Ricketts doesn't need meddling middlemen

Tom Ricketts is going to get a lot of free assistance over the next few weeks and months as he settles in as the new Cubs owner.

But here's the only suggestion he'll really need: don't listen to any suggestions.

Ricketts only needs to do what's always made him successful, which is to hire good people to do their jobs and let them do their jobs.

Don't make the mistakes of George Steinbrenner, Jerry Jones and even a few owners around these parts who have fancied themselves experts in the business of sports.

Ricketts already has a GM and a manager, so let them manage the front office and the clubhouse.

If they're not the right guys, eventually he'll replace them.

Remove the middlemen, do the communicating directly with the GM, get rid of the Tribune Co. suits who were almost always in the way, some of whom are still hanging around.

The Cubs haven't won in more than 100 years, and not one of those years had anything to do with a goat or a curse or a fan in the stands.

They've failed because of poor decision-making on the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse or in the front office.

But Ricketts can take heart in knowing owners don't win or lose championships. Owners who get the right people in the right positions to get the right players win championships.

Just a little something to remember as Tom Ricketts begins his journey at Clark and Addison.

Oh, yeah, since we're on the subject, and as my grandmother used to say, a little good luck once in awhile wouldn't be such a crime, would it?

No. 34

The response was overwhelming to a piece last week about the 10th anniversary of Walter Payton's death.

He left an indelible mark on our hearts, and his image is seared in our memories.

It was amazing to read the number of stories from folks who ran into Payton at a grocery store, in a school or at a local game.

And every one of those told of a class individual who signed an autograph, took a picture, shook a hand, or simply made an ailing child feel better with his mere presence and smile.

It seems appropriate, then, that we remember Walter another way, and I was reminded that the Payton family is working with Donate Life, Astellas and the Bears to register organ donors.

Since Walter's passing, the transplant waiting list in the U.S. has skyrocketed. Only 38 percent of Americans are registered as donors, and an average of 18 people die each day waiting for organs.

In honor of Payton, the Donate Life Challenge wants to register 5,000 new organ donors by the end of the year. Visit facebook.com/DonateLife to learn more.

As we approach Sunday's anniversary and think of Sweetness, it seems the least we can do.

NBA today

If you believe the wisest of guys, the NBA's Eastern Conference is going to look a lot like it did a year ago.

In other words, bad.

The over-under on victories has only Cleveland (60), Boston (58) and Orlando (57) more than marginally over .500, with the Bulls right on the magic 41 mark with Washington, just behind Atlanta (42) and barely ahead of a pack at 40 that includes Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia and Toronto.

Bringing up the rear are Charlotte (35), Indiana (34), New York (30), New Jersey (27) and Scott Skiles' Milwaukee Bucks (30).

Meanwhile, in the West, seven teams are a healthy distance above break even, including the Lakers (62), San Antonio (55), Portland (53), Denver (52), Utah (50), Dallas (47) and New Orleans (46).

Phoenix is right on it at 41 and is followed by Houston (36), the Clippers (35), Oklahoma City (33), Golden State (33), Memphis (27), Minnesota (25) and Sacramento (23).

Last season the Suns at 46-36 failed to make the playoffs in the West, while in the East, the Heat (43-39), Bulls (41-41), Sixers (41-41) and Pistons (39-43) all got in - and all lost in the first round.

Ivan Boldirev-ing

All of a sudden, there's a debate in Chicago about the Blackhawks' lack of an enforcer.

We've been asking the question for three years, with dozens of incidents and players taking liberties with the team's stars.

At least when Jonathan Toews was blasted last week, credit little Kris Versteeg with trying to stick up for his teammate, something coach Joel Quenneville properly praised.

This is Dale Tallon's roster, so if the Hawks win the Stanley Cup, he should get all the credit.

Any criticism of this year's team should also go his way, and the lack of a heavyweight was the way Tallon wanted it. (And, no, Adam Burish and Ben Eager are not enforcers.)

Tallon even railed against the kind of deterrent that everyone now wants, saying of such retaliation at the GM meetings last March, "You've got to take a hit like a man."

Congrats

To former Cubs trainer and West Dundee resident Tony Garofalo, who became the first athletic trainer inducted into the Benedictine College Sports Hall of Fame in Atchison, Kan.

Bearing down

Libertyville e-mailer Scott Phillips: "Would someone please remind Bears players that not one of them has a noncompete clause in their contracts?"

And finally -

NBC's Jimmy Fallon: "First the swine flu's a big threat, then it's not, then it is. Make up your mind. This thing's like the Brett Favre of infectious diseases."

brozner@dailyherald.com