Mike Pettine won’t say Johnny Manziel gives Browns best chance to win
December 17, 2014My Sportsman of the Year: David Griffin
December 17, 2014The Holiday Season is upon us, and for many, the holidays are a time of rituals and traditions. Here at Waiting For Next Year, we believe in tradition as well, and one of our personal favorites is the annual WFNY 12 Days of Christmas contest series! This is now the seventh year in a row we have done this contest, as hard as that is to believe.
How does it work? It’s simple. Every week day from now through Christmas, we will have a different contest with a different prize package to give away to you guys. It’s our small way of showing our appreciation and saying thanks for hanging in there with us for another year. Each day will feature a different, unique contest. Some will require getting a correct answer, some will be selected randomly among all entries, and some will feature haiku writing, of course. So check back every day for your chance to win one of our prize packs!
Previous Day’s Winner
Good karma in Cleveland sports can be hard to find. But every once in a great while, fate shines on us. First of all, thanks again to everyone who entered. I loved reading your stories about the Indians so much. It’s the thing that makes sports matter the most to me. It’s not about the championships won (although one of those would be nice, too), but the bond we create with our family and friends. Sports can unite us and provide us with a lifetime of memories to cherish.
One of our oldest readers (as in, has read our site the longest, not in terms of age) and most prolific commenters is someone we all know around here as mgbode. Nobody has left more comments than mgbode. He even dutifully takes the time out of his day to ‘Vote Up’ any thoughtful comments he sees on the site, even when he disagrees with argument being made. His entry into the contest yesterday was pretty epic, and it served as his 20,000th comment.
I fired up the ol’ Random Number Generator this morning. It gave me the winning number, and I then cross referenced the comments to find out which comment correlated to the winning numbers. It was mgbode’s comment. At first I laughed out loud (literally, not in the figurative LOL way). But then that laughter gave way to fear. I thought to myself, “Oh man, nobody is going to believe that this was random.” Anywhere, here is mgbode’s winning comment:
My fondest memory of the Cleveland Indians is a fuzzy collection of memories from the 80s that all blend together at this point.
They start on Sunday afternoons 2 miles from the Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which I called Marlboro Muni due to the prominent Marlboro advertisement above the center field scoreboard. Of course, at that distance, there were places you could park for free if you were willing to hike a bit through town. We obviously weren’t worried about the traffic after the game. The walk to the stadium was always filled with random conversation, stories, and wondering if Brook Jacoby, Cory Snyder or Andy Allanson would be the day’s hero.
Those memories continue on the way into the stadium to settle in behind the black tarps draped just beyond the RF fence that were never quite secured and would blow in the wind. The row behind ours was reserved for the buffet line (grocery bags of snacks being allowed in those days). The row in front reserved for putting our feet up. Seats between each person reserved to bang those magnificent wooden seats upon the metal frame to hear the most beautifully echoing noise in all of the world.
In the early innings, we would cheer for both the team, for our favorite scoreboard graphics to appear, and estimate the number of people in attendance (at times, it may have even numbered 10K!). The food would get eaten and the Indians would fall behind on the scoreboard.
By the middle innings, we were all settled into our basic routines.
My dad, constantly calling out positive messages to the batters 400 feet away to help them hit the ball. “Good eye”, “way to foul it off”, “here we go – here we go”, and when his favorite Mr. Franco stepped to the plate, the RFer was serenaded with a simplistic song of “Hooooooooooooo-Leeeeeeeeeeee-Ohhhhhhhhhhh” for the entirety of the at bat. Funny how I didn’t realize then that that constant stream of positive messaging would become my own brand for coaching youth sports later in life.
My siblings would mostly play, push the limits for the rules that were in place (no leaving the area, no climbing over seats, no annoying the few others that may be close enough to possibly get annoyed). At some point during each game, someone would find the bag of popcorn, split it open and begin a massive popcorn fight. Supposedly, this wasn’t allowed and after a little while it would get shut down. But, the popcorn bag would also be there the next time we came too 🙂
My mom would talk with my dad, any family friends that came with us that day, watch the game and keep us kids in line when needed or just sit and talk and play when that was needed.
