Baby picking rules

As you know, Michelle is pregnant with our first child. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this miracle of life than with the miracle of predicting. If you'd like to get in on the action, please read below. If you're repulsed by the thought of making predictions on our unborn child, perhaps you should reconsider having me as a friend/ family member - there's going to be more stuff like this for the next 18 years.

Entries and nothing else are due APRIL 8, 2009 (next WEDNESDAY) at 9:00 AM EDT. Sorry for the tight time frame, but that's the day of the ultrasound.

Submit your picks by clicking on the link here. Once all the picks are in, I'll send out the spreadsheet with everyone's entries so you can view your competition.
http://tinyurl.com/tylerbabypool

Just submit your picks. No need to send anything else.

The Rules:

FIRST ROUND - Picking the correct gender
Choose whether you think the child will be a boy or girl. If you have your own theories about the influence of how big Michelle is, what dreams she's been having, how much sleep she's been getting, or any other lame childbirth folklore tale [that will contradict all the other folklore tales], you can call Michelle to get more information.

If you pick the correct gender, you stay in the "Champions Pool." If not, you'll move to the "Consolation Pool." The Consolation Pool works the same way as the Champions Pool, but you're competing against only those other people who underachieved in the first round. This means that, for the Consolation Pool, what happens in the Champions Pool is irrelevant because you have your own mini-tournament (and vice versa). (thanks to Fanella for the pool structure)

SECOND ROUND - Picking the birthday
If you pick closest to the correct day, you're a finalist to be the ultimate winner. This is truly a "closest to" and not "The Price is Right" style. So if the birthday is the due date, August 25, and someone selects August 24 and someone selects August 26 and no one selects August 25, then we have a tie and those two entrants move on to the tie-breaker.

TIEBREAKER ONE - Length
Whoever gets closest to the actual length (in inches) is the winner. Again, this is true "closest to."

TIEBREAKER TWO - Weight
If multiple entrants have picked the same gender, birthday, and length, the final tiebreaker is weight (in pounds and inches). Again, it's a true "closest to."

Since I didn't send out anything related to the March Madness basketball brackets this year, I hope this satisfies your need for meaningless competition. Feel free to share this with others - the more entries the better. Thanks for playing, and good luck!

-David