UPDATE (10:30): TO ENSURE EVERYONE GETS TO PICK, WE’RE STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS, BUT WON’T BE SENDING INVITES TO THE NCAA GAME STARTING NOW.  WE’RE CLOSING DOWN THE ABILITY TO PLAY JUST IN CASE THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH LOGGING ON.

NEW OPPORTUNITY!  THE FIRST PERSON TO GIVE $500 WILL GET A SIGNED AUTHENTIC NICK ROACH BEARS JERSEY!

UPDATE (7:30): $1200 RAISED TO DATE.  LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO GO!

UPDATE (2:30): $1000 RAISED TO DATE.  BEARS VS. PACKERS TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE.

UPDATE: $500 RAISED TO DATE AS OF WEDNESDAY MORNING.  IF WE CAN GET $1000 IN DONATIONS OR 100 PEOPLE ENTERED, NICK WILL OFFER THE BEARS VS. PACKERS HOME GAME AT SOLDIER FIELD.

On January 4th 2010, 7 year old Slade Baker died in a tragic sledding accident in his hometown of Burlington, Wisconsin, which is not to far from my hometown of Milwaukee.   He left his parents, a brother and sister, and a devastated community.

A month or so ago,  I had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser to raise money for a scholarship fund in his memory.

While that raised some good money, I wanted to do more for someone who I know was a die hard Bears fan.

Win my NCAA Tournament Pick ‘em game!

To raise some additional funds for the Slade Baker Scholarship Fund, I am donating a pair of my own football tickets to a 2010 home Bears football game to the winner of my NCAA tournament pick ‘em game.

In addition, anyone who finishes ahead of me will be put into a pool to win a signed football or a signed Bears shirt.   (2 additional winners)

What do you have to do?

That’s easy.  All you have to do is contribute a minimum of $10.00 to Slade Baker’s Memorial Fund by clicking on the donation button below.   You can choose to give more, which I hope you will do, but once you do, you’ll get a separate email with the link to my CBSsports.com NCAA pick ‘em game within an hour.  (make sure your email is valid please)

You’ll have to do it all before the tip-off of Thursday’s first game to qualify.

Remember, you have to donate a minimum of $10 AND enter the pool to qualify for the prizes.

The pool only has room for the first 400 people.  That’s a minimum $4000 to a good cause.  Hopefully more!

In honor of Slade and his family, I hope we can get there with your help.  100% of the proceeds collected will be placed in Slade Baker’s memorial scholarship fund, which will be used on projects for St. John’s Lutheran School in Burlington, WI, where Slade attended.

All promotional updates and winners will be announced here, on my Facebook Fan Page and on Slade Baker’s Fan Page.

Once you have completed your donation, please click on the “Return to Illinois Online Ventures” button to get final instructions.

Thank you for your consideration and good luck!

For once, if you always wanted to upset a Bear – here’s your chance.

Nick Roach

Rules and Considerations

• Our single focus on creating this promotion is to raise funds for the memory of Slade Baker.  Please do not share the tourney URL with anyone else.  We want to make sure those who made the effort to give will get the optimal opportunity to win Nick’s personal pair of Bears home game tickets for an upcoming 2010 Bears game or other prizes.

• While we trust you will be discreet in entering this promotion, we will be double checking your entry against your donation.   If we see a discrepancy between givers and players, we will attempt our best to contact you to clarify the situation.   However, if a winner is selected who did not donate a minimum of $10 to the fund prior to the tip off of the first Thursday NCAA game, the next confirmed winner will be picked.   In addition, suspicious entries will be removed after the tournament has started if we can not confirm it is a legitimate entry.

• We will take donations of any size larger than $10 for one entry into the pool.   If you decide to give multiple times, you may need to create separate accounts on CBSsports.com in order to get a separate entry. By giving, you do not need to enter the pool, but you must enter the pool to be qualified for one of the three prizes.

• If there is a tie, the winner will be picked first by the total points scored guess, then the amount of first round wins.  Tie breakers will go into the next round until a winner can be determine.  If by goodness, we can’t seem to have a winner, then Nick will flip a coin to choose between the top two.

• For those who finish above Nick Roach, all confirmed qualifiers will be put in a random drawing for a signed football and a Chicago Bears shirt, signed by Nick.  Winners will have 24 hours to confirm their identities and their donation before they will receive their prizes.

• The winner will receive a pair of home Bears tickets that are allotted to Nick Roach for the season.  While a request can be made for a specific game, it will be up to Nick’s discretion to determine available tickets and games.   If Nick somehow is no longer with the Bears when the season starts, ticket allocation will carry over to his new team.  Tickets will be stand alone and will not include any additional benefits.  Ticket selection will be determined before the start of the pre-season.  Winner must agree not to barter, exchange or sell tickets for any profit upon receipt of the tickets.

• Immediate family or friends of Nick Roach or IOVMedia are excluded from this promotion.  Rules may change based on circumstances beyond our control, but we will make every effort to make it a fair and equitable event for everyone involved.  Final decisions will be made by Nick Roach and IOVMedia.

• Refunds will not be given for those who are able to make a donation, but are not able to get their picked made by the start of the tournament.  We will do everything in our power to get your the confirmation code as soon as you make a donation, but can’t guarantee accessibility to the site if you make a donation too close to tip off on Thursday.

Please forward any other questions or concerns to Steve at IOVMedia who is running this promotion with Nick Roach.  You can reach him by filling out the contact us form by clicking HERE.