Most wannabe team owners are looking for a winner, or at least a team that has a chance of being made into a winning combination in the proprietor’s lifetime. But, reports the Chicago Tribune, it’s a different universe around the shores of Lake Michigan.

Plenty of hopefuls are putting together groups to buy the Cubs if the Tribune Co. decides to cash out. Those buyers say that whether or not the company is broken up or sold as a whole, the Cubs will be on the auction block and so they’re getting their ducks lined up now. (The Tribune Co. owns both the team and the paper carrying the story.)

One investor, who has $600 million from 14 of his friends and himself ready when the Cubs are in play, tells the paper: "I grew up as a Cubs fan. Acquiring the team is a dream of a lifetime. I’m one of dozens, or hundreds, of people who are thinking the same." Word is some of those people may be signing up with more than one group to be sure not to miss out.

That makes sense. Unlike many sports franchises that are the object of wealthy fans’ desires, the Cubs are more than an ego trip. They are a challenge for sure, but not a financial challenge unless putting together the financing is your idea of a challenge. Unlike many teams, this one manages to make money year in and year out without ever really threatening to win the World Series. The Cubs have become such an institutionalized part of Chicago business and social life that even in the more or less original stadium, the team manages to make money.

This is one team that is guaranteed not to have any Las Vegas buyers, or at least buyers thinking of moving them from the North Side of Chicago. Any such move would automatically wipe out millions in value and no one has an ego that big. Now about the Marlins …