TCR Contests

You ask, I deliver.

It's that time again, although I'm a little late getting this up. Hopefully no one will sign immediately in the next couple of days. I added 3 names to the MLB contest to keep it at 15 like years past. Click here if the embedded form doesn't work.

Time once again for TCR's prediction contest, 21 questions plus two tiebreakers. One person put in an entry when I posted the preliminary questions in the comments, you need to resubmit your answers.

Once again we piggyback on MLB.com's Free Agent Frenzy contest. MLB picks the 15 free agents, you pick the team and then rank them by confidence levels, 15 being the most confident, 1 being the least confident. The submission form is after the jump, otherwise you can follow this link. Be sure to include your name on the bottom and include your email if you want me to contact you directly and don't check the site all the time. The form will not check for duplicate confidence value points, so please check your work (I recommend writing them down first). Entries will be closed on November 23rd at 4pm CST like the official contest OR when the first free agent from the list signs. Whichever comes first. Good luck.

In a close vote to decide the Official¹ TCR Nickname for our Middle Infielders, we can now announce that with 100% of the 66 votes counted, the winner is....

It's time for another TCR contest. 10 questions which you need to enter on this google spreadsheet. Just enter your name below the last entry and fill-in your response. It should auto-save as you enter your answers. I short-handed the questions on the spreadsheet, but here are the full questions (10 pts for each correct answer):

1) Total regular season wins for the team (10 pts for the correct answer, subtract 1 pt for each win you're off by)

2) First player on the original 25-man roster to the disabled list?

3) Most HR's by a Cub in 2009?

4) Most Stolen Bases by a Cub in 2009?

5) Which Cub will finish highest in the NL MVP Voting?

6) First player to be called up from the minor leagues?

7) Most wins by a Cubs pitcher?

8) Most plate appearances for the Cubs in the #2 spot in the lineup?

9) Most plate appearances for the Cubs in the #8 spot in the lineup?

10) Most innings pitched by a Cub?

Tie-break question) Innings pitched by Jeff Samardzija in the majors? (Closest wins)

I don't have a prize yet but I'll figure out something by the time this is complete after the NL MVP voting. Question #2 depends on the original 25-man roster, so if they put Rich Harden on before or as they announce the final roster, that doesn't count, so you might wait to answer that or go back and change it before the entry period closes. I assume I can trust everyone not to cheat and edit other people's entries. I will ask everyone to check their answers after I do close it which will be after the first pitch on Monday against the Astros.

Good luck.

I mentioned it when Manny signed with the Dodgers, but here are the final standings for our Free Agent Frenzy contest for this season. Congrats to "CincyKid" for the win, you are the proud owner of "Crazy '08" by Cait Murphy. Email me your address so I can send your prize out.

I always had this idea about the phrase "and more". When I first started out here in Los Angeles, I was editing commercials for musical artists, not really my thing, I'm more a movie guy, and it didn't help that about 99% of the artists were trash and the music industry is darker than a snuff film.

So we did a lot of compilation albums, soundtracks for stuff like "The Matrix" or all the Grammy artists, etc, stuff you're sure to have seen at some point. And all these albums would list like four to eight of the more popular artists or songs , something like (in your best Don LaFontaine voice) - Marilyn Manson, Deftones, Rob Zombie, Rage Against the Machine, And More!- acknowledging the bands whose agents weren't as good to get them advertised, but at least they made the album. So the sort of inside joke I always had with my bosses at the time was that if I were to ever start a band, I would call it "And More".

Think about it, you'd be listed on nearly every music soundtrack or compilation CD commercial ever done. Do a little viral Internet video and instant buzz for your group.
So to the would-be rock stars in our readership looking for a band name, you're welcome, let me know how it goes. And if you don't like "And More", I recommend "Skull-Fuck Cedeno", "Gay Witchcraft", "Bees" or "Johann's Mom".

FA Frenzy update "and more" after the jump...

Here's an update on the Free Agent Frenzy contest.

Here's the final entries for the TCR Free Agent Frenzy Contest.

Lou Piniella won he NL Manager of the Year award today. Always a curious award that seems to honor lowered expectations than actual managing skill. Nonetheless, Piniella takes the honor and will likely just dump it into the spare closet as I'm sure he couldn't care less after the playoff debacle.

He would have probably gotten my first place vote as I thought the Cubs were about an 88-win team to start the year, so the Cubs certainly exceeded my expactations. Tony LaRussa was the only other manager that probably deserved some first place votes, but he finished 5th in the voting.

Time for another shot at wonderful prizes with the TCR Free Agent Frenzy Contest. MLB.com actually runs it and we just piggyback off of them, but it's been great fun. The prize this year for first place is a brand new copy of Cait Murphy's Crazy '08, which I know Dr. Hecht strongly endorses.

We've upscaled it this year and you can enter your choices by filling in this survey. A few things to note, it's limited to 100 responses although we've never had more than that. Second, it won't double check your work so if you put the same confidence level on two players, your ballot will be thrown out. If you wish, feel free to put your choices in the comments as well for a backup and so we can all mock you.

Best of luck...

Enough with the April Fool's Day hijinx, time to hand out some prizes from some of our past contests.

MLB '08: The Show PS3 Giveaway

It was a simple 6 question contest with a tiebreaker and three folks got all six correct, with another six getting five correct answers. Unfortunately I only have five games to give as prizes, so it came down to the tiebreaker for those who got five correct. Before I reveal the winners, the correct answers:

I was recently forwarded a copy of Sony's MLB '08: The Show for review. I have to admit I was a bit giddy over getting a free copy since I grew up on baseball video games, starting with Hardball on the Commodore 64. Up until about three years ago, I would still pretty much play a full season out on EA's MVP Baseball 2005. This was my first games since then, so pardon me if I'm a little behind the times.

I requested a PS2 copy since I've yet to take the plunge for a PS3, and quickly popped in my copy when it arrived via FedEx. The intro montage that is common with all video games was as snazzy as ever, highlighting the milestones over the past year. Thome, Thomas and A-Rod hitting 500, Sosa hitting 600, Glavine's 300 and so forth. Noticeably missing was Craig Biggio's 3000th hit, something that gave me a smile. I imagine it had more to do with a contract with the players union which he is no longer a member of since his retirement, but I still appreciated the slight of a long-term Cubs nemesis.

The menu screen popped up and you have all your expected features, franchise and season modes, exhibition, home run derby, manager mode and so on. I went with the "Quick Game" just to get started and picked the Pirates versus the Cubs at Wrigley.

There's quite an extended intro if you want from the announcers as they set-up the game and go through the lineups. The ballpark render looked decent, albeit unspectacular. I do imagine they look better on PS3 version. I studied up on the basics and was ready to play.