Counting Down...

It doesn't get any plainer than this:

Like a train wreck or a car accident, when rich people do battle, everybody stops to watch. Billionaires Ronald Burkle, Eli Broad and David Geffen haven't taken off the gloves but all signs point to them fighting for ownership of their troubled hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.

...

Last week Burkle and Broad teamed up to bid for Chicago-based Tribune Co., which acquired the paper in 2000 when it bought Times Mirror Co. Details were not disclosed. It's believed that if they succeed they would sell off Tribune's other newspapers, TV stations and its baseball team — the Chicago Cubs — and keep just the Times.

With the Chandler's stated willingness to sell their block of shares (at a price reported to be in the mid-30's), this could come together very quickly.

Let's go!