Would new Tribune Co. czar Sam Zell really sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field?

Sure he would. This is America. After seizing control of the media company, he is looking for ways to make this deal work.

He is looking to sell the Cubs to a new owner (Mark Cuban?) and sell Wrigley Field separately. In the meantime, there are untapped revenue streams to explore.

“Wrigley is an obvious world-wide icon and Wrigley Field is world-wide known. But, in the world of economics, when I bought the Tribune, I didn’t get a discount because I wasn’t going to use the naming rights that field represents,” Zell said in an interview on the CNBC program “Squawk Box.” “Perhaps the Wrigley Co. will decide that, after getting it for free for so long, that it’s time to pay for it.”

Naturally, the folks in Wrigleyville are up in arms. Is nothing sacred?

“I can just imagine it would be an international incident,” architect George Schipporeit told the Chicago Sun-Times as he stood in line for tickets. “There are some things that are in the public trust, and I don’t think you can violate some of those things. Would you change the name of Michigan Avenue?”

Naturally, Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti did not take this development in stride. He got rather personal:

“I have an idea: Let’s sell the corporate naming rights to Sam Zell. Metamucil definitely would be interested, as would Baldness.com, Depends, the new roll-in bathtub by Sanyo and whatever store lets him buy denim intended for guys 20, 30 and 40 years younger. Lucky Brand Jeans, you say? Fine. Slap that across Zell’s big, old forehead. If everything in this man’s domain is for sale, including sacred Wrigley Field, then he should auction his own hide to the highest bidder.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while college basketball teams take turns being No. 1:

• Given the unhappy demise of Scott Spiezio, does Brendan Ryan suddenly figure more prominently in the team’s plans?
• Now that the Rams have freed up lots of salary cap room, will be they be able to woo any high-impact free agents? Or will that 3-13 record scare everybody off?
• How will history remember the David Carr Era in Carolina?

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

These days former track star Sebastian Coe heads of the London 2012 Olympic committee. And he vows to run a clean, steroid-free event.

“The one thing that you have to cling very firmly to is that if audiences, crowds and spectators believe for one moment that what they’re watching is illegitimate, we might as well all be watching WWF wrestling,” Coe said. “We cannot have another five years like we’ve just been through because I’m not sure the sport would survive that. In London, we have a very clear template — we will be a zero-tolerance Games.”

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “After watching Michael Beasley carefully for the last few weeks, my biggest fear is he could end up on the Shareef All-Stars some day. I definitely like him, he can definitely average a 24-10 in the NBA … but why can’t I shake the feeling he’ll be better off putting up big numbers on a series of 32-win teams over playing on a contender? I haven’t made my official decision on Beasley because I need to watch him a few more times, and it’s hard to judge someone accurately when they’re playing for the most incompetent and unlikable coach in Division I (the woefully overmatched and possibly homicidal Frank Martin). Still, the fact that he’s the spitting image of a young Derrick Coleman scares the holy bejeezus out of me. I can’t shake it.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “Michigan State coach Tom Izzo gets a bunch of letters from people complaining that they can’t see Spartans games because they can’t get the Big Ten Network. Just guessing Bruce Weber doesn’t have that problem.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “It was about time Indiana forced out its basketball coach. I just saw a bumper sticker that read, ‘Honk If You’ve Been Contacted Illegally by Kelvin Sampson.’”

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Colt Brennan has put on 22 pounds between the Senior Bowl and the combine. Question is, what’s he been using: Winstrol or White Castle.”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “About her appearance in the SI Swimsuit Issue, driver Danica Patrick said: ‘I didn’t do it the way Marisa [Miller] did it on the cover or anything. I definitely don’t have that equipment.’ See? In racing, it’s always about the equipment.”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “If Ralph Nader, who captured 2.7 percent of the popular vote in the 2000 election, is now referred to as a presidential candidate, why aren’t the Tampa Bay Rays — who accounted for 2.7 percent of the victories in major-league baseball last season — being hailed as World Series candidates?”

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “So I’m watching this ESPN commercial showing Pete Weber bowling with sunglasses and I’m thinking: What’s next, shirtless poker players?”

MEGAPHONE

“I feel like a mosquito in a nudist colony. I know what to do. I just don’t know where to start.”

Beleaguered Heat coach Pat Riley.