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 Friday, February 05, 2010
Implications of UD vs. MLB case will be huge
Posted by Tuff Stuff
For those of you interested in following the recent developments in the
Upper Deck vs. MLB lawsuit, good luck. It seems anyone with any
information regarding the lawsuit has been taken in by the Witness
Protection Program, with officials from all of the parties involved
going the "no comment" route more often than Peyton Manning calls audibles.
If you haven't been following the story, I'll give you the short-version  recap. Last week Upper Deck released two of its baseball products,
Ultimate Collection and Signature Stars, despite not being licensed by
Major League Baseball. UD does have a license (MLBPA) to use the player images
seen on cards but because Topps has the exclusive license with MLB and
UD does not, the UD cards aren't legally allowed to use the team's
trademarked nicknames and logos. So UD produced the two sets with a
written disclaimer that reads: "NOT authorized by Major League Baseball
or it Member Teams" placed on the packaging and each of the sets'
cards.
They also carefully selected the images they used so that the nicknames
 and logos used on the player's jerseys were partially hidden in an
effort to comply with the licensing restraints. Lastly, the cards never
used the team nicknames which are also trademarked, only listing a
player's team by the city (For example, a Prince Fielder card lists him as a first baseman for Milwaukee with no mention of the Brewers). While covered (or partially covered) on the
jerseys the logos are clearly visible in the player's caps. Another
difference on the UD releases is the absence of an MLB logo anywhere on
the card but other than those subtle changes, none of the releases
appear much different from their licensed Topps' counterparts.
Almost as soon as the products hit the store shelves, distributors were
asked by MLB to stop selling the products because they weren't licensed
and MLB decided to sue Upper Deck for trademark infringement
violations. The lawsuit was made official early in the week of Feb. 1
but by week's end distributors were again selling the unlicensed products because MLB was denied the Temporary Restraining Order
(TRO) it was seeking by the courts.
When the products were first released, I indicated that Upper Deck must
be banking on a legal loophole or they wouldn't have stirred the pot by
releasing the products in the first place. Fresh off their court battle
with Konami in which they apparently lost several millions, few would
imagine UD would want to head right back to the courtroom for another
costly battle if they didn't think they had the necessary ammunition to
come out victorious. And now that the TRO has been denied, it appears
that perhaps Uppper Deck does have a way around the lack of MLB license
issue. And if they do, it could change the sports card landscape as we
know it.
If, and because this case will likely linger in court for several
years, that's one big if, the court finds that companies are legally
able to produce cards with only a Major League Players Association
license and not an accompanying license from the league itself, the
case will produce ramifications that ripple through the entire world of
professional sports. One important change a court ruling in favor of UD
would produce would be a huge shift in importance of the MLBPA license. Moving forward, it would then give the players all the leverage in dealing with card companies instead of the league as it is now. It would basically make the league license an unnecessary expense with the MLBPA license fees likely soaring out of control soon after. It would also force the leagues (MLB, NBA, NHL) that have signed exclusive deals with one specific card company to refund the huge amonts of dollars they receive annual, thus making exclusives obsolete.
And how would a favorable UD decision in court affect other areas of the sports world? As it stands now for example, team stores and pro shops pay large sums of money each year to sell officially licensed team apparel. If UD wins the case and its found they don't need a license from the league to sell baseball cards, wouldn't that then mean that other types of distributors don't need to be licensed by the leagues to sell their products? Not exactly sure, but I'll guarantee you if UD wins this case, other companies will be standing in line and challenge the system as well. We're talking about billions of dollars and a monumental case with implications reaching every avenue of the sports world. And because we're talking about billions, you can bet that the leagues will do everything in their power to keep things status quo.
I'll keep trying to get our readers updates on the latest twists and turns of this ongoing saga, but with most of the people involved guarding their words like the government did in the wake of 9/11, it could be tricky.
Friday, February 05, 2010 6:49:44 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) 
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Beat the Blogger Picks
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger's total of 4 and beat the field to win this week's contest.
This
week's matchups are posted below and all are Super Bowl related to help you get ready for the big game. So make sure you get your picks posted
before the start of Sunday's game to be eligible to a win. If we can get more than 200 contestants this week I'll give away 4 autographed photos and one box of Upper Deck Football Heroes trading cards to one lucky winner.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars
to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the
Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the
challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
This week's winners are posted
below and this week's matchups will be posted later today so make sure
you check back and get your picks posted before the start of the
first game to be eligible to win this week's prize. As always, good
luck.
While I
enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly
winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants
will now b e asked to predict the total score from the last game on the
list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner). I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier.
