Blogger Bracket Challenge Begins NOW! See Your Writing Assignment and First Prompt!!

We had a fairly large turnout for the contest including a bunch of new faces to the challenge.  By my count, there are 24 contestants this time around (for comparison, last year we had 37 people).

Here's how the contest is going to work (for the most part, it'll run just like last year's contest):

Round 0:

Round 0 will be pool play.  With 24 people, I am going to split the players up into 6 groups (all groups will have 4 people).  The purpose of Round 0 is two-fold.  One, it will give everyone a chance to see how this works and two, it will allow for seeding for the real competition.  Round 0 will open tonight (see the bottom of the post for more details).

Round 1:

Round 1 marks the beginning of the bracket challenge.  As you all probably know, you can make a nice bracket with 2^n people (where n is a natural number).  16 is 2^4 but we have 24 people.  Since no one gets eliminated in Round 0, the bottom seeds will have three people in their bracket with only the top person moving on.  All other slots will be a 1v1 match-up with the winner moving on.  Once we get to Round 2, all match-ups will be 1v1.  Therefore, while no one gets eliminated in Round 0, you probably want to try your best so that you don't end up in a 3-way competition for a single spot in Round 1!

Now, on to the rules:

1.  You must write a post that somehow ties to the card for your group.  Creativity, humor, or whatever else you can fit in the post are all encouraged.  You may "steal" the card image from my blog for use in your post (this is encouraged as it will probably help your post make a bit more sense to your readers).
2.  Once you have written (and published) your post, leave a link to your entry on the current contest page.  For Round 0, that means you will leave a link to your post on this page.
3.  Once the deadline has passed (and each round will last 2-3 days), I will compile all the posts in a single page for voting.  At that point, everyone (whether you are a contestant or not) will vote.  For Rounds 1 and on, the highest vote getter will move on to the next round.  I will not vote, but my vote will break ties if necessary.  Therefore, bribes might help you.
4.  Once winners are announced, we move on to the next round where the process repeats itself.
5.  The one difference for Round 0 is that the number of votes will be used to determine seeding, not eliminations.  Again, in case of ties (which I expect there will be), I will be the sole tie-breaker.
6.  All decisions made by me are final.
7.  This contest is supposed to be fun.  There will be only one winner - but everyone will get at least two turns at writing something so hopefully everyone has a good time.  Keep it civil.  You may, however, encourage people to vote for you on your blog if you wish - but ALL MESSAGES, COMMENTS, ETC. MUST BE POSITIVE.  If I see anyone posting negative things about other participants, I will automatically disqualify them.  Sorry, but I want this to be fun!
8.  Winner gets two prizes:  The first will be a few cards of their favorite baseball team (and/or other cards from their want list that I may have).  The second prize for the winner should be fun - you get all the "spoils" of the contest.  That is, every card that I post as a writing prompt will go into a pile to be given to the winner of the entire contest.  That should make for a fun prize - plus you can display them as a trophy of sorts!  In addition, you can watch the prize pool grow with each round!

Good luck to all participants!

The Group Assignments and Your Card:
Note:  Make sure you are writing about the card for your group - I apologize if you'd rather write about a different card, them's the breaks!

Here's who is in (if I missed anyone from the original sign up post, please let me know and I'll add you in).  If I did miss anyone it was a mistake on my part because I'm in a hurry, not because of some personal slight or judgment against you!

Here's who we have participating (in order of signing up):
Play at the Plate
Al Kawamoto
The Junior Junkie
Red Cardboard
Backstop Cards
Mark Aubrey
CaptKirk42
petethan
J. Meeks
gcrl
Comatoad
Spiegel83
Cardhobbyist
The Diamond King
Jordan
The Prowling Cat
arpsmith
Brad's Blog
TTG
Stealing Home
Jason Pilarski
shlabotnikreport
McCann Can Triple
Nathan Bell

And using random.org to get the six groups (the first 4 on the list will be the first group, the next 4 the second group, etc.)...

Round 0:

Last year, for Round 0 I used the Murder in Willow Cove cards from 2012 Allen & Ginter as a prompt for the first round.  Since that went over quite well (and it really got the creative juices flowing), I've decided to try a similar thing this time - except I'll use 2011 Topps Attax cards.  The Attax should be a fun writing prompt because not only do you get a player, team, and image but you also get some game numbers.  Make use of the card as you wish!  I might sneak a round in somewhere later where I do something besides your typical baseball card - we'll see.

 Good luck everyone!

Group A:
Participants:

• Mark Aubrey
• TTG
• Jason Pilarski
• Play at the Plate

Your prompt:  Rickie Weeks

Group B:
Participants:

• shlabotnikreport
• Al Kawamoto
• gcrl
• petethan

Your prompt:  Chris Coughlan

Group C:  
Participants:

• Cardhobbyist
• arpsmith
• Backstop Cards
• Comatoad

Your prompt:  Aroldis Chapman

Group D:
Participants:

• The Diamond King
• J. Meeks
• The Junior Junkie
• Brad's Blog

Your prompt:  Alfonso Soriano

Group E:
Participants:

• Stealing Home
• The Prowling Cat
• McCann Can Triple
• Spiegel83

Your prompt:  Franklin Guitierrez

Group F:
Participants:

• Red Cardboard
• Jordan
• CaptKirk42
• Nathan Bell

Your prompt:  Carlos Lee

Reminder:  Once you have written your post, please post a link on this blog entry to your post.  Good luck.  You all have until 6:00 PM EST on 10/25/12 (Friday) to get your posts done and a link posted on my blog.  Sorry, but late entries will NOT be accepted!  Anyone who does not complete Round 0 will be eliminated - sorry for being so mean about that.

Good luck - I can't wait to see what you all come up with for the opening round.

Any Questions?  Let me know in the comments or via email and I'll try to help!