The Ricketts Family is, as of this minute, the owner of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. According to Crain's, the deal closed this morning. The banks funded the deal, the cash changed hands, and the Tribune is out as a decision maker.

How long has this deal been in the making? Ivy Chat first talked about a Cubs sale at 8:24 AM on October 24, 2005. That means the sale, that some said would never happen, took four years, three days, 2 hours and 2 minutes to close. That equates to:

- 1,464 days.
- 35,137.6 hours
- 2,108,256 minutes
- 126,495,360 seconds.

This day is a huge day for hope, and celebration that the Tribune is gone. It is not a day to beatify the Ricketts. They have done nothing yet to deserve it.

For those that say the Ricketts are going to be great owners, there were many Washington Redskins fans who said the same thing about Dan Snyder. That hasn't worked out very well.

The Ricketts family may very well end up being terrific. Time will tell. And the trust of the fans must be earned, not gifted as many seem ready to do.

That said, today is a cause for hope because, under Tribune ownership, there was no chance of success. That impediment is now gone.

Celebrate that.

Oh, and someone get word to the proprietor of Bleed Cubbie Blue: You owe up on your steak bet. You lost.