(Sam Zell, left, with one of his hip “rock and roll” “street moxie” Trib editors, as they view Tribco’s latest quarterly report)

CSTB Man of the Year, octogenarian, and self-proclaimed viagra on legs to the news game, Sam Zell, announced a Thursday conference call this week to make known his plans for the Tribune Co. Unfortunately, anyone following his attempts to sell Wrigley Field to the State of Illinois apart from the Cubs organization knows enthusiasm among buyers is much lower when the team and stadium are not sold as one. Since the team is currently cost heavy and its whole “tradition” is, in fact, Wrigley Field, it’s an understandable reaction. MLB owners rep commissioner Bud Selig’s prediction last week of “nothing new” re the Cubs sale, backed up by former Illinois governor Jim Thompson who says actual offers haven’t even been made on Wrigley, also don’t bode well.

Still, congrats are due to Zell. His amazingly successful rookie year as a newspaperman has been recognized by the Associated Press. His first year includes massive news staff budget cuts, offering “fuck you” to one of his own reporters for asking a question at a company Q&A, blaming Clinton and Obama for the Recession, and currently offering himself up as the “viagra” of his struggling Los Angeles Times. Thus, he has been rightly honored with a seat on the board of the Associated Press news service, along with Newscorp’s Rupert Murdoch. Apparently, Larry Flynt and Perez Hilton were unavailable.