Laura Ricketts Gives the Cubs the First Major-League Sports Franchise to Have an Openly Gay Owner
1-liner, Baseball November 3rd. 2009, 10:00am
The Cubs Gay Owner: The Ricketts family officially purchased the Cubs on October 30, and the board of directors will be made up of family members Laura, Pete, Todd and Tom (Chairman). Laura is openly gay, and supposedly is the “first major-league sports franchise to have an openly gay owner.” Laura Ricketts is a “member of the board of Lambda Legal, a national organization fighting for gay rights—including same sex marriage.” [UPDATE: A reader notes that Pete, one of the co-owners, ran for Congress in 2006 opposing gay marriage.] We haven’t seen this story in the Tribune or Sun-Times yet, but it’ll be interesting to see how the papers, local radio, and fans react to this revelation. The guess here is that nobody will care. [Windy City Times] Photo courtesy of the L-Blog, which had this story first back in August.
68 Responses to “Laura Ricketts Gives the Cubs the First Major-League Sports Franchise to Have an Openly Gay Owner”
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November 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 am
Point A does not agree with Point B.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 am
and Omega Mu.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hahahahahahahahahahah!
/nttawwt
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
Sanders – it is a revelation. Don’t think the average fan knows. but you know sports fans. esp big-city sports fans.
I don’t think anyone will care.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
Lambda Lambda Lambda > Lambda Legal
/Skolnick’d
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Paolo?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:08 am
No one will care. Because she is a woman you see.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 am
This was unexpected.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 am
In Chicago? Probably not. Now, if she were going to owning the White Sox, maybe. Their manager has been known to, shall we say, offend on occasion.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
best pic of her?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 am
but we’d care if she was smmokin’
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 am
The weird thing is that her brother, Peter, ran for the Senate in Nebraska as a Rupublican on a platform opposing gay marriage. Those family dinners must be awkward.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 am
What about Dan Snyder?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:12 am
irish, tough to find a picture of this woman. if you find one, email me.
wow, great find, Jim!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:12 am
haha sparty
a hot lesbian would be newsworthy. this one, do nay think so.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:12 am
Jim, maybe a famaily get together with the Cheneys is in order
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 am
tougher growing up gay or having a last name rickets?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 am
Only if Darth Cheney brings his shotgun
/Vader fist pump YEA!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:15 am
What about Dan Snyder?
Tom Cruise is a robot, so it’s not considered gay.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:17 am
Here’s her IMDB photo.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Rickety Cricket!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Would you like to bring some Cylon toast?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Mrejr is pissed.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
There’s a Chaz Bono joke in here somewhere.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
For all of his litany of faults, Cheney did more for gay rights than any politician since Milk.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
@412 those can’t be the same people
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
Found one, thanks to google
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:21 am
clown, that’s 4-H
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 am
Yeah, I know.
I can muster a smidge more interest if the Laura Ricketts munching rug is actually attractive.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 am
google it. pretty sure i found one
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
Found one, thanks to google
is that her on 3rd base?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:25 am
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/the-l-blog/2009/08/one-lesbian-reason-to-support-the-cubs.html#more
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:29 am
The Pirates’ ownership is supposedly heterosexual. I haven’t enjoyed the past 17 years any more or less based upon that.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:29 am
I think Cowherd’s about to talk about this. He just said his producer handed him an interesting story from “one of those blogs”.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:34 am
“one of those pesky blogs”.
much much better
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:35 am
@cj, does he ever give credit to the actual blogs he uses? I don’t listen to him so i wouldn’t know. im just wondering
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 am
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/the-l-blog/2009/08/one-lesbian-reason-to-support-the-cubs.html#more
One Shining Moment > One Lesbian Reason
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 am
Reaaazy, Ive only ever heard him mention The Big Lead by name. Seems whenever he has something positive to say about blogs he will mention TBL. Its definitely his favorite.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:39 am
Yes.
/Steve Phillips
//Ok I’m killing it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:39 am
are you guys slipping?
no Kazuhito Tadano jokes? too soon, i guess?
i’m not more intrigued by the brother-sister political spat.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:42 am
Laura is openly gay, and supposedly is the “first major-league sports franchise to have an openly gay owner.” Laura Ricketts is a “member of the board of Lambda Legal, a national organization fighting for gay rights—including same sex marriage.”
must be a flamer then
/Paolo’d
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Yep, he just gave credit to the Big Lead.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:44 am
If they were like the Cheneys personal experience with gays would make Peter have empathy towards them rather than denying them rights as a talking point.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:45 am
i’m not more intrigued by the brother-sister political spat.