For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest,
the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then
selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants
enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler"
and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget
to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning.
If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter
and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.
This week's matchups with Blogger's picks in parenthesis
Sunday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl
More Touchdown Passes: Manning (Indy)
More Rushing Yards: Joseph Addai (Indy)
Most Receiving Yards: Marques Colston (N.O.)
Most Sacks (team): New Orleans
Most Fumbles (lost): Indianapolis
Most First Downs: Indianapolis
Most Tackles made: Jonathan Vilma (N.O.)
Most Penalty Yards: New Orleans
Coin Flip: Tails
Longest Touchdown: New Orleans (Doubler)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Super Bowl game (64)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010 2:21:54 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
What's next for Upper Deck?
Posted by Tuff Stuff
By now, many of you have heard the news that Upper Deck is on its way back to the courtroom. Fresh on the heels of its costly lawsuit with Konami for producing counterfeit Yu Gi Oh cards, UD finds itself heading back to court for alleged trademark infringement regarding its recently released baseball card products. (TO READ MORE, click here)
After UD released its 2009 Ultimate Collection and Signature Stars Baseball products last week, many who saw the products wondered how the card company could produce featuring MLB logos despite the fact that they didn't have a license to do so. Well, less than a week later MLB has responded with a lawsuit against UD coming days after sending a letter to distributors asking them to stop selling the products and return them to the card maker.
While Upper Deck has the right to use the images of MLB players on its cards, according to the exclusive deal MLB signed with Topps, UD is not licensed to produce cards with MLB logos attached which brought on the suit. While UD's two new products, and I'm assuming the four remaining baseball card releases scheduled to hit the market, do come with the disclaimer "these products are not licensed by Major League Baseball," did UD really believe by placing a statement like that on the products that they could get around the licensing issue?
Perhaps their thinking was that if they unveiled the 2009 products in 2010 they would be free to use the logos because they could claim the sets were produced in 2009 when UD was still licensed with the MLB. Or perhaps they consulted their team of lawyers prior to bullrushing the 2010 baseball card market and have been assured they have a legal loophole up their sleeves that would allow them to continue to produce the unlicensed logoed cards.
Maybe UD thought they could get the products out on the market and create enough of a buzz about them that the demand for them would exceed the financial damages of another court case. As all collectors realize, now that a lawsuit has been filed by MLB, the two products released (and likely any remaining scheduled 2010 UD Baseball releases) will be pulled from the shelves. The limited run could make them much more sought after by collectors looking for a limited release and demand could be huge, sending values through the roof.
Perhaps this legal loophole would allow UD to continue to produced unlicensed cards that include logos and ultimately leave Topps wondering why they dipped so deep into their bank account to get the exclusive license in the first place.
While it will take some time to answer all the questions posed here, one thing is for certain. Either Upper Deck is going to come out of all this looking really smart or really stupid. Only time will tell so stay tuned to www.tuffstuff.com for updates on this story.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010 5:19:19 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Monday, February 01, 2010
Beat the Blogger matchups
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger's total of 4 and beat the field to win this week's contest.
This
week's matchups are posted below and all are Super Bowl related to help you get ready for the big game. So make sure you get your picks posted
before the start of Sunday's game to be eligible to a win. If we can get more than 200 contestants this week I'll give away 4 autographed photos and one box of Upper Deck Football Heroes trading cards to one lucky winner.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars
to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the
Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the
challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
This week's winners are posted
below and this week's matchups will be posted later today so make sure
you check back and get your picks posted before the start of the
first game to be eligible to win this week's prize. As always, good
luck.
While I
enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly
winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants
will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the
list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner). I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier.
For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest,
the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then
selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants
enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler"
and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget
to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning.
If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter
and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.
This week's matchups with Blogger's picks in parenthesis
Sunday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl
More Touchdown Passes: Drew Brees (N.O.) or Peyton Manning (Indy)
More Rushing Yards: Joseph Addai (Indy) or Pierre Thomas (N.O.)
Most Receiving Yards: Marques Colston (N.O.) or Pierre Garcon (Indy)
Most Sacks (team): Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most Fumbles (lost): Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most First Downs: Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most Tackles made: Jonathan Vilma (N.O.) or Clint Sessions (Indy)
Most Penalty Yards: Indianapolis or New Orleans
Coin Flip: Heads or Tails
Longest Touchdown: Indianapolis or New Orleans
Tiebreaker: Total points in Super Bowl game ( )
Monday, February 01, 2010 3:23:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Beat the Blogger results
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Congratulations to Dana Boisvert, who scored a 9 last week to Beat the Blogger's total of 6 and won by virtue of her tie-breaker pick.
