Put your knowledge to full advantage – or rely on the recommendations of "Weekend Wizards" – by entering a new online contest offering a grand prize worth over $650!
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Gallatin Publishing Company announces the "Weekend Wizard College Basketball Contest" starting this week. Basketball fans may enter by going onto the new website: where each participate selects 10 basketball game winners. The top five entries become eligible for a drawing for two tickets to the semi-finals (Games 7 & 8) of the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Major funding for the 2012 contest comes from Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri. This bank has facilities located in Gallatin, Trenton, Bethany, Mercer and Unionville in Missouri and also in Leon and Ceterville, Iowa. Other contest sponsors include Eichler’s Tax Service of Gallatin, and HyVee of Chillicothe.
Anyone age 12 or older may enter. Only online entries will be accepted in order to automate the chore of grading the entries and to assure proper and timely notification before the next week’s contest begins.
This is an 8-week contest. Ten games played each Saturday by NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams will be listed on each weekly entry slate. A prediction of the combined score on one selected game each week will serve as a tie-breaker.
The top five participants will be recognized as "Weekend Wizards" who will share their picks for the upcoming contest to help you as you select your entry slate. To kick things off, predictions are offered from four familiar faces at Farmers Bank – Dan Lockridge, Cody Bird, Dennis Brammer from the Gallatin bank and Jim Cox from the Trenton bank – and also from North Missourian sportswriter Dennis Cox. Top entries submitted this week will be featured as "Weekend Wizards" offering advice for next week.
Consider the predictions before you enter, or make your own picks. The more times you win the title of "Weekend Wizard," the better your chances to be the drawing winner of Big 12 Tournament tickets.
"This is a fun way for us to acquaint folks with our new and improved website under the new brand name GPCink," says Darryl Wilkinson of Gallatin Publishing Company. "The contest is also being promoted in the Trenton area and beyond by the Green Hills Weekly Shopper.
"March Madness is always a popular time for college basketball regardless of how closely you follow the sport," says Wilkinson. "We’re thinking this contest is an excellent way for basketball fans to sharpen up before the usual March Madness brackets unfold. It will be interesting and fun to see who our Weekend Wizards will be during January and February – before the contest ends with the start of the Big 12 Tournament."
Also featured online will be photo galleries featuring local high school winter sport teams and athletes. The contest home page (GPCink.com/Contest.htm) also displays articles on the MU Tiger basketball team by sportswriter Benjamin Herrold from the Coffey area.
The grand prize, provided exclusively by Farmers Bank of Northern Missouri, will be announced on March 2. The two tickets are for Big 12 games played on Friday, March 9, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Look for more details elsewhere in this newspaper and in upcoming issues of the Ad Pages, both East and West editions.