Interesting perhaps, but as someone mentioned earlier, arch conservative winner of the more Nixon than Nixon contest, Dick Cheney, has daughter who is a lesbian. So this is not a completely unique situation.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
Oh THE CUBS ARE GAY
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
i’m not more intrigued by the brother-sister political spat.
“Nonetheless, she says there is no bad blood between them, but rather, the political diversity in her family makes for “lively conversations”
“We don’t agree on all the issues of the day, but when it comes right down to it, we are family and love each other and that doesn’t – that never – changes,” she said.”
Doesn’t seem to be a big issue, not that they would talk about publicly if it was I guess.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
If they were like the Cheneys personal experience with gays would make Peter have empathy towards them rather than denying them rights as a talking point.
This is a good point which I should have added to what I said: Cheney for as conservative as he is, is against a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. If memory serves, he believes that individual states should decide whether to allow it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 am
it’s cool it is a female. southsiders have been fucking dudes for years in protest of gays.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
This makes no sense.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 am
did they cheneys go on to own a storied baseball team?
/just sayin’ …
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 am
did they cheneys go on to own a storied baseball team?
/just sayin’ …
No but Dick was Secretary of Defense and then Vice President of, you know, the whole United States during a time when this country pushed further to the right politically than it had since Reagan’s early years.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 am
They conquered Earth. I think many baseball teams exist on the planet. Cheney ate Barry Bonds spinal cord for strength. That counts for something.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 am
i know. tell that to the average white sox fan that finds gays and makes them suck them off.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:57 am
You do realize that Nixon was one of the most liberal presidents of the past 60 years, right?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Hopefully she will have a vote in bring back a ball girl ala Marla Collins circa 1984.
/Harry Caray approved
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
boom found a better picture
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1855559,103009rickettsfam.fullimage
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:02 am
You do realize that Nixon was one of the most liberal presidents of the past 60 years, right?
Nixon pursued several classically liberal policies that he knew were appropriate for his time, but Nixon the person was as conservative as could be. But that word also means something different now than it did then.
And I would wager that Carter is actually probably the most liberal president of the past 60 years.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 am
LBJ, hands down, with Nixon a close second.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 am
So, we’re just pretending as though BHO doesn’t exist? Okay.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:23 am
LBJ, hands down, with Nixon a close second.
Fine, I’ll agree with LBJ, but I think you are putting too much emphasis on Nixon’s foreign policy which was liberal in that he chose to engage China and Russia. His domestic policy was most certainly not liberal however. And I would rank Carter and even Bush I ahead of Nixon.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 am
So, we’re just pretending as though BHO doesn’t exist? Okay.
He’s a year into his presidency, too early to judge in my opinion.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
“Although often viewed as a conservative by his contemporaries, Nixon’s domestic policies often appear centrist or liberal to later observers, commenting after the end of the Keynesian consensus. While the rightward shift in the Republican Party started in the 1970s, Nixon like Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford, largely governed in accordance with Keynesian modern liberal principles on domestic issues, especially fiscal policy.[64] As President, Nixon imposed wage and price controls,[65] indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). He also had plans to create a universal minimum income and universal health care, but was not able to realize either.[64] The number of pages added to the Federal Register each year doubled under Nixon. He eradicated the last remnants of the gold standard, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), promoted the Legacy of parks program and implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program, and dramatically increased spending on federal employees’ salaries.[citation needed] ….
During the Nixon Administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Supplemental Security Income program, and the Office of Minority Business Enterprise; the Post Office Department was abolished as a cabinet department and reorganized as a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service. Nixon proposed in 1971 to create four new government departments superseding the current structure: departments organized for the goal of efficient and effective public service as opposed the thematic bases of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, et al. Departments including the State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice would remain under this proposal.[66]
On January 2, 1974, Nixon signed a bill that lowered the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 miles per hour (90 km/h) in order to conserve gasoline during the 1973 energy crisis.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 am
But Barack does like black people more.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 am
Nixon also made significant noise about legalizing pot (as did Carter), if my somewhat hazy memory of pro-pot documentaries can be trusted.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 am
Thank you Taguchi, I’ll go sit in the corner with my dunce cap now.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:30 am
Thank Wikipedia! (who knows if these things are even true?)
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
Thank Wikipedia! (who knows if these things are even true?)
I’m pretty sure he did sign the legislation to create the EPA and OSHA. He also pushed through the RICO Act to go after organized crime and shady business practices.
Not sure about the rest of that off the top of my head and I had no knowledge of him pushing legalization of pot either.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
+infinity