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		The Zulewski report By Tom Zulewski July 7, 2009

	Kobe and Magic at Michael Jackson tribute: The Staples Center on Tuesday was the home of the Memorial to singer Michael Jackson which was carried on every major TV network. The speeches and songs that were there that stood out from the Martin Luther King family, Mariah Carey, Rev Al Shapton, Brooke Shields, brother Jermaine Jackson and ending the memorial with Lionel Richie and a star studded cast singing "We are the world" in tribute to the King of Pop. His ex-wives Marie Lisa Presley and Debbie Rowe did not attend the service. Los Angeles Laker players Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson also gave speeches in the building they either play or work in during the regular season. They too were blown away by the Jackson send off. Every star and anyone who is anybody came to witness the greatest memorial send off for any celebrity ever brought to television in recent memory. There were many who tried to score a Jackson Memorial ticket but could not get in and many TV, Radio and newspapers could not get credentialed for the event. But none the less Kobe and Magic for once were the ones overwhelmed by this spectacular send off. Trib sells Cubbies to Ricketts family: The Chicago Tribune who is having a hard enough time running a newspaper and keeping it afloat and are owned by the same folks who own the L.A.Times have one less headache in owning a baseball team sold the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family who are noted Cubs fans for $900 million. The Tribune which includes WGN TV and Radio under the umbrella. This sale shouldn't be a distraction to the ball club if the players have any degree of professionalism about them and they have a new boss and their hoping the rules stays the same and their hoping to go about their business. The next question is are the Ricketts family going to be hands off or hands on owners, will they care about what is happening and they do live in the Chicago area since the front office, fans and media are familiar with who they are. The Ricketts acquisition is largely accepted as a positive one as the Chicago community are familuar with the Ricketts. F1 boss says comments misunderstood: Bernie Ecclestone apologized for his remarks about Hitler getting things done that sent a wave of protest and bad feelings towards the Formula one boss. Ecclestone tried to say his comments were misunderstood and no they weren't and Bernie was being an idiot and he needs to deal with it. Rush Limbaugh might be a master of making on air mistakes I'll say that but Ecclestone shocked everyone with his ridiculous remarks about Hitler being able to get things done. Ecclestone is a leader of a racing organization but has brought up the issue of Hitler and that he got things done which upset a German Jewish group. Ecclestone has since apologized twice on Tuesday. Ecclestone is responsible for the millions of keeping F1 at least viable when it's only a world wide organization in the first place and it's really not going to see the light of day in this country.and Eccelstone doesn't have a clue. Ecclestone said what he said and he's done it before and what he said about Hitler is not his first time. What the advertisers and sponsors should really do is review his hiring policy about minorities and get a real gage on where he stands on his hiring practices. Who is Ecclestone trying to kid it's his responsibility to be a leader of a major organization in a major sport and to say stupid things like that. When Ecclestone makes remarks like that it's going to have an impact. You can not sell a racing product like F1 if you have a boss that is so backwards that he loses touch with reality and he loses touch with the fan base where they can go to just about anywhere they want. McNair investigators: Theories that's all the investigators have at this point for any motive in the Steve McNair murder investigation. McNair who was gunned down by his girlfriend Sahel Kazemi. The gun was bought by Kazemi and was in her possession when she was found lying on top of the weapon. Police on Tuesday are expected to announce that the results of the tests have concluded that the McNair murder was also a suicide by Kazemi. McNair was 16 years senior to Kazemi but the reality of it all can be a real pain. When they succumb to the temptations with all the adulation that you get and you basically can't do anything wrong, and then when you get mixed up with the wrong people you get a tragedy like this. UFL wants Vick: The United Football League is the most logical place for Michael Vick to get a any kind of a second chance at performing and getting back his support from the public. Vick is being offered work from the start up league which goes into head to head action with the NFL starting this fall. The UFL is a four team league and if Vick quarterbacks for one of those teams it will give a pulse of what fan and media reaction will be towards Vick. If forgiven and Vick performs well in the UFL the NFL can consider making adjustments for Vick to return. But if the welcome is rough and turbulent and never smooths out and the demand is for Vick to step down then he will never shine like he once did in the NFL.So it will be interesting to see if he gets really accepted here but the UFL is taking a big calculated risk with bringing in Vick. Tom Zulewski reports on Sportstalk each week