It’s a shame that, by its very nature, The Blogathon saps me of maximum eloquence at the time I need it most. Because I owe you some thoughts and some thanks. Perhaps if I start with the baseball stuff …
Wow. Right?
It wasn’t a couple weeks ago that I would, almost daily, receive the electronic equivalent of a gentle pat on the head when the subject of the Blogathon came up. Not only would the Cubs have very little to do at the Trade Deadline, but baseball as a whole hasn’t been much for the deadline in the post-second-Wild-Card era. Obviously that didn’t just prove to be wrong, it was blown out of the water. Lester, Price, Lackey, Cespedes, Prado, Miller, Masterson, Cosart, and on and on. This was easily one of the busiest deadlines I can ever remember, and it felt like nonstop action for repeated stretches throughout the last two days. Which was nice.
And then there was the Cubs. We all know that their big move came on July 4 – during the fireworks – as they dealt their top two trade pieces together in the same deal to the A’s, sending along Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. We didn’t expect the same caliber of dealing at the deadline, but there was always hope that something interesting would happen.
A few things did! The Cubs took a flyer on lefty Felix Doubront yesterday, they picked up their PTBNL from the Dodgers, and they sent Emilio Bonifacio and James Russell to the Braves for a really interesting catching prospect. The excitement, from a Cubs perspective, probably wasn’t quite up there with 2012, when the Cubs were holding Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster right up until the deadline, but this was actually pretty close – especially when you factor in how nuts things were around the rest of the league.
I hope, from a coverage standpoint, you found the last two days useful and interesting. I’ll have much more on the Cubs’ moves, and on what comes next – because moves can still happen in August, as you know – in the coming days. For now, though, this marks the end of your BN Blogathon baseball coverage. I enjoyed it.
What all of this was really about, though …
I want to thank you all so very much for your part in this Blogathon. From the moment I announced the fundraiser benefiting Make-A-Wish, you overwhelmed me with support. Together, we raised neary $16,500 this month (together with an impending $1,000 donation) to make wishes come true – to give a special experience to children who really need something to enjoy. Hopefully we’ll have reached a young Cubs fan or two along the way.
I also want to thank you for participating in the Blogathon over the past 37 hours. Your comments, your tweets, your emails, your Facebook posts, your encouragement, and your humor buoyed me all along the process, and I enjoyed our interactions the most out of anything we did.
Let’s do it again!
… in 364 days.
Now for the final tallies.
Total Posts During the Blogathon:
52. In case you missed any of those 52 posts, you can stroll on over to the home page, and flip backwards through them all.
Total Minutes of Live Video Streams During the Blogathon:
About 155, spread over four streams. If you missed any of them, you can see them here, here, here, and here. I want to especially thank you all for making those a lot of fun, as they were new this year, and I wasn’t quite sure how they would work out.
Final Select #BNBlogathon Tweets:
My favorite part of the @BleacherNation #BNBlogathon? pic.twitter.com/ACk0g9okV3
— Eric Flaris (@EricFlaris) July 31, 2014
Shout out to @BleacherNation hope your still going strong! #BNBlogathon #MakeaWish #Cubs
— Chris Faulkner (@ChrisFChi) July 31, 2014
#BNBlogathon kept me up to date during this crazy trade deadline phase. Thank you, @BleacherNation, this was awesome.
— Jan Forty-Two (@JanFortyTwo) July 31, 2014
Final bets… and its over. what a good deadline! #BNBlogathon
— David Reese (@dcreese7) July 31, 2014
@BleacherNation TY for the info, and the #BNBlogathon. You're delirious and still doing work. The light is at the end of the tunnel!
— Ted Timmerman (@urbanted) July 31, 2014
Every year it seems we say "it's been a quiet trade deadline". Not this year! #BNBlogathon
— Team Wilkinson (@wilkinson81) July 31, 2014
@BleacherNation just watching (five minutes of) the 3 am live feed. Were you wearing my winter coat?! #BNBlogathon
— Gretchen Taylor (@GretchenETaylor) July 31, 2014
https://twitter.com/legalcubbieblue/status/494913945824526336
Total Comments During the Blogathon:
5750+ (and counting).
Total Page Views During the Blogathon:
430,000+ (and counting).
Total Cubs Transactions at the Deadline:
Three, if you count the Barney PTBNL – that, plus Doubront, plus Bonifacio and Russell.
Total Caffeinated Beverages Imbibed:
Two Coke Zeroes.
One large half diet/half regular Coke
Two Diet Dr. Pepper’s
One AMP energy drink
One Kickstart energy drink
One Starbucks mocha frappuccino.
That’s actually it. A little less than last year, if you can believe it.
Hours I Plan on Sleeping Now:
Just three or four. HUNDRED.
Total Times I Reapplied Our Feistiest Cat’s Collar Like a Boss:
Once.
A Final Visual Representation of My Feelings:
What the #BNBlogathon is all about. @makeawish @wishillinois https://t.co/Dbzebtv58z
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) July 31, 2014
Thank you all again, and it’s time for me to hit the sack. You should see normal posting tomorrow, it just might start a little later than usual. For the record, I can still feel it on my head …
And in the end … #BNBlogathon https://t.co/oe0sqHPLZI
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) July 31, 2014