How long will Zell keep Cubs captive?

Enough is enough.

Sam Zell has held Cubs fans hostage for 656 days, and enough is flippin' enough.

For 93 weeks, the Cubs have not had an owner.

For nearly 22 months, front-office folks have held the organization together with spit and gum while Zell tries to bleed every last dollar out of the finalists trying to give him hundreds of millions for the club.

He has blown every deadline, too numerous now to count, and extended every part of the bidding process, knowing every time he gets the potential owners close enough to taste it, he asks for a little bit more and adds innings to the game.

For almost two years, the Cubs have waited for news that the painful Zell era was over, so that they could get on with the business of baseball.

But as he proved again late last week, Zell will continue to mess with the heads of the next owners as long as he can, as long as he thinks there's one more buck left to grab.

For more than 15,000 hours, fans have waited patiently to see the new man, to have a Cubs owner for the first time in their lives that cares about them, and about winning.

Right now, as they wait, the Cubs' hands are tied. There's an incredible starting pitcher sitting in San Diego, just waiting for a phone call, to come to the only place he wants to pitch, and the only thing standing in the way is permission from the next Cubs owner.

But still no new owner, and the clock is ticking.

Just a few million more dollars is all GM Jim Hendry needs to make it happen, but his job is to meet payroll and he's done that, so he can't take the next step, perhaps the one that puts the Cubs into the World Series, until Zell makes his call and ends this charade.

Cubs fans should be absolutely furious about this, but if you think Zell knows of Jake Peavy, or has ever heard of the World Series, you're too kind with your benefit of the doubt.

Do you think he cares if it's done by the July 31 trade deadline, when the Cubs might be able to snag Brian Roberts?

And while that date seems very far off, keep in mind it'll be two years on Opening Day, and that will already be 15 months later than his original deadline.

Who's to say it won't go another year, with potential buyers like the Ricketts family forced to up the ante, over and over again?

For 944,000 minutes, the Cubs have been without an owner, held hostage by Zell and his merry band of marketers, striving to squeeze every last penny out of team that matters to people, most of whom don't care or know a thing about high finance or commercial real estate.

In a climate when people are desperate for anything to hang onto, they just want their team to win once in their lifetime, and right now Zell is hardly enhancing their chances with his endless array of stall tactics and phony deadlines.

It's been 56 million seconds, but who's counting? We are and we say enough already.

For the love of Bill Bonham and all that's holy, enough already.

Redbird nation

Bartlett e-mailer Kevin Lockhart: "How about some coverage of Illinois State?''

OK, after defeating Drake on Wednesday night, directed by senior guard Champ Oguchi's 29 points, ISU is 15-2 and 4-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Redbirds, who began the season with a school-record 14-game winning streak, are led in scoring by Pac-10 transfer Oguchi, and junior guard Osiris Eldridge (Chicago), both at 15.4 points per game.

The good guys

The Chicago Wolves have teamed up with Northern Illinois Hockey League to present the inaugural NIHL Wolves Cup.

At the conclusion of the NIHL tourney, the winning teams at each level will be presented with a Cup to display at their home rink and will have their names inscribed in the Cup on display at the Allstate Arena.

Finally, the teams will be recognized on the ice during a ceremony between periods vs. Milwaukee on March 14.

For more info, visit chicagowolves.com.

Bartolo Colon

At a million bucks, what's the downside?

The worst thing that happens is he stinks, Ozzie Guillen takes him out of the rotation, and it costs a little more to beef up the postgame spread.

The Bear trap

E-mailer Russ Dewey: "My football knowledge wouldn't fill a thimble, but I do know that a jumbled mess of an organization won't succeed no matter how smart people are. Do you think anyone in the Miami Dolphins organization under Bill Parcells has any doubt about who has what responsibilities?''

Running right

Dan Daly of the Washington Times: "Florida's Percy Harvin is a lot like Reggie Bush, except he doesn't need a compass to figure out which direction is north."

And finally ...

New Lions coach Jim Schwartz, on what he would do first: "It's probably time to find a replacement for Bobby Layne."

brozner@dailyherald.com