I don’t know about you, but I am completely intrigued with the idea of Dallas Mavericks owner and opinion-meister Mark Cuban applying for ownership of the beloved Chicago Cubs, even if I think he has a better chance of serving Blizzards at Dairy Queen again than cracking into the old boy network known as Major League Baseball ownership.

Somehow I don't see Cuban as a Bud Selig kind of guy, even if he would do wonders for a park and a team that really needs an infusion of cash, energy and passion. Wrigley Field is every bit the baseball mecca that Fenway Park is, but whereas Boston's ownership group has undertaken an ambitious and wildly successful effort to make wide-ranging improvements at the park, Wrigley is suffering from a bit of neglect in that area and needs someone to come in and perform a Red Sox-style Extreme ballpark makeover.

Cuban would be that guy.

The best person at Fenway Park to ask about Cuban taking over the Cubs (the phrase Cuban-owned Cubs admittedly has a ring to it) – aside from the Sox ownership group of course -- is likely Boston Red Sox performance enhancement coach Don Kalkstein, who also serves as sports psychologist/performance enhancement coach for the Dallas Mavericks and cashes checks signed by Cuban on a regular basis.

So does Cuban have a shot?

“I think he does. I mean he’s certainly my friend so my opinion might be a little biased, but just look what he’s done for that Mavericks team since he took over ownership of that team. He’s energetic, he’s a dynamic guy and he’s really innovative with the ideas he comes up to improve his team and improve his league.

“He’s outspoken and gets in the headlines for some of his actions and the things he says, but everything he’s doing is because he loves the game of basketball and he loves his team. I can tell you that the players really like him because he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help them out and make the Mavericks a winning team. He’s exactly what the Cubs need at this point, and I know he’d be pretty excited to own a team that’s a little closer to where he’s from in Indiana. That would be great for him.

I had to include this item from Peter Gammons’ blog entry on espn.com in the middle of this week where he unearthed another beautiful shining example of ‘Manny Being Manny.’

• This is really true: When Manny Ramirez gets custom-made clothing at a chic Boston store, when the tailor embroiders Ramirez's monogram, instead of his actual initials, Manny has "MBM" sewn into his shirts and jackets. Yup. Manny Being Manny.

The Chicago Tribune had this mention that Coco Crisp, gaining more and more value as his average continues toward and  then over .270, could be moved to bolster Boston's pitching staff:

With Jacoby Ellsbury in the wings, the Red Sox are considering moving Coco Crisp to strengthen their pitching staff. They would like to add a starter, along with a right-handed setup man. They have scouts following Brad Lidge and Houston's other relievers, especially Dan Wheeler and Chad Qualls. ... The Tigers also are studying Houston's relievers along with Texas' Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka and Kansas City's Octavio Dotel. Gagne says he would like to stay with the Rangers in 2008, however, so it's possible Texas will extend the righty rather than deal him.

And there's this from NewsDay, with Dunn and Griffey Jr. certainly being reasonable targets but Conine not being much help to the Olde Towne Team's search for more offense. There's also growing word that the Cincinnati Reds are looking to deal Bronson Arroyo. Could there be a shot that Arroyo might be traded back to the city where he "loves that dirty water." Stay tuned:

The Red Sox have shifted their attention from an arm to a bat, given the offensive struggles of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo. Allard Baird, assistant to GM Theo Epstein, attended Friday night's Mets-Reds game. The Reds are open to trading Jeff Conine, Adam Dunn and perhaps even Ken Griffey Jr., although Griffey figures to be picky in approving a deal.

And finally here’s a little bit of brilliance from the world of soccer, which Hacks with Haggs usually stays very far away from – low-scoring 1-0 affairs and players simply passing the ball around at mid-field to kill time and salt away a game just isn’t my idea of rock ‘em, sock ‘em action, but this little bit of video showing a player performing a sneak attack on the ref is brilliance.

This could revolutionize the game of football: think about it, if you can wrestle the yellow flag away from the ref after the infraction is called then the penalty is automatically wiped off the books. I’m already looking forward to the first showdown between Ed Hochuli and Shawne Merriman. Game On! 

NFL Referee Ed Hochuli.