Introducing the Spring Training Game Recap Contest!

In January, AN member Witt_Writer18 came up with a great idea: while the A's hold positional battles in Spring Training, AN can hold our own battle for the position of "Game Recap Floater." His idea has been adapted into the most exciting contest to hit AN since ALDS Game 4 (Game 5 was boring). Introducing the Spring Training Game Recap Contest!

How does it work?

For selected games, we will pick 3 community members on a first-come-first-served basis. Those three will be tasked with writing (as a FanPost) a post-game recap of that day's Spring Training game, which must be published within 2 hours of the end of the game. For the rest of the day, the community can read the recaps, comment as usual, etc. Once all three recaps have been posted, community members can vote for which one they like best by Rec'ing that FanPost.

Voting is completely subjective and the criteria are up to you; literally, which recap did you enjoy the most, for whatever reasons you want? However, the whole point is to only vote for the ONE recap which you like best, and it would be advisable to wait until all three have been published to make your choice (but hey, it's a free country, do what you want).

What constitutes a post-game recap?

Whatever you want. Your take on the game. That could be a concise couple of paragraphs summing up the play-by-play, or a sprawling 2000-word voyage through the psyche of the middle reliever who gave up the go-ahead homer (we'll call him "Frian Buentes").

What happens to the winning recap?

The recap which gets the most votes by midnight that night will be promoted to the front page in all of its glory. Furthermore, the winning author will get an automatic berth in the next game's contest, like a returning champion on Jeopardy except without the 5-digit monetary prize. (Note: Limit of 3 straight wins, in the interest of spreading the love and giving everyone a turn.)

Which games will this contest cover?

Short answer: Not every single one. There is not a set schedule at this moment, but the first game will be Sunday's split-squad match against the slegnA at 12:05pm (available on A's Radio Net, I believe). After a winner has been announced, I will move the winning recap to the front page and add a note to the top revealing when the next contest will be (and officially opening up sign-ups). Oakland is playing well over 30 games this spring, and I expect that this contest will cover between 10-20 of them.

How do I sign up?

Sign-ups will occur in the comments section in the same manner as Zonis takes nominations in his Community Prospect Lists. I will post a comment saying "Sign-ups for Sunday 2/24, 12pm" (altering the day/time for the game in question), and the first three people to respond will get the spots for that game. Sign-ups will only count if they are posted as responses to my specific sign-up comment, so keep your eyes peeled!

Here's the restriction: Once you've been chosen and done a recap, you can't volunteer again until everyone else who wants to has had a chance (with the exception of the author of the previous winning recap, who gets an automatic berth with a limit of 3 straight games).

Note that, while the sign-ups in this initial post will be the first comment of the thread, it won't always be that easy. When I move Sunday's winning recap to the front page, I will post the sign-up comment for the next game at the bottom of the thread on the winning recap, so you might have to dig down to find it! Remember, though, if at first you're not quick enough to get yourself signed up, it will get easier as the spring progresses and more people have had their chances. We will make sure that everyone who wants to participate gets a turn.

What's a Game Recap Floater?

Ah yes, the big payoff at the end. This contest will culminate in a very real prize - a chance to write on the front page of AN! Once the front page crew has had a chance to see everyone's work, and to see which authors the community liked the most, we will choose a winner (or, potentially, more than one) to be one of our Game Recap Floaters. The floaters are available to cover a game when the usual writer is unavailable for any reason (working late, going to the game, stuck in jail, couldn't find the antidote in time....y'know, the usual stuff). We are all very busy and important people who leave our mother's basements at least twice a week, so this actually happens quite frequently and the floaters are called on regularly.

Consider yourselves lucky. This is the easy way to break into the big-time. If you only knew the rigorous process that Nico made me go through...it involved a month of hard menial labor at his beck and call, an arduous journey up a large mountain without shoes, and something involving a goat which I don't like to talk about. I still cough up a hairball now and then. It's gross.

So, there you have it! Sign-ups for this Sunday are open in the comments below. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have a couple new front-page candidates who seem to have broken out of their shackles and...jeez, Nico, who taught you to use a bullwhip like that, your 1st grade teacher? Let me show you how it's done...