I would mostly watch the game though it didn’t take much to get pulled into the fray with my siblings either. At the time, I didn’t understand why we didn’t always get to watch Greg Swindell pitch. He was the guy I wanted to see, so why didn’t the team put him on Sunday? I cheered for my favorites and really everyone and learned how to enjoy sports even through some bad games and seasons.
By the end, we were usually ready to leave. We packed and cleaned up (if you can make the mess, then you can pick it up as well), heading out for the long walk back to the car. A little more tired, perhaps a little sad about the team on the days where we lost a close one, but also a happy, strong family that got to spend a day at the ballpark.
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Avatar note: On one of those Sundays, my dad and 3 of my siblings went for a restroom break before the inning ended. As they hit the walkway to the concourse, a big hit by the Tribe caused them to pause and take in the action. Unbeknownst to them, an artist was capturing the some aspects of the stadium including this moment in time. Years later, my parents saw an oil painting hung at the Cleveland Clinic that sure looked like our family. After tracking down the artist, the dates and location in the stadium confirmed it was them and the artist was even kind enough to give my family a copied rendition of the painting, which now hangs in my parents living room and is used as my avatar here.
A comment that good deserves to win, and I can’t believe that this is the comment the random number generator picked. Maybe he really does have a little bit of rhyme to his reason. Anyway, congrats mgbode!
For Day Eight we have something Lake Erie Monsters related to give away. We have a Monsters T-shirt and a Two Bucks gift card. Win this prize and you can show off your pride and affection for local hockey while enjoying a tasty dinner at Two Bucks!
Today’s Contest
The Cavaliers play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, so it’s time for another guessing game. Today’s question is: What is your prediction for the score and outcome of the Cavaliers game against the Hawks?
The winner of this contest will be selected among those who picked the correct team to win. Of those people, the winner will be the person with closest guess to the amount of points the Cavaliers score. To enter, simply leave a comment in the Comments section below ((and as always, please be aware of our Before You Comment guidelines and technical information)) with your answer to the question. For example, if I were entering the contest, I would say: “I think the Cavaliers beat the Hawks 110-103”. See? It’s that easy. So what are you waiting for? Go get your answers in below, and good luck!
The Fine Print (in normal sized font) and Rules
Only one entry per person per day is allowed. This is very important. Anyone who submits more than one entry is immediately disqualified. Only one winner per household per year is allowed. Winners will be notified via email. Prizes will not necessarily be delivered by Christmas, but we will try our best to make it happen.
22 Comments
I predict the Cavs will win 101-93
Cavs 13 – other team 10. Beh basketball
Kevin Love has “flu like symptoms” :(, Hawks 104 – Cavs 98
Cavs 96 – Hawks 94
I’m forgoing my entry for today simply to congratulate mgbode (that, plus living in Cali means I couldn’t make use of these winnings ;-)). Congrats, sir. As mentioned, a comment of such stature should be the winner. Well done!
Hey man, thanks. I appreciate the kind words.
20k highest quality comments, trillions of “likes,” just wow – the Cal Ripkin of WFNY.
Cavs 99, Hawks 96
Thanks Harv.
I love that comparison too. Just like Cal, there are a ton of better, more talented commenters here (yourself included there), but, hey, showing up everyday counts for something if you show up for enough days 🙂
http://www.oriolesnumbers.com/pictures/cal.jpg
Hawks 104, Cavs 97
I think the Cavs will win 103-97
Cavs win 100-98
Following Eric G’s example, no entry for me but simple acknowledgment of mgbode’s feats (not feets, which I don’t care to see). 20,000+ brilliant comments (and 30 or so dogs – c’mon, guy’s not perfect) AND a “12 Days of Christmas” victory! Always presents a strong, clever, and civil presence, and now he’s got the hardware to take home.
mgbode: For Christmas, I dub thee, “Commenter Chief, Head, Premier, and Potentate.”
No entry here either. Congrats mgbode. We’ve had good and awful posters here over the years. But he’s definitely one of the best.
Thank you sir, much appreciated.
Thank you, kind sir. You all are being more kind than I deserve, but I will gladly accept the encouragement as a sign of the strong community that we all hold here with plans to redistribute it back out to the community.
I predict the Cavs will win 87-83
Cavs win, 109 – 104.
I think the Cavs will lay an egg and lose 127-98.
I have till 12, right 🙂
Uhh… Cavs lose 127-98… Just a guess.
cavs lose 120-100