FanPost

And The Winner Is... (The 2009-10 Offseason IT'S HAPPENING!!!??? Contest)

Remember this FanPost? UPDATE: The 2009-10 Offseason IT'S HAPPENING!!!??? Contest, the first line of which was... "Remember this FanPost? Last Out to First Pitch – The 2009-10 Offseason IT'S HAPPENING!!!??? Contest"

Well, the results are finally in and we have our winners. I know, I know... this should have been posted a long time ago. What can I say - I started it several times, got sidetracked, distracted, road trips, busy, etc. Guess I'm just a procrastinating elephant. I keep putting things off and off and off... but I never forget.

Anyway, before we get to the results, a little recap to refresh your memory...

Here were the 15 possible events:

THE FIFTEEN BIGGEST EVENTS THAT MAY (or may not) HAPPEN THIS OFF-SEASON:
__ - Milton Bradley is traded or released by start of Cubs Convention.
__ - Cubs sell naming rights for entire Wrigley Field, e.g. Walgreens Park at Wrigley Field.
__ - Randy Wells finishes higher than Colby Rasmus in the ROY voting.
__ - Cubs lower ticket prices on some seats.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded for player(s) only, i.e. Cubs will NOT eat any of his contract.
__ - Cubs make an official announcement on a new Spring Training location (Az or Fla).
__ - Ryan Theriot is starting shortstop for Cubs on Opening Day 2010.
__ - Cubs’ broadcasting team stays intact - Len & Bob on TV; Pat, Ron, & Judd on radio.
__ - Milton Bradley is traded and Cubs WILL eat some portion of his contract.
__ - Cubs install additional scoreboard facilities, e.g. ribbon board.
__ - Aaron Miles is on the Cubs 25-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs offer arbitration to Rich Harden.
__ - Milton Bradley is on the Cubs 40-man roster on Opening Day.
__ - Cubs hires top-level executive, e.g. a "baseball guy", to oversee Hendry.
__ - MLB expands instant replay capabilities.

and the challenge was to arrange them in order of likelihood of happening, most to least. Weighted scoring so most likely was worth 15 points, next likely 14, etc. all the way down to least likely being worth 1 point.

Once all the Milton Bradley stuff got resolved, figuring out the scoring was pretty straightforward except for the "Cubs lower ticket prices on some seats" one. That was a pain to figure out because of all the different tiers, the different sections and the whole 'break out the taxes' thing. When I laid out all the numbers, there were several instances where the price indeed was lower but only by 4 to 48 cents. So while I'd have to say the intent of the Cubs was not to lower prices, I can't deny that in some cases they did.

So in terms of scoring, I ran the numbers both ways and figured it just be easier to have multiple winners. Turns out it didn't matter for the Highest Score part of the contest - same person won each way. But it did matter with the Lowest Score part - so there'll be two "winners" there.

Now, the envelope please...

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The Lowest Score Winners are EJThunder with a score of 50 (w/o the lower ticket prices) and RynoHoF with a score of 57 (w/ the lower ticket prices). Each will receive a thoroughly scuffed-up and grass-stained minor league ball to duly reflect the significance of their achievement...

And with a score of 74 (w/o the lower ticket prices) and 80 (w/ the lower ticket prices), the Highest Score Winner is...Sobenergy! Sobenergy will receive an official Major League baseball that's been hit out of Wrigley Field.

I'll work with Al to contact the winners and get their fabulous prizes in the mail to them. And for the rest of you, thanks for playing and get ready for The 2010-11 Offseason IT'S HAPPENING!!!??? Contest. I'm already gathering up possible events to include - some of them might look real familiar...

FanPosts are written by readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue, and as such do not reflect the views of SB Nation or Vox Media, nor is the content endorsed by SB Nation, Vox Media or Al Yellon, managing editor of Bleed Cubbie Blue or reviewed prior to posting.