This
week's matchups will be posted below shortly so make sure check back and you get your picks posted
before the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.
Thanks to
all
that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let's try
and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week's
winner being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.
With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars
to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the
Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the
challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
This week's winners are posted
below and this week's matchups will be posted later today so make sure
you check back and get your picks posted before the start of the
first game to be eligible to win this week's prize. As always, good
luck.
While I
enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly
winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants
will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the
list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner). I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier.
For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest,
the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then
selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants
enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler"
and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget
to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning.
If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter
and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.
This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 30/Sunday, Jan. 31
NCAA Mens Basketball
Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Kentucky)
Kansas at Kansas State (Kansas)
Duke at Georgetown (Georgetown)
NBA Basketball
Atlanta at Orlando (Orlando)
New York at Washington (Washington)
Portland at Dallas (Portland)
Charlotte at Sacramento (Charlotte)
NHL Hockey
Detroit at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
Phoenix at Dallas (Phoenix)
NFL Pro Bowl
AFC vs. NFC (AFC)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Pro Bowl game (75)
Monday, February 01, 2010 2:51:22 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Upper Deck vs. Topps yet again: GAME ON
Posted by Tuff Stuff
While it came as a shock to nobody who pays attention to the sports
card business, Upper Deck released its 2009 Signature Stars Baseball
and Ultimate Collection Baseball products this week and the questions
concerning the sets are only outnumbered by the carefully selected
images used within them.
One of the first questions I had after
taking a look at the unauthorized product was why is the set designated
2009 when it's released in 2010? My next question is why did Upper Deck
go to the pain-staking lengths of  picking
player photos where the team name is covered and didn't bother to take
the next step and blur or air-brush out the logos on the helmets and
jerseys?
The five-card packs (Stars and Signatures) come with a disclaimer of "NOT
authorized by Major League Baseball or its Member Teams" peppered
throughout the cards, packs and boxes. I guess that's UD's way of
letting us know they don't have an exclusive license because a quick look at the
cards would have many begging to differ. In the past when licensing
issues permitted manufacturers from using MLB logos, the common
practice was to blur the logos to make them
indistinguisable or air-brush them out altogether. Signature Stars
went as far as to make sure each player pose used has the team name or
nickname covered on the front of the player's jerseys, but as you can
see in the image displayed, they didn't use the available technology to
hide the team logos featured on helmets of jerseys. The cards also only
display the team name (eg. Atlanta/Pitcher on card displayed at right)
with no mention of the team nicknames displayed anywhere on any of the
cards.
Why would UD only go halfway to ensure they stayed within
the limitations you ask? Won't that force Topps, MLB or both to seek
legal action against them? Well, if the MLB's statement regarding UD's
Signature Stars and Ultimate Collection products is any indication, the
litigation wheels are already in motion.
“We are surprised and disappointed that Upper Deck, a former partner of
ours, would violate our contract by clearly using our intellectual
property without our permission. “We will vigorously use all legal means to protect the intellectual property of Major League Baseball and its member Clubs,” said the statement issued by Matt Bourne MLB’s Vice President of Business Public Relations.
Another
curious choice made by Upper Deck was why not do the typical
promotional effort in leading up to the release date? In fact, if you
go to the UD website today, other than a brief listing with the release
date for Ultimate Collection being Jan. 26, there is no mention of
its new Signature Stars set at all and images from neither product are displayed.
Coincidence, not bloody likely.
Obviously the folks at Upper
Deck were well aware that the two sets would be highly scrutinized and
likely challenged in the courtroom somewhere down the road. But by
designing the cards in the way they did, could UD have perhaps found a
legal loophole that would challenge the exclusive agreement and somehow render Topps' exclusive with MLB null and void and ultimately continue to produce baseball cards without ponying up the huge dollars it takes to land an exclusive?
Got a "no comment" from the folks at Topps regarding the issue and UD said the same. My guess is that the latest firestorm between the two card companies will likely continue to build momentum and will not be extinguished until millions dollars have been burned up in the courtroom. I'm also guessing that the millions of dollars it will take to try and get the exclusive contract voided and the likely subsequent backlash from the collecting public is viewed by the UD folks as a worthwhile battle. And let's not forget the old theory that any publicity is good publicity and the chance of these products eventually being ordered fro the store shelves could lead to a collecting frenzy and suddenly UD's rule violation suddenly looks like a small piece of a well-crafted plan. Because if that's not the case and UD doesn't have a legal loophole up it's sleeve, it appears they're setting themselves for a huge, costly battle they have very little chance of winning.
