#Wearestillgood, candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker, and other bullets
I find myself wondering if there are stages of joy just as there are stages of grief. Lots of Cub fans, myself included, report that they’re unable to completely process the Cubs’ World Series victory, waiting for feels still to be felt.
I’m still waiting for the tears. I’m body-slammed emotionally but dry-eyed. Don’t really know what else I’m expecting, but still, there’s some suspicion that a future revelation is coming. I dunno. I’m probably just nuts.
Could. Or not. I want Dexter Fowler to come back, too. For some reason the SNL appearance gives me hope in that regard...
Anyway, here are some carefully-prepared Sunday morning mimosas for you. As always * means autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).
David Moye (The Huffington Post): Man who predicted Cubs win In 1993 Yearbook finally speaks. “I saw the words, ‘Cubs World Champions 2016’ on the Wrigley Field sign and I heard Harry Caray calling home runs,” he said.
Justin Breen (DNAinfo): What Is Baseball's 'Commissioner's Trophy,' and what's it worth? @15K.
Jonathon Alter (The Daily Beast): How it felt to be in the dugout with the Chicago Cubs after they won the World Series. “I get a bear hug from John Cusack and suddenly we’re talking joyfully with Bill Murray and Michael Wilbon about the epic dimensions of what we have just witnessed.”
Reuben Fischer-Baum (Five Thirty-Eight): The 2016 Cubs were only the 70th most dominant team ever. “Chicago is just the third team of the 2010s to crack the top 100 and the first Cubs team to do so since the 1930s.”
Wayne Kamadoi (The New York Times): The World Series sports page that wasn’t. Dewey wins.
DNAinfo: 108 years worth of trash left behind after Cubs celebration. Told in pictures.
Mike Kilen (USA Today): Cubs fan from Iowa holds on until final out before dying. “Darel Sterner held on through the dramatic ending of game seven, because he had waited for decades for the Chicago Cubs to win a World Series.”
Wayne Drehs (ESPN): I postponed open-heart surgery for the Cubs. “Before his nurse could even explain the procedure, before the talk of stopping my heart or putting me on a ventilator, I said four words: After the World Series.”
Jessica Smetana (SB Nation): The Cubs did what I always knew was impossible. My dad always taught me not to be like him; not to get too attached to the Cubs. "They’ll break your heart," he'd tell me. "It’s the Cubs."
Ken Davidoff (NY Post): Six overlooked World Series Game 7 gems worth revisiting. “A classic becomes a classic in part because it features a slew of memorable moments...”
Bryan Arman Graham (the Guardian): Chicago Cubs end most storied title drought in American sporting folklore. “No team has failed better over the last century but this extraordinary victory suggests the next World Series will not be far away for history’s glorious losers.”
Roger Angell (The New Yorker): At Last. “...great game, and worth the wait.”
David Uberti (Columbia Journalism Review): Chicago Tribune editor on covering Cubs World Series win: Readers had papers ‘stolen off their porches’. Amazing.
Wright Thompson (ESPN*): In Chicago, the final wait for a Cubs win mixes joy and sorrow. All of the feels, all at once. Long but memorable.
TMZSports.com: Pedro Strop: Jason Heyward Saved Our Ass: Pump Up Speech Was INSANE! “There was cussing. There was adrenaline. And it worked in a big way.”
TMZSports.com: Cubs Hero Albert Almora Jr. BEST YEAR EVER! Baby, Marriage, Dad Beats Cancer, World Series. “Hard to top that.”
Cubs on Saturday Night Live after World Series [VIDEO].
Chris Landers (Cut Four): Cubs fan proposes at Wrigley with World Series trophy. It’s the first proposal the venerable trophy has witnessed.
Matt Snyder (CBS Sports*): The Cubs are set up for an extended run, but a big question needs answering. Who plays center field?
ESPN: Northwestern and Illinois marching bands perform 'Go Cubs Go' to celebrate World Series win. “Days after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years, fans are -- rightfully -- still celebrating.”
Tim Kurkjian (ESPN): Ten early storylines to follow this offseason. All may not be quiet on the labor front.
Dan Symborski (ESPN-INSIDER {$}): ZiPS 2017 standings projections: Cubs' odds to repeat, surprise contenders and more. The outlook is favorable.
Jon Lowenstein (ESPN): The Greatest Night in Chicago. “Relive Game 7 of the World Series through the eyes of the Cubs faithful who gathered near Wrigley Field, as captured by photographer Jon Lowenstein.”
Luis Medina (Bleacher Nation): The Cubs’ Post-Win Celebration Was the Largest Gathering of People in US History. “We always knew the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series was going to be a big deal. But learning to what extent has been something unfathomable.”
Patrick Mooney (CSN Sports*): How Cubs are a World Series winner that’s built to last. “This team is built to be good for a while,” said bench coach Dave Martinez.
Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): A few words about Kris Bryant’s baserunning. He’s pretty good.
Courtesy Dominic Benigno — To top off the excitement of today’s parade, I’m thrilled to share a special Cubs tidbit about a gift Dexter Fowler gave to his teammates today in celebration of their Epic World Series win! At the beginning of the season, Dexter Fowler gave Joe Maddon two bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch whisky, one with a custom engraving to commemorate the Cubs team mantra—Embrace the Target—and a blank bottle to engrave at a later date. With expectations high and an opportunity to make history, the team started the season focused and determined to succeed. Now that the team has come full circle and achieved their goal of winning the World Series—in an incredible Game 7 for the ages—Dexter made sure to get Joe’s bottle engraved, and then some. To commemorate the win and the Cubs’ 108-year championship drought, Dexter had 108 bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch whisky engraved for the team, coaches, front office staff and local Chicago media. The bottles had the below engraving and you can check out the gift on Dexter’s Facebook Page.
Fowler commented, Thanks to Joe [Maddon], we ‘embraced the target’ as a team from Day 1 and never lost sight of the goal. I decided to give everyone a special gift to thank them for their unwavering support and commitment to our success: engraved bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I figured 108 bottles was the right number and I’m honored to give them to my teammates, brothers, coaches, front office and everyone involved to mark this amazing achievement.”
Quite a gift.
food for thought:
Tom Siegfried (Science News): Why quantum mechanics might need an overhaul. “...current debates suggest need for new approach to comprehend reality.”
Matthew Hart (Nerdist): Tesla coil + ethanol + hundreds of film canisters = insane science Gatling gun. Check it out.
Rachel Lallensack (Science): See the first color images produced by an electron microscope. “Imagine spending your whole life seeing the world in black and white, and then seeing a vase of roses in full color for the first time.”
Fly the W. See you Tuesday.