If the Yankees are indeed the "Evil Empire" - and they aren't - might the Cubs rather than the Red Sox be the Rebel Alliance? Don't ask me to get all Star Wars geek because I don't know the mythology, but every story needs a "good" to balance the "evil." Baseball is nothing if not a great story.

While the Red Sox try to position themselves as the white knights (to add a midieval metaphor), they enjoy much of the same advantages if not the unbridled lust to win. They have a deep history, a park that will always draw, a good sports town with plenty of national following, and their own TV network. That the Yankees continue to beat them is more testament to Steinbrenner than anything else.

Over the horizon, however, is another team that actually holds a better claim on the title. Throwing in yet another metaphor, the Yankees are Sugar Ray Robinson and the Red Sox are Jake Lamotta. Sure, they can win and yes, the fights are both epic and entertaining, but there's a favorite and there's a slugger's chance. Who then is Gene Fullmer? (Yeah, go look him up.)

It's the Cubs. As Nate Silver's article today states, the Cubs are second only to the Yankees in road attendance. While Nate's data is only for 2004, I make a very reasonable assumption that this holds true in the last decade, maybe more.

The Cubs have one advantage no other team holds. Even in the playoffs or in a big series like the current one against the Astros, there are often as many Cubs fans in the stand as there are root, root, rooting for the Cub... errr, see, even the phrase "home team" is often learned as "Cubbies" across the country. With next year's move to Comcast SportsNet, the Cubs have the opportunity to both control and destroy their advantage.

Less Cubs games on cable would detract from the Cubs in the worst way. I grew up in Texas watching the green grass and ivy on WGN each afternoon. I fell in love with the game all over again watching Ryne Sandberg and Jody Davis. Done right, the Cubs could have a national YES Network that could eclipse even the Yankees for revenue.

People go to see the Yankees, no question, but they often go to hate them. They want to see the underdog win. They want to blame everything on them that's wrong with baseball. For the Cubs, they go to cheer the "lovable losers" on. As the Cubs have turned their franchise around on the field, the Tribune now has a chance to change the face of the game.

I may not know Star Wars in minute detail, but I know that the Death Star blew up.