Blogging for Pizza

1) The blog entry must be 100 words or longer.

2) The post must, in some way, incorporate Joe Mauer.

Mauer seemed like a natural theme for the week given that he's returning from his oblique injury and his future is in question as he suffers through a career-worst season at age 31. He doesn't need to be the focus of your story, but he must be involved in some way.

Other than that, you're free to take it whichever direction you want. If you haven't done so yet, creating a blog here on Twins Daily is extremely easy. Simply click "Blogs" on the top navigation, then click "Create a Blog." Customize a few things and you'll be ready to rock. If you already blog somewhere else and want to simply re-post an entry here with a link back, that's fine. We want people to find your work.

On Friday, we will send promo codes for a free large two-topping pizza from Papa John's to everyone who posted a blog meeting the two aforementioned requirements. So keep an eye on your direct message inbox (it's that envelope icon on the upper right part of your screen). We will also pick a couple of our favorite stories and promote them to the front page.

Have fun! We look forward to reading.

* Free pizza promo codes are valid for Minnesota Papa John's locations only, but if you blog from out of state you can forward yours to someone here in MN as a gift.

Hi. This is John adding on to Nick's excellent story with a couple of ideas and a tip.

Ideas: You can take the story just about any direction you want. Hate Joe? Love him? Want to put him in a historical context for the Twins? For MLB? Satire? Review his minor league career? Break down this week's at-bats pitch by pitch? Review the contract? Talk to his high school coach? Want to talk about where he should bat in the lineup? His defense? They're all fine.

Tip One: One mistake that bloggers often fall into is that they feel the need to hit "Publish" too soon. Your story likely isn't that urgent. After you write it on your PC, save it. Let it marinade. Come back to it tomorrow. Show it to your wife for suggestions or editing. Then publish. You'll be amazed at how your eyes view it differently the next day.

Tip Two: Brock just wrote up an awesome post on how to create/enter your own blog on the site. Click here to see it.