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I'd like to once again thank Al for filling in for me on short notice on Thursday. A couple of things popped up for me at the last minute last week, but all is well at the La Croix household. I hope everyone had a great New Year, and now it's on to 2015!
Now if we could just get some news, that would be spectacular. But here's the latest from around the web:
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- The Oregon Ducks scored a touchdown in Thursday's Rose Bowl against the Florida State Seminoles. Well, actually, they scored quite a few of them (sorry, Erik). But what made this particular one interesting was that the play card had a Cubs logo on it. Only one thing could have made it better and that would have been if it said "PRAISE THEO" on it. Get to work, Photoshoppers!
From CBS Chicago:
- Ben Zobrist continues to get press, this time with Bruce Levine saying that Zobrist would be a great fit on both sides of Chicago.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- It's not Cub-related, but many people had asked what the number one story on the Sun-Times Top 10 of 2014 list would be with the signing of Jon Lester coming in at number seven and the hiring of Joe Maddon coming in at number four. And the winner: Jackie Robinson West winning the U.S. Little League Championship.
From Cubs Den:
- John Arguello looks ahead to the 2015 season with Maddon at the helm and makes a comparison to the Tampa Bay Rays' breakout season of 2008 when they jumped 31 wins from their 2007 season.
- He also looks at the moves that have already been made, where the roster stands, and what's still possibly to come before next season begins.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- CCO takes a look back at the discussions about the Cubs from Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer at various radio outlets after the end of last season.
- They also look at the boxes that are still unchecked on the offseason to-do list.
From Cubbies Crib:
- Nicholas Blazek analyzes Jason Motte and where he expects Motte to fit in the Cubs' bullpen.
- Hey, remember that Emilio Bonifacio guy? I think his name came up in a comment or two recently. David Miniel thinks that he deserves a second shot.
From Chicago Cubs 101:
- Tim Duxbury presents his list of Cubs New Year's resolutions for 2015.
From Cubs Insider:
- Ryan Davis also presents his list of Cubs New Year's resolutions for 2015.
- I thought Bold Predictions were Tim Duxbury's thing, but Evan Altman has 10 of his own for the 2015 season.
- Not to be outdone, Ryan Davis comes back with his 10 Probable Predictions of 2015.
Miscellaneous:
- Can the Cubs hit well enough to contend in 2015? And did Chris Coghlan put a "u" in his last name sometime recently?
Today's food for thought:
- The image in this story was not created by a volcano or a meteor. So what created it?
- Want to learn sign language, but having a hard time doing it? Maybe these cute doodles can help you out.
- Food meets carnage: Perhaps you got a World's Largest Gummy Bear this past Christmas. Maybe you don't like gummy bears. At all. Perhaps you also have some liquid nitrogen laying around somewhere, as well as a 12-gauge shotgun. What could possibly happen if you combine these things together?