On Saturday, the officials spoke of the condition of anonymity because the talks were private. Pittsburgh confirmed discussions with Lemieux and Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle took place, but said there was no talk about selling.

An unsolicited proposal for the Pirates four months ago—one that was substantial and serious, was reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the offer told The Associated Press.

Previously, Nutting turned aside several sale overtures that were made by Pittsburgh lawyer Chuck Greenberg. Greenberg subsequently teamed with Nolan Ryan to purchase the Texas Rangers in a deal completed last week.

Several years ago, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks was rebuffed in efforts to buy the team.

The Pirates aren’t for sale, and the discussions apparently went no further. Bob Nutting gave all the interested parties the same answer:

“No formal, substantive offer had been made at a meeting four months ago with Bob and Mario and Ron Burkle,” said Pirates president Frank Coonelly Saturday at the team’s fan festival. “But what I can confirm for you is, at that time, today, tomorrow, next week, the Pirates are not for sale. Bob Nutting is committed to making this organization a winner again.”

While the Pirates acknowledge they aren’t successful, but they are profitable,. Last year, they lost 99 games during a major league-record 17th consecutive losing season, then raised fans’ ire by trimming their payroll below that of the 1992 Pirates, the franchise’s last team to make the playoffs.

Despite being in a similar-sized market, the Pirates’ projected $35 million payroll is only about half of the totals for NL Central rivals Cincinnati and Milwaukee. The payroll is expected to be the lowest in the majors by at least $5 million.

Nutting will not consider a proposal from the popular Lemieux, a Pittsburgh sports icon who has revived the Penguins twice—once as a player and again as an owner. This decision is likely to generate further fan unhappiness.

During a fan festival question-and-answer session, the fan unrest was evident Saturday when Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington and manager John Russell heard boos at times. It was especially evident when queried about the payroll. According to bystanders, most answers were met with only tepid applause,.

Pittsburgh has said the payroll won’t increase substantially until top prospects reach the majors and adding higher-salaried players might make the difference in winning a championship.

All of those interested in the Pirates have lengthy backgrounds in pro sports of some sort.

As a successful minor league owner, Greenberg teams included the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate in Altoona, Pa., that was partially owned by Lemieux until being sold two years ago. In 2007, Greenberg also was a finalist for the Pirates’ presidency before Coonelly was hired.

The Hall of Fame player, Lemieux, bought the Penguins in federal bankruptcy court in 1999—a year later, he came out of retirement became pro sports’ first owner-player—and has since seen them become one of the NHL’s most successful franchises.

A California billionaire investor and supermarket operator ,Burkle, joined Lemieux’s group in 1999 by making a $20 million investment, was interested previously in buying the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs.

“Mario and Ron are very smart business people. They’ve been very successful with the Penguins and have done a great job with them,” said Coonelly “What they see in the Pirates, I would think, is that they’re interested in purchasing a team much like the Penguins earlier this decade: A team on the rise. A team that has a plan. A team that has financial stability.”

With a more aggressive approach to player acquisition, Lemieux and Burkle, according to people with knowledge of their interest, believe the Pirates could substantially hike attendance—recently among the lowest in the majors.

Nutting’s family owns a Wheeling, W.Va.-based newspaper chain. They first became involved in the Pirates’ ownership group when California newspaper heir Kevin McClatchy bought the team in 1996. The Nuttings subsequently began to increase their shares. They achieved this by buying out partners of the once-large ownership group and now own a substantial portion of the shares.

Forbes, last year, estimated the Pirates’ worth at $288 million, less than that of any team except the Florida Marlins, who currently play in an NFL stadium.

Tom McMillan, vice president of the Penguins, declined Saturday to confirm Lemieux’s interest in the Pirates, saying, “The Penguins don’t discuss private business matters.”

In the NFL we ended up going 1-1, with a lop sided blowout winner with the Minnesota Vikings laying only 2 1/2 points at home against the Cowboys and losing the over 42 1/2 in the New York Jets at San Diego game. Now if all you do is watch the NFL and are not interested in the dollar than you go 50% with us on the day. But this is where again on average around 60 to 70 members cash in with a winner in college basketball Marquette minus 9 1/2 winning by 30 points over Providence. The NBA came in a winner with the under 206 1/2 in the Mavs vs Raptors game with a final, 88-110. The point that I’m trying to make is simple but this is where a lot of players miss the boat. I always stress we will not win every game we play every night, and we do not feed you bullshit stories but ride the trends and I promise you will not be disappointed. And of course our record in the NHL speaks for itself we had the Rangers minus 140 vs the Canadians and this was a great way to wrap up our week for a members with a 6-2 winner. Thank you to all our loyal members we said it at the end of 2009, your going to be very happy with us in 2010.

Last night I posted 3 guaranteed plays on the site, in the NHL we had the under 5 in the New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers  game, which the final score was  1-0 , that ended in a shootout. In the NBA we played Detroit Pistons at Washington Capitals, Detroit was the underdog getting +3 points winning outright by 9 point on  the road. Ladies and gentleman this can be fairly easy if you allow it too. I also understand many of you have been on a sports service world tour looking and hoping to find someone you can count on and TRUST. I believe if your are reading this you finally found a service that can get you on the right track, “winning”

I will leave you off with this, we have gone 14-6 in our last twenty games which leaves our members at a winning percentage of 70%. Last night makes me very proud to be running this service going 3-0 for 53 members that purchased all three guaranteed games. Its very gratifying when you speak to members that tell you how excited they are to find a no BS site that puts there games where most put there stories at.