I'm starting a new Web site for the 2009 season. It will be a new way of interacting with other Red Sox fans. On the new site, which will be my main focus, though I may still post here occasionally, we'll each be given a "fan number." I'll be number 0001. The first person to sign up will be 0002, etc. Any time you go to a game, you enter your number into that day's Fan Cache, along with the section you'll be sitting in. (Please bring a camera as you'll be expected to document any "points" you tally.) The whole season will be one long contest, as each person will be e-mailed a kwiz question before the game. Part of the contest is finding other fans that are part of the new club. Each Fan will be asked to wear their Fan Number on their person. Anytime you see a fellow Fan, you each ask each other your question. Through Twitter, I'll be keeping track of everything from home--or from my seat as I play along! Each game will have an individual winner, who will win that day's prize. In order to make these prizes available, I will ask that you pay a small fee to join. 15 dollars for the whole season, probably. The rest of the prizes will come from ad revenue, which will be a prominent--but classy--portion of the new site. Payments can be made through Paypal, and must be received by April 7th--I'll provide a link, as well as the final price (if it ends up being $20 or more, I apologize, that's just the way it'll have to be to get this system up and running.)

If you're wondering how you can affix your Fan Number to your clothing, fear not--it'll all be done by purchasing T-shirts with your number on it. I'll provide that link tomorrow--it'll be $30 per T-shirt. Please specify the correct Fan Number when ordering. If you don't, a T-shirt will be shipped, but you'll be charged twice for your second, correct T-shirt. No refunds! At the All-Star Break, all winners will be required to come to my friend Don's apartment in northern New Jersey. (Sorry, shipping is not an option.) During the prize pick-up, a chance for the First Half Grand Prize will be given to all individual winners. We'll be doing this "spin the bottle" style, where each winner will put fifty dollars into a central pot, and remove their clothing. (Don't worry, by year 3 of this it'll all be old hat to everyone--there won't be anything any of us haven't seen before.) And at this point, a thousand dollars will be stuffed inside the mouth of Don's male maid while Pee-Wee Herman dances the jig with Alex Trebek and if you haven't noticed it's April 1st by now, you may have a serious problem. Look for the real contest later today.