That right there is supposed to be a picture of me chillin’ in my home office this morning, feet up on my pinball machine — a Gottlieb Spirit of ’76 — a pair of size 10 Li Ning “Villains” perched on the edge of the perfect timewasting device.
But unfortunately, we are experiencing server issues today that are causing problems with picture uploads.
So, you get last week’s photo instead — and last week’s offer stands, too.
You will win a pair of those exact same sneakers if you win tonight’s fantasy hoops contest sponsored by DraftStreet.
Last week’s winner, Tommy Rau of Durham, N.C., has a pair on the way to his crib at this very moment, size 11.
Tommy tells me he was once quite the online poker player, but you can’t do that sort of thing in this country anymore until Al D’Amato gets his way. Another thing you can’t do in this country is walk into a sporting goods store and buy a pair of LiNing kicks. They are only sold online — and if you click here you can check out their entire inventory and order whatever you please.
If you are new to this site’s freerolls, here’s what you need to know.
You click here to register, and you will then get an imaginary $100,000 salary cap with which to build a team of eight players: Two guards, two forwards, two centers, and two utility players. (You can change your team right up until 7 p.m. EST if you have a change of heart, or you become privy to any news of late scratches).
Kevin Durant is the highest-priced player tonight at $19,373. Jerry Stackhouse is the cheapest at $1,884.
Once you choose your eight players, you hope they have productive evenings.
For every blocked shot and every steal, you are awarded 2 points. For every assist, you get 1.5 points; for every rebound, it is 1.25 points. For every point scored, you get 1 point.
You lose 0.5 points for every missed shot, and 1 point for every turnover (Deron Williams leads the NBA with 163, just ahead of Russell Westbrook’s 157 and John Wall’s 155).
You can follow the progress of your team on DraftStreet’s live scoreboard, and the winner will receive $125 from the $350 prize pool (top seven places get paid). Tomorrow, you will get an e-mail offering a $25 bonus if you make a deposit via PayPal and play in their nightly cash games. (Prices range from $2 to $110, and the minimum deposit is only $10. If you play fantasy basketball regularly, you’ll love it. If you fancy yourself a decent gambler, you’ll love it, too.)
This is a game of skill, not a game of chance, and it is legal for residents of Canada and all of the United States except for Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Vermont and Puerto Rico.
Good luck. My team tonight is Rajon Rondo, Ty Lawson, Ersan Ilyasova, LaMarcus Aldridge, Alonze Gee, Landry Fields, Chris Kaman and Kendrick Perkins. There are 542 competitors.
I wish you could play this game in the United Kingdom/Europe.
Shame 🙁