Pop Warner Football Headlines Our 2012 Panini NFL Sticker Album For Week 13 Of The NFL Season

This is week 13 of the NFL season and it is also the 13th week of working towards the completion of our 2012 Panini NFL Sticker Collection.  This week we have our first completed page.

Normally we pick players to watch for the week, but this week we are featuring an important program, Pop Warner Football.

Pop Warner Football is a non-profit organization that provides youth football for participants in 43 U.S. states and several countries around the world. Pop Warner is the largest and oldest national youth football organization in the United States. It is also the only youth sports organization with an academic requirement. Pop Warner's commitment to academics is what separates the program from other youth sports around the world.

Answers To Our Sports Card Saturday And Sunday Final Blowout Quiz In Our 2012 Panini NFL Player Of The Day Promotion

Talk about finishing strong.  We got a great response to out final blowout quiz.  Most of you got anywhere between 4 to 7 questions correct but only one of you got a perfect score.  To see how you did, here are the correct answers.  (Here is a link to the original questions.)

The Complete List Of Eligible Players On The 2013 BBWAA Baseball Hall Of Fame Ballot

Today the Baseball Writers’ Association of America released the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot.  There are 37 former players on the ballot that can be chosen by the 600-plus eligible voters. The ballot consists of 13 returning candidates, but notable are the 24 newcomers. 

This is a big year for first timers as players like Sandy Alomar Jr., Craig Biggio, Jeff Conine, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Ryan Klesko, Kenny Lofton, Mike Piazza, Reggie Sanders, Curt Schilling, Mike Stanton and David Wells have made the ballot.  But the bigger issue will be addressing whether the careers and achievements of players who were accused or suspected of using performance enhancers are worthy of making the Hall as players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have entered their first year of eligibility. 

So far the biggest name that the writers have had to deal with that has ties to performance enhancers has been Mark McGwire, now in his 7th year on the ballot.  Last year he received 19.5% of the vote. Candidates who receive less than five percent of the vote in any Hall of Fame election are dropped from future consideration.

Others returning to the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot include (with their 2012 vote percentage in parentheses): Jack Norris (66.7%), Jeff Bagwell (56.0%), Lee Smith (50.6%), Tim Raines (48.7%), Alan Trammell (36.8%), Edgar Martinez (36.5%), Fred McGriff (23.9%), Larry Walker (22.9%), Don Mattingly (17.8%), Dale Murphy (14.5%), Rafael Palmeiro (12.6%) and Bernie Williams (9.6%).

Voting ends and all ballots must be returned by December 31st. The results of the election will be announced Jan. 9 live on MLB Network and at the Baseball Hall of Fame's website, and any candidate named on at least 75 percent of ballots submitted will be enshrined at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown on July 28.

Here is the complete list of candidates on the 2013 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot.