Update on "Basil Night" at the Catfish Game

You might recall that I've lobbied to be named the Columbus Catfish "Fan of the Night" in a special promotion that the team is running. They'll name a night after a fan and make a big deal and everything.

Well, submissions have ended, and the Catfish office is reviewing everything. I don't know if they've made a choice yet. They haven't told me, so either they haven't chosen ... or they haven't chosen me. Or it's a secret.

Anyway, my promotion of their promotion involved giving away prizes to those that made submissions. Well, there were 60 entries. However, some of those were duplicates. That is, they submitted more than one entry. My final count is 32 unique entrants. That includes emails sent to the Catfish office and posts made by other bloggers ... in support of or in opposition to the team having "Basil Night."

Now, I just got the final list of email addresses from the Catfish office regarding submissions for or against me. And I've verified the entries and have done the drawing.

Here's how I drew: I listed the submissions in order received. The earliest was number 1. The most recent was number 28. The Catfish provided four addresses I didn't know about, and they were numbers 29-32.

Then I wrote had Microsoft Excel generate three random numbers from 1-32. I hit F9 to force a refresh and had my winning entries. The first gets first choice of the prizes, the second gets second choice, and the third gets what's left. In case you forgot, the prizes are:

• A DVD from Amazon.com. Winner's choice. Within reason.


• A Catfish T-shirt. Size: large.


• An autographed Catfish logo baseball. All position players have signed it. I'm still trying to catch the 5 pitchers that haven't yet.

I have drawn the winners, and I've sent emails, and am awaiting responses so I'll know who to send what. I'll announce that when all have responded. Soon, I hope.

Oh, and whether or not August 25 is "Basil Night," everyone who submited an entry on my behalf ... and shows up for the game ... will get in free, plus get a hot dog and a Pepsi-related soft drink. Well, not free. But I'm buying. So it'll be free to those who supported me. My way of saying thanks.

I'll let you know if you won. Soon. I promise.

And everyone who supported ... thanks. Thanks a lot. I do appreciate it.

UPDATE: Random Yak (1st place) chose the Catfish T-Shirt.

UPDATE: Sean Gleeson (2nd place) chose the Catfish baseball.

UPDATE: Quality Weenie (3rd place) chose Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes.