I Refuse to Give Up

UPDATE: I have decided to try and get a little more interest in donating to the cause so this project can keep going and I would like to announce that there will be prize raffled off for everyone that donates.  For each $5 that is donated you will be entered into a drawing to win a brand new autographed bat signed by top Cubs prospect Jorge Soler.  You will be entered multiple times for amounts donated in increments of $5.  He just completed his first season in professional baseball and it seems he is going to be as good as advertised.  He should rise through the ranks of the Cubs system very quickly.  All you need to do is click the link below! Thanks so much for helping me reach the goal.

These past couple weeks have been very busy for me, as I wound down my first season working the front office of a professional sports team.  I haven't been able to focus as much time as I would like on making sure this project does not fall through.  Now that I am going to have a little more time on my hands I am jumping right back into it.  I refuse to give up and will not stop until this project is complete.

Because I have had such difficulty with trading the Ike Davis glove I have come up with yet another alternative.  I found a website that allows you to create a campaign to raise money in a short period of time and I have decided to use it to get to the next step in the project.  I am looking to get the value of the glove donated to the project so that I can use that to get a trade item and move on from there.  I will then take the glove and donate it to a sick child who happens to be a Mets fan.  The project is now helping another child which I could not be more happy about. 

My goal is to get to $200 in the next 10 days.  That will be enough to move on and get this project back into another gear.  It will move forward much faster from there on out.  If you can donate anything at all please click here to donate.  Every little bit helps and will get us to the goal quickly. No donation is too small.  Thanks so much!

You Help Decide the Next Trade

I have to an agreement in principle for the next trade, but it all depends on you, the followers and supporters to help out.  Allow me to explain.  I have found the next person that wants to help out with the project, but they do not have any use for the glove and want it to go to the a good home where somebody can enjoy it more than they would.  So here is the deal, I am putting the glove up for "sale" and the trade item I get in return will depend on how much the glove sells for.  The glove is posted on online and has a ceiling price as well as a best offer option.  Whatever the highest offer is will determine which item I get in return for the glove's sale amount.  I will not reveal the three possible items so it stays a mystery, but do want you all to know that you can all impact this next item and help me get one more step closer to the ultimate goal!  Doesn't that sound fun?  Now it's up to you to determine the next item I get.  

The ranges for the items are listed below:

If the glove sells for $200-$250 I will receive Item #1, which is the least I will get for the glove in the end.  

If it sells for $251-$300 I will receive Item #2, which is a little higher end item that would help out a lot.

If it sells for $301-$350 I will receive Item #3, which is the best item that I can receive in this deal.

If you would like to make an offer please check out the item here and send it in to me.  If you do not have an Ebay account or would prefer not to use Ebay and would still like to send an offer, you can do so by sending it to againsttheodds2012@gmail.com.  Thanks so much and I can wait to see where this goes!

Getting Closer to the Goal

Yesterday morning I was invited to join the Greg and Dan Show live in studio to talk about my project.  It was a blast and I enjoyed talking with them and all of the listeners about the project.  There was also a pretty  big step taken as I may have found somebody that will get the Super Bowl tickets for the end of this project. While nothing is official it seems this project is certainly set for success.  I am still continuing to trade and am actively looking to trade the package of the Ike Davis glove and the autographed Ernie Banks retired number flag.  If you have an offer please let me know!

You can listen to the full radio conversation by clicking here.  Once I can get the ball rolling on a couple more trades I think we can make this happen and send a child to the Super Bowl!  Thanks for all the support!  I also have some much BIGGER news that I will make official within the next few days!  As always, follow along on Twitter for more immediate updates @TwoBlueDice.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

This week just keeps getting better and better.  When I got to work today I was looking over the blog views and I saw an unusual spike in the views for that time of day.  I investigated and found that many people were being driven to the blog from a Yahoo Sports page!  when I read over it I was amazed at how fast this story has gotten to this level.  The project is getting so much attention so fast that I am in disbelief.  I did not think it would all happen so fast, but I could not be happier about it.  If you would like to check out the article please click here. 

I can't thank them enough for what they did to help put it on the map.  Today we went over 500 blog views, which, for the third straight day, was a new record for views in 24 hours!  There are many other people contributing to this as well.  There are almost too many to count and I appreciate each and every person that helps spread the word.  My alma mater, Western Illinois University, also did a write up about me as well, which can be seen by clicking here

Again, thanks to everyone who is making this possible.  I am also taking donations in any form.  If you would like to donate (or trade) an item please email me at againsttheodds2012@gmail.com.  If you would like to donate a monotary value of any number please click here and you can be taken to the donations page.  All donations will go straight to the child and his/her family to help pay for the trip to the Super Bowl.  Also please follow along on Twitter for immediate updates @TwoBlueDice.

