Remember when the Cubs, in a fantastically preposterous scheme, tried to get 14 Cactus League teams to up the price of their tickets for Spring Training? This was, of course, to pay for their new facility.

It didn’t go well. No other team went for it. Bud Selig didn’t go for it.

And now, they’re pulling away from it some.

From the Trib:

In its first face-off against fellow owners, the Ricketts family blinked.

Cubs president Crane Kenney said Thursday the proposed 8 percent ticket surcharge on all Cactus League tickets was not needed to fund the new complex.

“The plan for our facility can be managed through the Mesa property tax referendum, that will happen in November, and the (1 percent extra) car rental tax,” Kenney said. “The ticket tax is not needed for what we’re building.”

Irony: The fans that would have been paying that eight-percent surcharge? They’ll still be paying for the new facility with that one-percent extra car-rental tax.

When you win, you still lose.

Milton Bradley to the New York Times last week:

“Two years ago, I played, and I was good,” Bradley said. “I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.”

Oh, and then there’s this interview with ESPN that dropped last night in which Bradley talks about the hate mail he received.

At this point, there’s not much more to say. Cubs fans didn’t like Bradley. Bradley didn’t like Cub fans. He didn’t play as well as he has in past seasons. The Cubs traded him.

Life moves on.

Feast your eyes on these beauties:

The full interview with WGN, in which Guillen talks about his team, and of course, his Twitter account, is after the jump.

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Ozzie Guillen’s foray into the Twitter world was a big deal today at Spring Training. For realsies. Because this is Spring Training, and sometimes we can only take so much of “Player-X-is-in-the-best-shape-of-his-life” profiles.

But yeah: Here’s a whole article about it from the Sun-Times’ Web site, in which Kenny Williams can only shake his head about Ozzie’s new found fame in the social media game. He seems legitimately upset Guillen is on Twitter now. This story is just all kinds of awesome.

But wait! There’s more!

Reporters also asked Lou Pineilla about Twitter today, and he had a fun response. From the Trib:

“What is Twitter?” Piniella said Wednesday.

“First of all, I don’t know how to Twitter,” he said. “And second of all, I’m not going to learn how to Twitter.”

“… I’m really not a Facebook or Twitter guy,” he said. “I’m a prime-rib-and-baked-potato guy. I hate to say that, but it’s true.”

But hey, don’t forget: Just because Lou isn’t a Twitter guy doesn’t mean he’s not still a North-Side guy.

Remember when?

I had my reservations that it was actually him, but these confirmations from his son as well as the social media strategist that works with the Sox and set Ozzie up with it seem to have sealed it: yes, Ozzie Guillen is now on Twitter.

So what is he tweeting about? Is he spouting off multiple tweets in a row because 140 characters isn’t enough to contain everything that’s in that brilliant mind of his? (No.) Is he giving us insight to the first few days of camp? (Sorta.) Maybe telling some jokes? (Not really.)

A few sample tweets:

3 day of Spring Training and im already boreddddddd

10 15 pm going to sleep big day tomorrow bbque at my house after practice yessssss

I feel nice and relax today I don’t know why yeeessssssss carlos quentin and rios in camp b ready people

Yessssssssssssssssssss, indeed.

In sum: Ozzie Guillen tweets like a 13-year-old girl.

Yes kids, it’s true: MLB Network will be airing a reality show centered around the White Sox’ front office this summer.

The details, from your friend and mine, Tom Fornelli of FanHouse:

The MLB Network announced on Friday a new reality series, debuting this summer, called The Club …

From spring training through the trade deadline this July 31, a camera crew will follow around Guillen, general manager Kenny Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf to give baseball fans an inside look at what actually goes on within a baseball organization during a season.

The show debuts on Sunday July 4 at 8 PM ET on MLB Network, so set the DVR.

I didn’t watch “The Pen,” the reality show MLB Network aired last year focusing on the Phillies’ bullpen, so I’m not at liberty to say “well that one was good; hopefully it follows that this one will be too.”

But.

Ozzie Guillen alone should be enough to carry this thing, right? Sort of like Ozzy Osbourne in Season 1 of “The Osbournes” or The Situation in “Jersey Shore”? This is Ozzie Guillen we’re talking about here.

But beyond that, the show should be intriguing because it will take us to places and meetings we never get to see. This is not just the standard press-conference banter with Ozzie in the dugout before a game; it’s the backroom-decision making you always want to be in on, but are rarely privy to.

Obviously, it likely won’t show all the juicy stuff, but hopefully it’ll be enough to satisfy most fans.

And if all else fails, they can just run a Guillen gag reel the whole episode.

Yes, it’s true: though Detroit offered more money originally — and apparently is still offering more money — the Sox are still in the mix here, and even feel like they’ve closed the gap.

When I broached this quickly last week and dropped this Fox Sports link, there was one thing that stood out to me: Damon and his wifey prefer big-city living. Would you pick Chicago or Detroit in such a scenario? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Further, A.J. Pierzynski went golfing with Damon recently, which should totally put them in first place in this sweepstakes. Totally.  From the Sun-Times:

As far as all the buzz over the fact that Damon went golfing with Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, well, Pierzynski might have been doing his best Urban Meyer in recruiting Damon, but the two are also good friends, playing baseball at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., as well as Damon getting involved with Pierzynski’s TNA Wrestling storyline “Basebrawl” a few years back.

At the end of the match, it was Damon, sitting ringside, that handed a home plate to Pierzynski. Home plate then went upside Simon Diamond’s head for the win.

If the Sox do land Damon the plan is to primarily use him as their DH, giving him some reps in the outfield.

So summing this all up here: If Damon makes a choice based on the financials, Detroit is the clear winning candidate. And he’s a Scott Boras client. You expect him to go that way.

But as he’s still not made a decision, the Sox believe they’ve picked up ground, and they’re angling for him in a variety of ways, perhaps he’ll choose Chicago for lesser money because all the other factors make more sense to him.

And Damon presents an immediate upgrade at DH. He may be 36, but he put up a line of .282 /.365/ .489 to go along with a .854 OPS last season. Hell, he should bat leadoff over Juan Pierre with that .365 on-base percentage. He also hit 24 homers and had 84 RBI. He’s the lefty bat the Sox are missing. They could really use this type of player right now.

And if they pull it off, it will certainly increase their chances of winning the AL Central.