TSZ, I'd Like to Introduce You to...

the 21st Century.

That's right, thanks to Marco being a few years younger than his technologically illiterate counterpart - yours truly - The Spread Zone is now on Twitter. When I was growing up my mother used to write post cards and letters to her mother and sister who lived on the other side of the world. "The art of letter writing," she'd caution me, "is a dying one." Now I'm pretty sure she's rolling over in her urn every time someone tweets. It was her encouragement and support that ultimately cultivated my love of putting pen to paper and later on fingers to keyboard, so I will continue with my strengths while Marco covers the Twitter-sphere. Now you can join him on the roller coaster ride we call Sundays:

@vinnyandmarco

We also endeavor to create a downloadable app soon, because that seems like the thing to do these day. And then we're going to be on Facebook and MySpace and Kindle and YouTube and eventually take over the whole damn world. You're all coming with us, right? See what happens when you buy us coffee? Okay, okay - one thing at time. Here's an Instagram of what I'm thinking right now.

                                       

Mmmm....cupcakes.

So I guess @vinnyandmarco is our Twitter "handle." I'm a little naive to the ways of that world, and have some concerns that I will lose the fun, informative, and cathartic dialogue we get right here at The Spread Zone. Please don't forget me just because I'm not a Twitterer...Tweeter...Twit? Twat? Twot? Whatever. You know what I mean. Your feedback at TSZ is food for my soul, and your comments here have absolutely no character limits. Some even lack character all together - but those are generally mine.

We also need to give out some warm TSZ welcomes, coffee thank you's, and special fan of the week award.

New TSZ Followers: Let's all give a warm welcome to our newest additions - Manny, Luella, Nav, Chris M., James X., Grund King, and Hameen (who has been here for a while, but now it's official). We hope you discover what we've learned this season - that good ideas are made great by the people who foster their growth. That's an extra nod to everyone else. You know how we feel.

Coffee Thank You's: Without generous donations from Chris M., Manny, and Stan, and Laura Z.,the first two paragraphs above would not have been possible. Thank you gentlemen. That was very kind.

Fans of the Week Award: We don't really like playing favorites because we truly believe it takes a village to raise a future multi-million dollar sports betting empire, but we'd like to give special thanks to two of our readers this week.

Mysterio: As one of the early followers of The Spread Zone, Mysterio has been a fearless pioneer in the comments sections, building rapport and community among our readers. This weekend, he did some networking for us and increased our following by almost 50%. Not a bad day's work, Mysterio. Here's to a karmic, cash-filled Sunday for you my friend. Proline, baby. Was that right?

Laura Z: When we first put the "Coffee for Vinny and Marco" button on the site, we didn't expect much to happen. Within a few hours, Laura Z. bought us each a cup of Joe and left us this note:

Dear Vinny and Marco,

You guys are hilarious and I love reading your blog! I use you guys for a couple of games in my Pick'em Pool. Have a great day. 

Regards,
Laura

                                

Being naive to the ways of PayPal, we assumed the donation had been made by one of our followers and ended up mis-crediting our gratitude. The note was so kind and encouraging, however, that it left us feeling a bit unresolved - like John Cousack in Serendipity. Now, at long last, our Kate Beckinsale has reappeared and we can finally say, "Laura, your are - in the sincerest, most elaborate, all-encompassing meaning of the word - totally awesome." If everyone knew the impact of simple gestures such as yours, the world would be a better place. Thank you.

And finally, to our woebegone Willy B. who feels as though our Friday Five for Frappacinos was more sellout than alliteration and community spirit, we hope you'll accept our invitation to e-mail us and continue to be a part of The Spread Zone. We believe you will find that we are, in fact, not too good but rather just good enough to be true.

That's all for today folks. We'll be posting our Friday Five after the games kick off Sunday just so we can keep our integrity. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. Now let's go win our pools, our bets, our pink slips, or just our pride.

May the Spread Be With You,

Vinny and Marco

Reminders: 

#1. Coffee Donations: Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee anytime - top right of the page. It takes a lot of caffeine to keep The Spread Zone running. If you'd rather wait and see how you do with our picks, that's fine. If you appreciate what we're doing regardless of the outcome, you can donate anytime. Thanks again to everyone who has done so already. It has felt like a warm, delicious compliment.

#2. If you shop at Amazon.com, Oldnavy.com, ebay.com, please click on these links through our blogs because allegedly we might get a commission. So far, we haven't, but we don't know if anyone is clicking. Also, please tell us where you do shop, and we'll start an Shop Here List.

#3. Now that we have the support and appreciation of fellow handicappers, we feel like The Spread Zone has as much potential as any free gambling website out there. We always appreciate feedback and suggestions. Like my favorite baseball team likes to say, "Together We're Giant."