NEWSLETTER
Aaaaaaaand we did it! Aaaaaaaaand he’s down for the count.
Every year, I find myself wanting to lead with the same thought: it’s a shame that the Blogathon saps me of maximum eloquence at the time I need it most. After 40 hours, I owe you so many thanks, and I know I won’t quite have the capacity to express it as well as I’d want.
For donating so generously to a worthy cause like Make-A-Wish: THANK YOU!
Your efforts put us over $16,000, and with a couple donations that are pending, that number is actually going to wind up very close to $18,000, which is enough to sponsor three wishes for children and their families who deserve and need an incredible experience.
For participating so joyfully throughout the 40 hours of the Blogathon and lifting my spirits throughout: THANK YOU!
It’s possible that I could survive this stunt without having a community of folks surrounding me at every turn, but why would I want to? It would be nothing like this is every year – light, fun, thoughtful, engaging. Yes, a little hard at times. But ultimately, with your comments, your tweets, your messages, your pictures, your jokes (even the ones at my expense), I feel rewarded in a way I’m not sure I deserve.
As for the baseball action, thank goodness we got the Cubs making a big deal last night. I didn’t much care for it breaking right before ‘Game of Thrones,’ but, hey, beggars of baseball action can’t be choosers of baseball action. So, it proved that the Cubs made one of the bigger deals of the Blogathon last night, picking up top reliever Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila in one fell swoop from the Tigers.
I say thank goodness for that, from a Blogathon perspective, because it was otherwise remarkably quiet this year around baseball. Shockingly so, at least until the final 15 minutes. Ultimately, as expected, the Yankees got Sonny Gray, and the Dodgers got Yu Darvish. But no other big deals or surprises emerged.
For the Cubs, adding Wilson and Avila addressed the team’s remaining two needs after earlier in the month addressing the big one with the Jose Quintana trade. To the extent you believe competitive seasons are sacred, then there can be no doubt that the front office did an excellent job shoring up the club to take advantage of this sacred season. Did they sacrifice some of the future to do so? Well, maybe. But the future they swapped out was an uncertain one at best. The 2017 team? They’re competitive for certain. The 2018 club? They’ve got a great chance, too, and it only improved by way of these trades.
I say well done, Cubs front office, and I doubt you’ll find too many observers who disagree.
What all of this was really about, though, once again …
I want to thank you all so very much for your part in this Blogathon. Your support over the years for a cause that I care so much about is overwhelming. Together, we raised close to $18,000 this month 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. Good on you.
You also donated enough to force me to do all things bloggy for 40 hours straight here in Chicago and around Wrigleyville.
Let’s do it again!
… in 364 days.
Now for the final tallies.
Total Posts During the Blogathon:Â
45. In case you missed any of those 45 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:
So many Periscopes! You can scroll back through my Tweets to find them, or find @BleacherNation on the Periscope App on your phone.
Total Locations Where I Blogged:
10 – Home base, Lake Michigan wall, Lakefront Trail, Ann Sather, Starbucks, Cozy Noodle, Wrigley Field, the Park at Wrigley, Big & Littles, and Luis’s place.
Total Distance Walked:
About 12 miles.
Total Distance Run While Scurrying Back for Breaking News:
About 1.5 miles.
Total Comments During the Blogathon:
Well over 7,000 (and counting).
Total Page Views During the Blogathon:
400,000+ (and counting).
Total Cubs Transactions at the Deadline:
One, with two targets: Justin Wilson and Alex Avila.
Total Caffeinated Beverages Imbibed:
Two Coke Zeroes
Five Coke Zero Sugars
One Super Gross Rockstar Energy Drink
Two cold brew coffees
One venti iced vanilla latee
One Starbucks espresso shot
Hours I Plan on Sleeping Now:
Maybe 14. Might be ambitious. But we’ll see what happens.
Thank you all again, and I’m gonna lay down and slide into unconscious bliss. I should be back on the grid by the late morning, if all goes according to plan.
THANK YOU GOODBYE I’M ASLEEP NOW NO MORE TALKING TO ME
Thank you all so much. #BNBlogathon pic.twitter.com/wnRE85yJYi
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) August 1, 2017
