Force Me to Go Sleepless at the Trade Deadline AND Do Some Real Good for Young Cubs Fans!

It’s time! Time to get together and do something crazy to provide you over-the-top coverage and also make a REAL positive impact in the world! And this year sure figures to be active for the Cubs! *tugs collar*

I’m ready. Are you ready? Each of the last nine MLB Trade Deadlines, your generous support forced me to blog for 24 hours straight back in 2011, then for 30 hours straight in 2012, then for 36 hours straight in 2013, then for 37 hours straight in 2014, then for 38 hours straight in 2015, then for 39 hours straight in 2016, then for 40 hours straight in 2017, then for another 40 hours straight in 2018, and again in 2019! Last year we got a little creative with the pandemic urging caution, so we turned it into a Dogathon, when you made me eat 17 hot dogs – and nothing but 17 hot dogs – for two days at the Trade Deadline! It was really gross!

We had some fun, got excited about some trade action, and, most importantly, you supported a great cause. Through your efforts over past Blogathons, you’ve raised more than $124,000 for Make-A-Wish to transform your passion for baseball into some real, impactful good in this world.

Let’s do it again this year, and make me look foolish in the process!

MAWF Primary Logo PMS293

Bleacher Nation is partnering with Make-A-Wish® Illinois. The mission of Make-A-Wish is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Make-A-Wish cannot accomplish that mission without the help and support of others, and that’s where you come in.

I’m going to do a Blogathon at the Trade Deadline, but it’s up to you to really get me there. So let’s make a deal.

I’ll commit right now to blogging for 24 hours straight leading up to the Trade Deadline on July 30. No breaks. No sleep. Constant coverage. Writing. Tweeting. Commenting. Videos. The run-up to the deadline is among the most important times in the baseball season, and I intend to go crazy covering everything out there during the BN Blogathon on July 29 and 30. You’re getting 24 hours right now, guaranteed.

But who wants 24 hours when you can have 34 hours? Or 40 hours?

For every $500 you generous folks donate to Make-A-Wish, I’ll tack on an additional hour, all the way up to $8,000, or 40 hours total. My hope is we can get there, and then you force me to do all kinds of whacky ADDITIONAL things DURING the Blogathon so that we can keep on moving those donations up! One year, you made me get a tattoo. Another year, I worked outside Wrigley in a folding chair. And all those hot dogs. That’s just too many sandwiches. I’m sure you can think of some crazy things for this year.

But, hey. We gotta get there first.

Every dollar raised will go straight to Make-A-Wish, and the intent is that the funds will be used to grant a wish to a child who wishes for an experience related to the Chicago Cubs. We all love the Cubs, and it would be pretty amazing to help a child do something that will deepen his/her own love of the Cubs.

It’s up to you to make this happen.

Here’s how you donate:

Go to the BN Blogathon fundraiser page, and make your donation there by clicking on the “DONATE NOW” button.

Make-A-Wish is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, so, to the extent you were wondering, financial contributions may be deductible for federal income tax purposes. Just throwing that out there.

This is win-win for you, my friends. By giving whatever you can, you not only help change the life of a child and his or her family, but you also ensure ridiculous, over-the-top coverage at the Trade Deadline. The bonus is seeing if I can make it to 35 or 37 hours without live streaming myself accidentally getting hit by another car.

Thank you for your attention, your support, and for telling your friends and family about this fundraiser!

written by

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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