Blaster Battle - The Ground Rules & Contest

As you can see on that poll up on the top right of the blog, Topps Updates & Highlights won over Allen & Ginter. So, Here is my blaster to rip LIVE right here at 9:00pm Eastern.

Ah, but there's a twist! Hand Collated saw I was opening a box of this junk and decided to challenge me to a duel! So now, I will not only open this box live in A Pack a Day fashion, but will be fighting for the immortal soul of Ernie Lombardi!

This is very serious you know, he was both a Red and a Brave (although he's really a Brave, don't listen to those Reds fans) and that's what this challenge is all about: REDS VS BRAVES.

Back in the day, the Reds and Braves were both in the National League West and we didn't like each other very well. I'd always boo the Baseball Bunch because that bum Johnny Bench was hosting. Bob Horner would have been twice the host Johnny Bench was and he would have taken the kids out for pizza and beer (root, of course) afterward! So this break is to determine a mythical 1994 NL West Championship. Or in Scott's own words:

From 1969 to 1993, the Braves and the Reds were both part of the NL West. 1994 brought realignment, new divisional foes to both teams, and a player’s strike to disrupt the whole season.

But what if things hadn’t changed? What if the Reds and the Braves had remained divisional foes? The Braves in 1994 stood at 68-46, six games behind the powerhouse Expos when the strike started. The Reds sat atop the newly created NL central with a 66-48 record. The teams, unmoved, would have been vying for first place in the NL West, probably until the end of the year while leaving the rest of the division in the dust.

But who would have prevailed? Who would be the NL West champ? Computer simulations only go so far to solve this puzzle, but I think the best way to end this horribly convoluted construction is simple:

BLASTER BATTLE!!!11!!!1!!

So how will this battle be fought? With a beefed up version of Steve's Sox or No Sox pack ripping format. We get points for pulling good stuff, lose points for pulling junk. Here are the scoring rules:

Number of Points per pull:

Our Teams:
Reds player: +3 for Scott, -1 for Dayf
Braves player: +3 for Dayf, -1 for Scott

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend:
Dodgers Player: -2 for Scott, +1 for Dayf (NL West, remember)
Mets player: -2 for Dayf, +1 for Scott (Mets beat us in '69, the jerks)

Insert Sets:
WBC Preview: +3
Ring of Honor: +3

Political Crap:
First Ladies: -3 (are we sick of poilitics yet?)
If the President was a General: +5 (It is Veteran's Day)

Bonus players:
Pull that player: +5
Pull an insert of that player: +10
Scott's bonus player: Jay Bruce:
Dayf's bonus player: Chipper Jones

Jersey Card Bonus:
Pull the Jersey card from a player from your team: +15.

So there's the ground rules so you can play along at home. But wait there's more...

CONTEST FOR LOYAL JUNKIE FANS!

That's right, root on the Braves and get swag. The two winners (if there are any) get 25 cards from the team or set of their choice and an insert/rookie card from their favorite team or player. Here's the deal:

In the comments, make a guess at two things:

1. How many Braves will I pull?
2. Who will my jersey card be?

Here is the list of all the possible players I could pull (subject to change).

Here's the catch, if I don't win, you don't win. I don't care if you guess right or not, you'll have to pester Scott for something if he wins. This is for the title! No rewards for losing! Be back here in about an hour and a half and watch the packs rip!