Email a copy of 'Free Agent Prediction Contest Deadline Tonight' to a friend
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By Tim Dierkes | at
Email a copy of 'Free Agent Prediction Contest Deadline Tonight' to a friend
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matt mccarron
Cubs don’t sign a big 3 starter, but get Hamels.
MB923
Are you saying that they won’t sign them because they won’t have interest or because they prefer to sign elsewhere?
I’d be surprised if Lester did not go to the Cubs or Red Sox. Maybe it’s been reported already, but I have no clue what Scherzer or Shields prefer.
robbyb
Sherzer, Harang and Brett Anderson were the toughest of my picks and maybe Bonafacio.. not that I am correct, but trying to figure them out was the toughest of my choices..
5150bosox
Some of us old schoolers don’t have Facebook. We should still be allowed to participate.
Jeff Todd
I created a facebook account just for this last year. It really didn’t take long. And I don’t use it at all otherwise.
5150bosox
I’m not going to join facebook for this or anything else. still don’t think its right to force someone to join. Do you get a kickback?
Yankees420
What difference does it make if MLBTR gets a kickback? And no one is forcing you to do anything, if you don’t want to create an account, then you don’t get to play in the contest, it’s really rather straightforward. Generally, contests where prizes are given away for free, they have rules and regulations. And I’m among those that does not use Facebook, but when this contest came out 3(?) years ago, I created one with an email address that I no longer use. Never had any issues with it.
Jeff Todd
So … don’t join then? I have no personal financial stake in whether or not a handful of MLBTR readers join facebook just to participate in this contest. Was just trying to encourage it to someone who doesn’t want to use facebook but wants to participate (as I did).
I also don’t know whether the contest has some kind of particular revenue element, but obviously MLBTR is a business. Should I be accused of seeking a kickback if I encourage someone to click a link and read something I wrote on the site? This is just how the internet works.
martinfv2
Here’s the deal.
1. The contest doesn’t make us money…we lose money on it (the prize money). It’s for fun, engagement, and bragging rights.
2. You have to be able to save some picks and go back later and retrieve them, so you need to log into something. Facebook has an infrastructure in place already and probably 2/3 of our readers are on it. So we don’t have to spend money creating our own proprietary thing when I don’t generally have plans or a reason to make people log into MLBTR otherwise.
3. Most people on FB use their real name or something resembling it, resulting in a real-looking leaderboard instead of a thing loaded with handles (that I’d probably have to moderate for foul language and the like).
4. There’s not some kind of mandate that you have to become an actual committed FB user or something. It’s just a tool for logging in and saving picks. I only have access to email addresses, so I can email the winners and send them checks. You might be opposed to the concept of FB and social media, and that’s fine, but it’s being employed here as a login tool. To me you’re mostly saying you want to play in this contest without logging into anything, and I don’t see how that’s possible. If that is your goal, just play the contest offline with a pencil and paper and the same top 50 and deadline, and you can see how you stack up that way.
5150bosox
Tim and jeff,
thanks for the info…good luck to all! Yankees420, nobody was talking to you. Get a life!
Jeff Todd
I asked around a bit, and the driving force behind the facebook function is basically the practicality of running this fun, free contest without having to create a whole infrastructure, moderate everyone’s handles, etc.
FWIW
Steve Adams
I can vouch for this. My friend request to Jeff has been pending for about 11 months. The man has willpower. Either that or he just doesn’t like me. It’s probably the latter.
Jeff Todd
Who are you and why are you so insistent about being pretend “friends” on some dumb web thingy? Is facebook the same as myspace?
DippityDoo
How much does it cost to participate? might make a facebook to play.
Puig Power
$0
Yankees420
A little too rich for my blood.
Santiago
Can I participate from Spain??
Jeff Todd
Por supuesto.
Are you a Spaniard or of a different nationality? There can’t be all that many MLB followers in Spain!
Santiago
Jajajajaja born and raised. And no, Im starting to think that Im the only follower in the whole country. Started to see some baseball in the 2008 ALCS and absolutely fallen in love with the game. Its hard because of the time zone. Also a big fan of this website, accidentaly found it a couple years ago and now I visit at least four or five times per day. Keep up the hard work!
Infield Fly
Started to see some baseball in the 2008 ALCS and absolutely fallen in love with the game.
That is great, but definitely you are not completely alone. There is a fan around here called “Dave In Spain” or something like that.
Do you have any favorite teams?
Santiago
Yeah, I meant spaniards. Im guessing “Dave in Spain” is not from around here
And answering to your question….yes, I do have a favourite, of course, the Red Sox, to the point that if Im able, I follow Pawtucket games on the internet too.
Infield Fly
Im guessing “Dave in Spain” is not from around here”
Quite possibly, but you never know (people often take nicknames trying to fit in).
As for your Sox, you have interesting times ahead, rebuilding. However a lot of teams are in that situation.
I follow Pawtucket games on the internet too.
Thanks goodness for the internet, no? It may not always be convenient but at least it makes watching baseball in other countries and time zones possible.
Jeff Todd
That’s awesome! Glad to count you as a reader.
xnick777x
How do we see the standings?
Steve Adams
There’s a “Leaderboard” link on the bottom right corner of where you make your picks. Going there will allow you to sort by overall rankings, your ranking among the people you’re friends with who have also participated in the contest and also sort to see how the MLBTR staff has fared in our predictions as well.
Jeff Todd
That will be linked to once the contest is finalized.