Best Yardbarker, Oct. 31-Nov. 5

It was a big week for Chicago with the Cubs ending their 108-year drought, and it was a big week here at Yardbarker as well, what with us predicting Game 7 going into extra innings (even if we thought that meant a Indians win).

Given all that happened this first week of November, it's only appropriate to highlight some of what went down here at Yardbarker, beginning with that wild World Series finish.

For starters, it's a new day in Chicago, and here's why the Cubs' had the greatest postseason run ever: "In all, only two 100 win teams since the turn of the century even made it to the World Series at all, so they had already defied expectation in one regard. Yet when they got to the postseason, they were as tried as any other team within it, having two series go the full duration and having to twice come back from multi-game deficits in the National League Championship and World Series. The Cubs were able to have successful runs as a dominant, regular season force, while also being able to get their hands dirty and grind through the playoffs. That is commendable (and rare) diversity."

Sadly for the Indians, it's anything but a new day for them or their fans: "This marks the second time in as many World Series appearances that the Indians have lost in a Game 7 situation. The last was in 1997, when the Florida Marlins won on an Edgar Renteria single, which also came in extra innings. Perhaps the pain of this one is not as severe, for it was not a loss of the walk-off variety. Then again, this one happened at home and after they had mounted an improbable comeback via Davis’s home run versus Aroldis Chapman."

It's also not a new day for the players we tried to save at the NFL trade deadline, both on offense and defense: "Sorry, not sorry, Jets fans. Todd Bowles and Chan Gailey don’t deserve to have a talent like Brandon Marshall on the roster."

The NFL trade deadline came and went with little fanfare, other than the Patriots getting rid of yet another Pro Bowler for seemingly no logical reason by trading Jamie Collins to the Browns. All the players we tried to move remain on their respective teams.

Just as little typically changes at the NFL trade deadline, little changes when it comes to the top of the college football totem pole. Such is the case again, as Alabama sits No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season: "Alabama is no surprise as the top team in the nation in this official ranking. Not only is it one vote away from being a unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll, it has been DESTROYING ranked teams since the beginning of the season. The Crimson Tide’s impressive resume includes dominating wins over ranked USC, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Still, they need to be careful whom they lose to if they fall. The selection committee places a lot of value on conference championships, and a loss against LSU or Auburn could kill their chances of playing in the title game and the national semi-finals."

Shifting gears a bit, given all the talk and hot takes surrounding the Montreal Canadiens dealing the wildly popular and talented — if oft-criticized — P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber in a one-for-one star defenseman swap, the Habs actually have one of the deepest defensive units in the NHL so far this young season, led by Weber himself: "Plus it’s no secret that Shea Weber is thriving on Montreal’s blue line, not just from a defensive standpoint but also from an offensive one."

Oh, and the NFL also happened to hit its halfway point, and we here at YB got you covered. We looked at the biggest winners and biggest losers at the midway point.

Winner: "Jack Del Rio - he's gone from a laughingstock to one of the more daring coaches in the league, even if it's partially because his team's defense sucks. Still, he's got the Raiders playing well and got to beat up on his former team in Jacksonville."

Loser: "What happened to you, Carolina? You used to be cool."

Not so cool? The 2016 election cycle, which has been wrought with negativity everywhere you look. That's why we took at stab at which athletes would be the best candidates to run for office: