* Sometimes, the big guys can surprise you. Take, for instance, today’s Chicago Tribune editorial about the potential sale of Wrigley Field to the state.

I had figured that Mother Tribune would go all medieval on Illinois legislators in order to force them to approve the sale, just like they did with lights at Wrigley Field. Back then, the editorial page labeled recalcitrant aldermen ‘’boneheads'’ and ‘’political bums” for refusing to go along with the program.

Today was different, though. Here’s part of the editorial…

Neither the Cell nor Soldier Field was a matter of magnitude to Tribune Co. and its thousands of employees.

By contrast, the potential public purchase of Wrigley Field is.

In this case, we haven’t found a way to work around the financial implications for ourselves of such a deal, or to divorce ourselves from them. Hence, our recusal.

* Then again, this news broke yesterday…

In an about-face, Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell said he may end up selling the Cubs and Wrigley Field as a package, despite months of negotiations to split the assets in a bid to maximize his take from the deal.

If a politician had waited and waited until making a decision, then finally made one when it might very well be moot, he’d probably be ridiculed by the Trib. So, I guess the attaboy shouldn’t be all that intense.

Then again, this has to be welcomed news for legislators who worried that the ivory towered paper was going to slam them every day about the sale.