Here the 8 Stories we believe you should read today as you get ready to watch the NFL playoffs this weekend (Note: None of these stories are about the NFL playoffs):

Hilarity Ensues: Rob Neyer took a look at Curt Schilling’s claims that his Republican-ness cost him Hall of Fame votes. And then learns Schilling was just kidding. All’s well.

Click Bait: Sporting News picks the Cubs to win the World Series. In 2015. This year.

The Nerve: Egad! Alex Rodriguez is working out for the upcoming season, and Craig Calcaterra notes that this has the New York media clutching its pearls.

Fight: Yankees prospect Ty Hensley was brutally beaten by a Weber State football player in an argument about professional sports signing bonuses.

Changeup: Eno Sarris asks if the changeup has a strikeout problem.

Free To Sign: MLB won’t stop the Dodgers from signing Chin-hui Tsao, much to the chagrin of the LA Times columnists.

Buccos: Pat Lackey looks at the expectations for the Pirates in 2015.

Commerce: Finally, Bleacher Nation has some pretty cool new t-shirts.

And happy birthday to Ivan de Jesus (62), Otis Nixon (56) and Stan Javier (51).