that hit the area. Play resumed after about a 90-minute delay, and the teams were tied until infielder Yairo Munoz hit a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the National team a 6-4 lead.

The National team, coached by former major league manager Larry Bowa, topped the American squad, 6-4, in the 2011 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game Saturday at Wrigley Field. The American team was coached by former Oriole Bill Ripken. Ripken's nephew, Ryan, of Gilman, was the lone player from Maryland and played for the American team. The game was delayed in the middle of the third inning because of heavy rain that hit the area. Play resumed after about a 90-minute delay, and the teams were tied until infielder Yairo Munoz hit a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the National team a 6-4 lead.

Penn State was picky in choosing game film to study Indiana. The Hoosier horror flick that was the 83-20 defeat last week to Wisconsin was tossed aside to focus on what Indiana did right its two previous games, losses to Iowa and Northwestern by a combined eight points. That's the team coach Joe Paterno thinks the Nittany Lions (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) will face when the schools meet Saturday at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. "I watched it when it was … Wisconsin was ahead 30, 40 points and then I didn't waste time looking at it," Paterno said.

CHICAGO - On a sunny summer day at Wrigley Field, time, at least baseball time, can seem to stand still.In this most perfect ballpark in America (sorry, Camden Yards, you're only the perfect imitation), some things never change. There is the splendid grass, the ivy-covered outfield walls, the hand-operated scoreboard, the bleacher bums who toss every enemy home run back onto the field in righteous indignation. And, of course, there are the Wrigley rooftops."Look at the rooftops!" Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray used to bellow as TV cameras panned the crowded tops of the 20 or so apartment buildings on Waveland and Sheffield avenues across the street from Wrigley.

The atmosphere was electric. Bundled-up fans got a chance to extend their New Year's Eve parties and watch hockey in a venerable stadium where baseball usually fills the seats. If the setting was different, the results were the same yesterday. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks again, this time out in the cold at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic. Players from both sides agreed on two things after Detroit's 6-4 comeback victory: The weather and the condition of the ice had little or no bearing on the result, and the overall experience was a blast.

Good morning--Under Armour --Your logo on the walls at Wrigley Field? No sweat.

Cubs: Sammy Sosa has 21 homers at Wrigley Field this season. He hit 25 there last season and 26 in 1996. Hack Wilson holds the record with 33 homers at Wrigley in 1930. Attendance was 40,420, highest at Wrigley this season.Pub Date: 7/04/98

It's a fact The Cubs have been out-homered at Wrigley Field this season 52-42. Milestone Ray Durham is the first player in White Sox history with 100 homers and 100 stolen bases. The number 27.48 Average age of the players on the Devil Rays' 25-man roster, youngest in the major leagues.

Too bad there was no snow during Thursday's NHL Winter Classic from Chicago's Wrigley Field - as there was last year in Buffalo - however, we did get The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reporting from among the fans while sporting an NBC logo on his shaved head. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

Let's be honest: This weekend is just killing time until next weekend, when a season's field could get flipped at Tuscaloosa's Iron Bowl and Reno's "Biggest Little Football Game in the World," Boise State at Nevada. Now is the time to muse, reflect, relax and take in a ballgame at Wrigley Field. America's pass time: Illinois and Northwestern are exchanging lineup cards Saturday at Wrigley Field. The football configuration is precarious to say the least, with only a few feet separating the back line of the east end zone from a padded wall.

Soccer U.S. routed 2nd time in row at Confederations Cup, 3-0 If this was a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup, the United States showed it's far from ready. The U.S. was hammered for the second time in a four-day span at the Confederations Cup in Pretoria, South Africa, with Brazil outplaying the Americans, 3-0, Thursday. Felipe Melo scored off Maicon's free kick in the seventh minute and Robinho made it 2-0 in the 20th, completing a counterattack that began when DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan failed to combine on a short corner kick.

The Chicago Cubs baseball franchise sued Baltimore-based Under Armour Inc. yesterday, contending that the sports apparel maker reneged on a promised $10.8 million, five-year sponsorship agreement after its profits declined. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the ballclub said the garment maker agreed to the deal and is still using Cubs players and the team's stadium, Wrigley Field, in advertisements for its products. Under Armour told the Cubs in a Dec. 12 letter that it would not sponsor them for the next season and "would not meet any of its obligations under the agreement," according to the team's complaint, which seeks full payment of the contract price.

CHICAGO - After nearly two years of intrigue, the billionaire Ricketts family has emerged as the winning bidder to purchase the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. for about $900 million, sources close to the situation said last night. The family will now complete negotiations with Tribune Co. The family edged out Chicago real-estate investor Hersch Klaff and New York private-equity investor Marc Utay, a Chicago native, for the chance to follow Tribune Co., the Chicago-based media conglomerate, as owners of the storied yet hard-luck franchise.

Too bad there was no snow during Thursday's NHL Winter Classic from Chicago's Wrigley Field - as there was last year in Buffalo - however, we did get The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reporting from among the fans while sporting an NBC logo on his shaved head. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

The atmosphere was electric. Bundled-up fans got a chance to extend their New Year's Eve parties and watch hockey in a venerable stadium where baseball usually fills the seats. If the setting was different, the results were the same yesterday. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks again, this time out in the cold at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic. Players from both sides agreed on two things after Detroit's 6-4 comeback victory: The weather and the condition of the ice had little or no bearing on the result, and the overall experience was a blast.

Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs: "We see so many round, concrete stadiums, it's great to play in a ballpark with a lot of character like Wrigley Field. It's high tech, cement and steel, yet it's got such an old time feel to it. It's got a lot of good, fun things about it."

"Before the game started, the fans were nice and polite. But after the game started and they started drinking beer, lots of beer, their personality changed." Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners center fielder, on playing in front of the Bleacher Bums at Wrigley Field

It has been 63 years since local tavern owner William Sianis and his pet billy goat were asked to leave Wrigley Field during the last World Series to grace its Friendly Confines, but the legend it spawned refuses to die. The "Curse of the Billy Goat" is as much a part of Chicago Cubs history as Tinker to Evers to Chance, the double-play combination that played such a large part in the most recent Cubs world championship, which - at last count - was...

CHICAGO -- The Orioles said all the right things, denying that taking two of three games against the Chicago Cubs, the team with the best overall and home record in baseball, was any sort of statement. The closest anybody came to gloating was when Aubrey Huff, who had another four-hit day in the Orioles' 11-4 rout of the Cubs before an announced 41,670 at Wrigley Field, called the past three days "definitely one of the most satisfying series that we've played this year." Orioles manager Dave Trembley, a former Cubs minor league manager who was fired after the 2002 season after his tough and rigid style alienated some team officials, would say only that yesterday was a big game and it was good for his team to rebound.