Well, you did it. I thank you. And curse you.
As you know, I promised that, if I was able to raise enough in donations to cover the costs of hosting Bleacher Nation for one year ($480), I would blog for 24 hours straight at the trade deadline, from 6pm CT on Saturday, July 30 until 6pm CT on Sunday, July 31.
You all came through in spades – at this time last week, we were a little more than halfway to the goal, and, within a couple days, we hit the goal. And then exceeded it. In total, you very generously exceeded the hoped-for goal by almost a third. I can’t thank you enough. It really helps keep this place running the way (I hope) you’ve come to like it.
So, about the 24 hours of blogging. What exactly will it entail?
I can’t know for sure, because it will depend greatly on what’s happening. I envision covering all Cubs rumors and news, obviously, as well as the most interesting stuff from around baseball. I anticipate that I’ll be using Twitter and Facebook a fair bit as well, so you’ll probably want to check those out when the day comes.
I also plan on doing periodic updates on my own state of being. You know, something like, “Hour 18: The Walls Have Started Judging Me.” For the record, I’m not one of those people who pulls all-nighters. I think the longest I’ve ever stayed up in one day was an 18-hour stretch in college – no, not studying. No, not partying. I think I was playing Starcraft. What, you thought a guy who blogs professionally about the Chicago Cubs was cool? So, anyway, we’ll see how this goes. I’m not guaranteeing that I don’t pass out on my keyboard a la the photo to the above right.
I hope this thing is fun – both for me, and you readers – but I also truly hope it’s useful. Rumors and news fly fast and furious during those last 24 hours, so BN should be a pretty good resource for what’s going on. You can check it out when you get back from the bar on Saturday night, getting ready to settle in for a nice sleep – and I’m just entering hour six or seven.
Because of the nature of staying up for 24 hours, you can expect limited, perhaps non-existent, coverage from late on Friday, July 29 until 6pm CT on Saturday, July 30. I’m sure you will excuse me. If something huge happens, feel free to drop it and discuss it in the comments to the most recent post.
Thanks again to everyone. And, although the goal has been reached, I figure F it, I’ll hold out my hand one last time. If you’d care to throw some bones my way, either because you want to support the 24-hour thing, or because you just like the site, you can donate by clicking on this here button:
And, for those of you who donated this week and put us over the goal, here’s a dog that looks vaguely like Spuds McKenzie expressing my feelings:
Specifically:
Linda L. – you’re awesome.
Thomas C. – you’re awesome.
Ben C. – you’re awesome.
Jeffrey L. – you’re awesome (again!).
Jason W. – you’re awesome.
Keith – you’re awesome.
David R. – you’re awesome.
Phillip T. – you’re awesome.
R.T. – you’re awesome.
henna – you’re awesome.
Simon N. – you’re awesome.
Gary R. – you’re awesome.