Not sure how this will all play out but one thing is for certain: it's deja vu all over again in the card-making business. Game on.
Friday, January 29, 2010 6:53:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Will the 'old' Favre ever resurface?
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Does anybody remember the old Brett Favre? Not the graying, wrinkled
and hobbled man that eventually made his way to the podium following
the Vikings' NFC Championship loss to the Saints on Sunday. Not that
guy, he's a phony. You know, the genuine guy with the smirky smile and
the country-boy personality that used to honestly break down the recap
of the game instead of the latest version who seems to come in with a
calculated, predetermined agenda that ultimately dreams he'd be treated
and evaluated as he had been in years past. You remember, the years
when he could literally do no wrong, he knew it and despite that, he
didn't seem to care if anybody criticized him because he was staying
true to himself and who he was.
Today's Favre, or Faux Favre as I call him, seems like he's more
interested in how he'll be viewed and what his legacy will be when
finally hangs it up and awaits a trip to Canton. And all that despite
his many words to the contrary. He insists he's comfortable in terms of
how he's currently being perceived and that he'll let his career speak
for itself, but yet every time somebody sticks a microphone in front of
him he blurts out something that leads you to believe that perception
is something he cares very deeply about. We've heard Favre say time and
time again that he doesn't worry that anything he does in these later
stages of his career will overshadow or tarnish all that he's
accomplished during his glory days in Green Bay, but yet everything he
says these days makes us beg to differ.
During Sunday's post-game conference in which Favre kept credentialed
media members waiting during his typical 15-minute delay, when he
wasn't busy working the crowd for sympathy with his teary-eyed comments,
Favre was busy trying to declaw the scribes who looked to devouring
him for his latest mistake.
"Of course, I can't print anything for you guys," he said, "but I know I'm going out on top, one way or the other."
The old Favre would've never even went there. He would've never
addressed his legacy and he would've never pleaded with the media to
call off the dogs because he wouldn't of cared what was written. He
would've manned up and said exactly what happened on the Vikings' last
offensive play. He would've said what we all saw and what we all knew
the moment he let that errant throw from his hand. He would've said
instead of opting for the safer, less-exciting option of hurling his
aching body forward and taking the four or five available yards and
giving his team a chance at a makeable field goal, that he instead went
for the Favresque play that consisted of locking on to his new go-to
guy (the third option on the play) and forcing an unorthodox throw into
tight coverage.
If he would've simply fessed up and admitted that's exactly what
happened, he would've been forgiven by the fans, the media, the
doubters and the single-minded haters that were actually hoping he
would fail. But instead of going that route and letting the old Favre
resurface, we saw the new Favre doing what new Favre does: subtly
implying that his decision was the right one despite the indisputably
wrong outcome.
The very essence of the love affair that most of had with the old Favre
was that he was nothing if not real. Just one of the guys, out there
having fun and gett'r done. In sports, superstars are built up to be
more than they actually are and unfortunately they can fall from that
rarified air even quicker. Brett Favre, old or new, will never
completely fall out favor with fans or the majority of the media, but
the new Favre is sure making it easier to forget about the reasons we
all liked this guy in the first place.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 5:42:57 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Beat the Blogger Matchups
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger's total of 4 and beat the field to win this week's contest.
This
week's matchups are posted below so make sure you get your picks posted
before the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.
Thanks to
all
that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let's try
and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week's
winner being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.
With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars
to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the
Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the
challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
This week's winners are posted
below and this week's matchups will be posted later today so make sure
you check back and get your picks posted before the start of the
first game to be eligible to win this week's prize. As always, good
luck.
While I
enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly
winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants
will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the
list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner). I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier.
For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest,
the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then
selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants
enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler"
and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget
to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning.
If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter
and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.
This week's matchups with Blogger's picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 30/Sunday, Jan. 31
NCAA Mens Basketball
Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Kentucky)(doubler)
Kansas at Kansas State (Kansas)
Duke at Georgetown (Duke)
NBA Basketball
Atlanta at Orlando (Atlanta)
New York at Washington (New York)
Portland at Dallas (Dallas)
Charlotte at Sacramento (Scaramento)
NHL Hockey
Detroit at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
Phoenix at Dallas (Dallas)
NFL Pro Bowl
AFC vs. NFC (AFC)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Pro Bowl game (58)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 3:07:03 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Beat the Blogger results
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 this week to Beat the Blogger's total of 4 and beat the field to win this week's contest.
This
week's matchups will be posted soon so make sure you check back to get your picks posted
before the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.
