Down the Backstretch

With this, the inaugural edition of Yes/No, DtB wades into the murky waters of fantasy sport and prediction contests. Our plan is to offer a few fantasy/prediction contests in 2009 for some of the year's bigger events as well as offer something we're calling Yes/No on a weekly bases. We've hired a Fantasy Czar to oversee the efforts ... but we'll introduce him next week.

What's Yes/No, we hope you're asking? It's simple enough: On Thursday or Friday of nearly every week between now and the end of the year we'll ask a yes or no question predicting the results of some aspect the sport involving Minnesotans. If you want to play the game, you simply type "yes" or "no" into the subject line of an e-mail and send it to us before the deadline we set.

After competition around the track, in the field, or on the roads answers the question, we'll give everyone who was right a point, tally up the scores, and begin work on a question for the next week.

Make sense?

At the end of the year, we'll confer some sort of award to the player with the highest point tally -- nothing huge, valuable, or meaningful, since we assume the utter glory of winning the 2009 Yes/No contest will be honor enough!

DtB contributors are eligible to play ... but we'll be scrupulously fair about it.

So, without further ado ...

Yes/No: Will Andrew Carlson be the top Minnesota finisher in the USA Men's Half Marathon Championships in Houston on Sunday?

Send your "yes" or "no" answer to DtBFantasy [AT] gmail [DOT] com before 11:59 p.m. Saturday, January 17. Please put your answer in the subject line of the e-mail ... and make sure your full name appears somewhere in the e-mail.

(DtB WILL NOT distribute your e-mail address to any other party.)

Note: The most up-to-date startlist for the USA Half is HERE. DtB has reported that Jason Lehmkuhle and Josh Moen, however, have scratched. Minnesotans in the race -- i.e., athletes who have attended HS and/or college in the state or who reside here now -- include (but may not be limited to): Carlson, Antonio Vega, Chad Johnson, Luke Watson, Chris Erichsen, and Paul Giannobile.

Good luck ... and, for those who dare, thanks for playing Yes/No!