!!YOUR AD HERE!!

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just hoped it would be later.

The Chicago Tribune Corp. has tossed out a seventy-year tradition of pristine ivy and bricks, and is now selling ads in the outfield of Wrigley.

The Cubs announced a multiyear deal Wednesday with Under Armour, a sports apparel company, agreeing to place its logo and name on the outfield doors. Terms of the agreement were not announced, but the ads will be in place at least through 2008.

To those "traditionalist" Cubs fans (a.k.a. not blind) who may be upset, Cub's Marketing Director Jay Blunk has a message for you: Get over it.

"Yes, it's a Normal Rockwell painting everyday," Blunk said. "But that Norman Rockwell painting takes millions of dollars each year to maintain and keep at the standards we like to keep... It's a beautiful place and it draws people, but then again, it does limit your revenue streams and is quite expensive to maintain. This is a way we can counter-balance that, and help us attain these blue-chip free agents such as Alfonso Soriano, who, by the way, is a spokesman for Under Armour."

By. The. Way.

As the old Winston Churchill joke goes, we've established what you are, Jay. Apparently, you've just been quibbling over the price.