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Decisions, decisions. Sometimes they are easy. Sometimes they aren’t. A couple of prime examples came to mind Friday (Nov. 2). One involved the New York City Marathon; one involved the Chicago Cubs and a trade they made — well, almost.
Keeping abreast of Cubs happenings can be challenging.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg had said the city’s marathon would go on as scheduled. It would lift the spirit of those affected by the devastating disaster that Sandy brought. It would be like 2001 when the race went off weeks after Sept. 11.
Except it wouldn’t. Not when New Yorkers in 2012 still were in need of help days after the hurricane hit the East Coast.
And so Bloomberg reconsidered.
“We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it,” he and race organizer New York Road Runners said in a statement. “We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event — even one as meaningful as this — to distract attention away from all the critically important work being done to recover from the storm.”
Before the late-afternoon announcement, there had been much criticism of the decision to hold the race. And it was tough to argue with the sentiment for canceling the race. Ultimately, Bloomberg made the correct call about cancelling the race.
Something says the 2013 New York City Marathon will far overshadow the 2012 version that never was.
It was either a photo of Dan Haren, Carlos Marmol or these lovely ladies from Playboy’s Halloween party. Ah, such difficult decisions.
Speaking of things that never were, how about the Cubs trading reliever Carlos Marmol to the Los Angeles Angels. Right-hander Dan Haren was going to Chicago to bolster the starting rotation. The wonderful world of Twitter had that scoop. Well, until that report no longer was a scoop.
From @ESPNBruceLevine there was this: Carlos Marmol has been traded to the Angels by the Cubs.
Which might have been the case. Just as the Cubs trading pitcher Ryan Dempster to the Atlanta Braves during the 2012 was the case. Except for one minor detail. The deal was not completely done. And subsequently became undone.
Once upon a time in journalism class, professors taught the overriding basic concern of reporting: Get it right.
Not necessarily get it first, although back in the good, old days getting it first was certainly a goal. Just as being first nowadays is. But the rush to be the first in print (even cyberspace variety) is too tantalizing to let the facts get in the way of a good tweet or posting on the Web.
Other outlets indicated the trade was made but with the caveat of “source” for attibution regarding the Marmol deal. And then, time passed; and with it, a deadline for the Angels to pick up his option. And the Angels did not pick up the option, did not trade Haren and did pay him his $3.5 million buyout.
So rather than deal away Marmol, the Cubs do not have Haren, and they still have Marmol. With Haren a free agent, he still could sign with the Cubs. Why he would do so is anybody’s guess. The Boston Red Sox also were interested in trading for him and may go after him in free agency.
It’s difficult to tell which is the greater disappointment in Cubsland: not obtaining Haren or not dealing away Marmil. OK, it’s not all the difficult to discern.
Cubs fans still can hold onto the glimmer of hope that trading Marmol would bring. And you probably thought they had so little to look forward to this offseason.
OK, so this is as close to exercising as some of us get:
Because of some technical difficulty, we had problems with trying to add more videos for today’s effort. If the situation becomes resolved, there should be an ample supply tomorrow.
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