Thanks to
all
that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let's try
and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week's
winner being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.
With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I'm making a call to action to all of our regulars
to do some recruiting. While more people means more work for the
Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against, I welcome the
challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit 10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I'll triple the weekly prize. So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends and meet that goal and boost the prize.
Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/
This week's winners are posted
below and this week's matchups will be posted later today so make sure
you check back and get your picks posted before the start of the
first game to be eligible to win this week's prize. As always, good
luck.
While I
enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly
winner, from this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week's last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants
will now be asked to predict the total score from the last game on the
list and the closest to the actual score will be deemed the winner). I'll also require contestants to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners easier.
For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest,
the idea is simple. The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then
selects his choices for the winners of those matchups. Contestants
enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on the "Comment" section below the post with the matchups and then select their own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a "Doubler"
and you will receive an extra point if you're correct so don't forget
to designate your "Doubler" pick and increase your chances of winning.
If you Beat The Blogger's total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish Hunter
and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.
This week's matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 23/Sunday, Jan. 24
NCAA Mens Basketball
Duke at Clemson (Duke)
Ohio State at West Virginia (W. Virginia)
Texas at UConn (UConn)
NBA Basketball
Philadelphia at Indianapolis (Philadelphia)
Minnesota at Milwaukee (Millwaukee)
New Orleans at Denver (Denver)
NHL Hockey
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (Pittsburgh)
Dallas at Colorado (Colorado)
NFL Playoffs
NY Jets at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Minnesota at New Orleans (New Orleans)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Minnesota at New Orleans game (59)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 5:23:43 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Friday, January 22, 2010
We can handle the truth, just try us
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Just got the release from the Green Bay Packers front office stating
the team will be raising ticket prices next season. I'm not a
season-ticket holder but I do get to my share of games each year, went
to five at Lambeau and saw the Packers battle the Steelers at Heinz
Field so I definitely consider myself a fan of the team.
According to the information sent out, the increase will be $8-$11 per
ticket depending on which part of the bowl the tickets are located.
Packers' President Mark Murphy states in the letter that the increase,
the second such increase in the last two years, is crucial for the team
to "stay  competitive both on and off the field" and the adjusted rate
will bring the team closer to the NFL average. While I'm paraphrasing,
the letter adds that the increase will allow the team to focus its
financial resources toward a more competitive team and not be in the
disadvantage they were.
Now, the majority of Packer tickets will run you about $60 ($69 in
2010) which is fair and actually ranks 30th of the 32 NFL teams so I
have no problem with another increase. What I don't understand is why
Murphy felt it necessary to explain the team's actions. While there is
some truth to the reasoning Murphy provides and some will find the
"honesty" refreshing, those in the know realize that the real reason
for the increase is because the team is looking to stockpile some money
in case the impending 2011 lockout comes to fruition. And while that
makes financial sense and any good business will proactively address
its issues, for once it would be nice to have team officials come right
out and tell us the truth. It will never happen of course because the
team would then be asked to give the added revenue if there is no
lockout but one can always dream.
And the truly WTF statement that made me wonder how dumb they think the
fanbase is was the one stating it would "help the Packers become more
competitive both on and off the field." I understand the on-field
competitive factor, we all want that, more money means more
opportunities to be factor in the free-agent market and to resign their
own players. But being competitive with other NFL teams off the field?
Does that mean that the Packers are looking to upgrade the team
stationery or get a new color printer to keep up with the Cowboys?
Again, I understand that increases in ticket prices are going to happen
from time to time but it sure would be nice to have seen the memo sent
out something similar to this:
"We at the Green Bay Packers regret to inform you that we will be
increasing ticket prices by $8-$11 (most will be $11) per ticket for
the 2010 season. We realize we increased ticket prices less than two
years ago but we're 30th among the 32 NFL teams and we feel it's about
time the "Lambeau Field Experience" and its storied history is
compensated. We also need to cover our asses in case the uncapped
season of 2010 leads to a lockout in 2011 and there are no games being
played. At that time, instead of mass firings, we'll be able to gorge
the salaries of those who don't get the boot and survive until cooler
heads prevail and football resumes. We're also looking to acquire a
Darrell Revis-type cornerback in the free agent market and shut-down
corners don't come cheap. Unless you missed our swiss-cheese-like
defensive effort in the playoff game against the Cardinals, you know
that will be money well spent. Soi please no bitching about the
increase, you want to win a Super Bowl don't you? Go Pack go!"
Now that would be a team statement I could wrap my arms around. Sorry,
nodded off there for a second. What was I talking about?
Friday, January 22, 2010 7:07:55 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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