The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported over the weekend that Pens' owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle made a "very serious" offer to purchase the Pittsburgh Pirates from majority owner Bob Nutting about 4 months ago in a meeting held at the Penguins' offices in Chatham Center.
Nutting and Pirates President Frank Coonelly have denied that the offer was "formal" or "substantial", and Nutting has re-affirmed his prior public statements that the team is not for sale.
That's too bad, because Lemieux and Burkle would probably do a good job getting the Pirates -- who have suffered a sports record 17-consecutive losing seasons -- back on the winning track again.
Word of this offer was not just a big story in Pittsburgh sports circles over the weekend, but also a surprise, and it led many to wonder why Lemieux and Burkle would be interested in a franchise that has such a poor recent history.
It's believed that the Pens' owners were --- and make no mistake, still remain -- interested in collaborating on all marketing, television and other related revenues that they might be able to bring together by owning two professional sports franchises in the same city.
What happens from here remains to be seen. Lemieux and Burkle, as Penguins' fans know well, have a history of getting what they want.
While I don't expect anything immediate or imminent, if there are more developments on this story, I'll certainly get something up here.
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