Big News and Notes

Not even 24 hours after what I believe was one of the biggest days yet in the project, things got even bigger!  I was surprised by a tweet from ESPN personality, Mark Simon, that he included my project at the end of his and Eric Karabell's nationally broadcast sports radio show "Baseball Today".  Although it was just a couple minutes at the end, I felt that I was on top of the world when I heard it.  It means so much to me that people from ESPN would even consider talking about this project.  Click here if you would like to take a listen to the recording.  If you want to skip to the part about the project, start around the 47:30 mark and you will hear it shortly there after. 

It doesn't end there either.  I had a man call me out of the blue and offer up $100 as a donation to the project.  It is the first of hopefully many donations to come.  I will use that money to cover transportation costs for the child and family or for any other costs the family may have.  You can make a donation on the right side of the page if you would like to do so!

Last, but certainly not least, my fraternity brother from college gave me a call and said that his news station, WAND Decatur, was going to be coming out and doing a story with me about the project sometime in the next week.  So in the next week or so this project will be published again in print, I will appear live on radio, and there will be a story on television.  This couldn't get much better and I can't wait for the next trade!  As always shoot me an email at againsttheodds2012@gmail.com if you have any ideas or would like to trade!  Thanks so much for all of the support and please follow along for all update on twitter @TwoBlueDice.

The Word is Spreading

There is no new trade just yet, but the word is spreading and I can feel the next one coming in soon.  My project was recently featured on the front of the sports page in the Peoria Journal Star.  I have received so much positive feed back from just one article and it is such a good feeling.  I was fortunate enough to have people around me that put me in touch with the right people to get this done.  You can read the article here.

I was also featured in a New York Mets blog.  I contacted the blog, Mets Police, a couple days ago in an effort to reach out to Mets fans about my Ike Davis glove for trade.  They were kind enough to put a posting up on their website as well about the project to drive traffic towards the glove.  That article can be read here.

Next week I will be doing a in studio interview on a radio station here in Peoria trying to spread the word about the project even more.  I can only hope that the media attention will catch fire and turn into something bigger so that I can accomplish my end goal of sending an ill child to the Super Bowl.  I may also be expanding the project shortly as well so please stay posted and as always if you have a trade that you would like to propose please email me at againsttheodds2012@gmail.com and follow along on Twitter @TwoBlueDice.

The Beginning- Against The Odds

Last night I was lying in bed and thinking to myself how fortunate I am to be where I am today and how I could help somebody else that may not feel so fortunate.  I have started my career in the sports industry, working in the front office of a minor league baseball team and could not be happier.  It was always my dream to work in sports and in the last year it has become a reality.  

I knew from an early age that sports were my passion so I decided to make it my career path.  I have had dreams of going to all of the major championship games like the World Series, Super Bowl, etc.., when my team wins the big game and I know that someday I will be fortunate to experience that while working in this industry.  

Since starting my career and essentially my life, I have often thought about what I can do to help others and I have finally been inspired by another success story.  After coming across an article again that I had read several years ago titled "One Red Paperclip", I decided to use the model from that story for my own journey.  As the story goes a man traded a red paperclip over time for items of a bit larger value until he got a house.  Yes, in the end he traded a red paperclip for a real house!  To learn more about his story click here. My goal will be a bit different, as I will use mine for charity.

As I mentioned, it has been and still is my dream to go to a major championship game and one day I think I will be fortunate enough to attend one.  My goal is to grant the sports wish of a young child that is ill and may not have much more time to experience the big game.  I am on a mission to trade my "Two Blue Dice" for a trip to the 2013 Super Bowl for a very ill child.  You may ask, why dice?  To keep it simple there are many children that go through procedures each and every day against the odds.  Everyday they live is another day they beat the odds and conquer their illness.  Rolling dice to get certain number is the epitome of beating the odds so, with those very blue dice, my journey will begin. 

So here's the deal, I've got a pair of blue dice and I need to trade them away for something with a slightly higher value.  I will not be able to travel as much to make all of the transactions personal, but with the use of social media I hope I can reach a far larger market and reach my goal before the Super Bowl!  If you are interested in making a trade please email me at againsttheodds2012@gmail.com. Please help me make this possible and the dream of a child in need come true!