I’ve never liked the picks contest on the site. It’s always been far too much work for me and the prize was never worth the effort. Then I gave away a pair of lower tier tickets at this year’s Draft Party in Chicago and saw far more fun can be had the better the prize is. And now Ms. Ronetta Smith is going from Cortland’s Garage in Bucktown to Soldier Field on October 28th and sitting downstairs with the fancy lads.

So this year I’ve concocted a new contest and a new prize. A prize I think is fun and will make the contest worth watching/following. First the rules…

PICKS CONTEST RULES

• I will post the point spreads for the Sunday games each Saturday morning. The contest will not involve the Thursday night or Monday night contests. Only the Sunday games. You must have your pick on the site by kickoff of the early games Sunday.
• You pick one game each week against the spread. One game only.
• You can only select a team once. Once you pick a team they are unavailable to you for the remainder of the season. (Survivor pool rules.)
• I know lives get busy and sometimes folks miss posts. But you must make 10 selections over the course of the season to be eligible for the prize. If you do not make ten picks, you’re out. No exceptions.
• The regular season for the contest will end after Week 15 – Sunday, December 16th. If we have a single winner, they will be awarded the prize. If we have multiple individuals tied at the top, we will decide the winner over the final two weeks by increasing the number of selections made.

CONTEST PRIZE

You’ll be invited as special guest of DaBearsBlog to this year’s Round One Draft Party on Thursday night, April 25th at Cortland’s Garage in Bucktown. The prize includes:

• Accommodation for draft night at The Willows Hotel, Lakeview. To see the hotel, CLICK HERE. I’ll also be in the hotel and will gladly take you for a drink at the local spot Monsignor Murphy’s if you so choose.
• DaBearsBlog will cover the open bar for you and a +1 at the event.
• $50 gift certificate for you/wife/husband/family to any of the Lou Malnati’s locations across the Chicagoland area.
• Two automatic entries into the ticket contest giveaway that evening. (We’ll announce the particular game and details once the schedule is released next spring.)
• A pair of 2012 DaBearsBlog tee-shirts.

This is my way of thanking those of you who’ve made this site your home over these years and to show I’m constantly looking for new ways to improve the experience around here. The first spreads will be available here on Saturday.