Completely unrelated to any of the news from Saturday but for everyone in the Chicagoland area, stay safe during the upcoming winter storm and may the predictions of 14 inches of snow be exaggerated in your favor.
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- An A-List crowd turned out at the memorial service for Ernie Banks on Saturday, and knowing Banks he probably would have wondered what the fuss was all about, says Patrick Mooney.
- [VIDEO] In case you didn't see the service on Saturday, here's the video of the eulogy delivered by Billy Williams. Also included are remembrances from Tom Ricketts, Rahm Emanuel, and Joe Torre.
From Cubs.com:
- Phil Rogers sums up the feelings of a lot of people: Saying goodbye is never easy.
From ESPN Chicago:
- [VIDEO] Andre Dawson spoke about his relationship with Banks, noting that he always has a smile on his face.
- Jesse Rogers says that with the addition of Dexter Fowler, plus possibly a little magic and inspriation from Mr. Cub, the Cubs just might make the playoffs in 2015.
From CBS Chicago:
- Bruce Levine writes about how everyone 40 or older has an Ernie Banks meet-and-greet story, and nobody ever came away disappointed.
- Lou Piniella was on the Boers and Bernstein show on Friday and said that Joe Maddon will bring a winner back to Chicago, but he expects Maddon to find the job a little bit tougher than managing in Tampa Bay.
From the Chicago Tribune via RedEye Chicago:
- [VIDEO] Former Cub teammate George Altman remembered his time with Ernie Banks.
- [VIDEO] Banks' 32-year golf pro Dewey Lewis also spoke about his relationship with Mr. Cub.
- Paul Sullivan was also at the memorial service on Saturday and noted a common theme from people he saw there, that being Banks' ability to relate to everyday people from all walks of life.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- Dan McGrath writes that while Mr. Cub is fitting for Ernie Banks, Mr. Chicago would be just as fitting.
- Grant DePorter recalls Banks' bucket list and notes that Banks had crossed several things off of that list in the past few years.
From the Daily Herald:
- A constant theme over the past week has been the never-ending smile of Ernie Banks regardless of the situation, and Burt Constable notes that unwavering smile even when he had reasons not to do so.
From Cubs Den:
- In case you're wondering what Jim Edmonds is up to lately, apparently he will be appearing on the upcoming season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County". Oh, and his wife will also be there, too.
- Could the Cubs potentially be interested in lefty reliever Drake Britton who was recently designated for assignment by the Red Sox?
- John Arguello continues his 2015 Organizational Preview with a look at the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
From Chicago Cubs 101:
- Tim Duxbury looks at the rotation for the upcoming season and notes that it could rival the rotation from the 2003 playoff team. All I know is that I feel sorry for whoever has to play the role of Shawn Estes.
From Cubs Insider:
- With the recent release of the PECOTA projections showing the Cubs missing the playoffs by a single game, Evan Altman recalls his prediction of 85 wins for the 2015 squad and says that they will have two serious obstacles to overcome: youth and strikeouts.
Today's food for thought:
- A meteorite that landed in the Moroccan desert in 2011 is now believed to be a chunk of dark crust from the planet Mars that dates back 4.4 billion years.
- When you lose weight, where does the fat actually go?
- Nowadays it seems like there's a pill for everything, but I haven't yet seen one to resuscitate someone that has seemingly drowned. They had a different way of doing things back in 1748, and back then the answer was to administer -- no, I'm not making this up -- a tobacco smoke enema.