Links to the weekly winners!!

WEEK 1
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/09/panini-player-of-day-contest-1-winner.html

WEEK 2
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/winner-of-week-2-of-panini-player-of.html

WEEK 2 BONUS WINNERS
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/other-week-2-of-player-of-day-contest.html 

WEEK 3
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-3-player-of-day-contest-winner.html 

 WEEK 4
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/winner-of-week-4-player-of-day-announced.html 


 WEEK 5 Part 1..HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY
 http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/winner-of-sport-card-collectors-week-5.html

 WEEK 5 Part 2..Monday Night Football giveaway!
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/winner-of-monday-night-player-of-day.html 


 WEEK 6 
http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/10/sport-card-collectors-week-6-winner.html


WEEK 7
 http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/11/winner-of-week-7-of-sport-card.html

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Other Week 2 of Player Of The Day Contest Winner

Well, thanks to the good eye of mrblu1976, our mistaking of not seeing the stat of one Mr. Tom Brady rushing for a TD, we actually had a 6 way tiebreaker. So in order to make this right due to our lack of sleep, you know we had to stay up late to watch the Giants and we got up 5 hours later lol.

We randomly took those three people as well and here is how it went:

List Randomizer

There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1.  Ryan Glaser HighStakes0707@yahoo.com
2.  Joshua
3.  jvancegonzalez@hotmail.com

So Ryan...you win a prize for our mistake! Just email us your address to sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com  and we will find something to mail ya :)

But, we did make a mistake...well...how about we award the following people 15 bonus points in our Player Of The Day contest!! Look for those updated in the standings!

1. Joshua
2. jvancegonzalez@hotmail.com
3. mrblu1976@aol.com (for catching our mistake)
4. Justin Middleton
5. mrsblu76
6. Super Tom
7. Ryan Glaser

Now it wouldn't be fair if we didn't award the rest of the participants from week two as well...everyone who isn't listed above will get a free 10 bonus points for participating in week 2. The following names will get the 10 points:

Amy Solorio
Tkdkid1
Jamie B
Scott Bennett
24cavs
Hamster87
John M
Harold Tourjee

Hopefully this makes up for our small mistake. Also keep an eye out for week 3 of our Panini Player Of The Day contest that is coming up by this afternoon!!

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Coming up on tonight's Monday Night Sports Show - 1st October 2012

We’re here on 98.7FM in Cardiff and online at www.radiocardiff.org with award-winning sports chat and debate.

- And coming up on the show we discuss the comeback of comebacks! Europe’s sensational victory in the Ryder Cup last night has rounded off an incredible summer of sport. We ask how Jose Maria Olazabal’s men managed to achieve victory from 10-4 down on day two and look back at the decisive moments.

- Plus, we want to know your great sporting comeback moments; And has 2012 been the greatest ever year of sport? Send us your views.

- We review the weekend’s football including Cardiff City’s 3-0 win over Blackpool and a round-up of the Premier League results.

- Simon Williams brings us his regular round up of the week’s sport and Yousef has all the latest UFC news from last weekend's event in Nottingham.

- Plus we have this week’s Fantasy League Top Ten Countdown.

As always you can... Give us a call on: 02920 235 664 
Send us a Text: 07728 758 759 
Join the debate on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RadioCardiffMNSS 
Email: sports@radiocardiff.org 
Twitter: www.twitter.com/RadCardiff_MNSS

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WELSH RUGBY UNION ANNOUNCES RECORD TURNOVER

WRU achieves a 44% increase in turnover across five years, a Grand Slam victory in 2012 and delivers a bumper £20.1million back into the sport

The Welsh Rugby Union Limited (“WRU”) today published its Annual Report which reveals it has achieved a record financial performance for the year ending 30 June 2012 in a Grand Slam winning year.

The WRU announced its highest turnover in its 131 year history of more than £63m which enabled the governing body to re-invest more than £20m into all levels of Welsh rugby and the wholly owned Millennium Stadium.

The Annual Report showed that the turnover of the WRU has risen by 44% in the five years from 2007.

Also, as a result of the financial performance and the re-financing during the year, the net repayable bank debt of the WRU was also reduced to its lowest level since the Millennium Stadium was built in 1999 dipping below £19m for the first time.

The report highlights the WRU’s clearly declared priorities for the months and years ahead based on a five year rolling strategic and financial plan.

It warns that there are challenges ahead as trading conditions in the wider economy are still difficult combined with the cyclical nature of its business model, but the WRU believe it can maintain a financial momentum which can support the sustainability and development of the national sport of Wales.

The Annual Report pinpoints key factors in the WRU’s continuing success such as the on-field performance, its strategic financial planning, recruitment of exceptional staff and departmental restructuring aimed at achieving set goals.

The financial progress of the WRU across the past five years which is highlighted by the latest results have earned the governing body the status of the most successful Tier 1 Union in world rugby in terms of its compound annual growth between 2007 and 2011.

Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis said: “The results we announce today are clear evidence of how our robust reforms and adherence to clear business strategies across the past five years are paying off with success for Welsh rugby both on and off the field.

“We have recruited and developed great people, reformed our systems and structures and delivered a raft of new initiatives aimed at sustaining and developing rugby as the national sport of Wales.

“This has translated into financial and sporting success and gives confidence that the WRU is clearly in the right shape to meet the challenges of the future.

“We have also taken risks, always measured, and we have not been afraid to face up to the challenges that we have encountered over the course of the past five years.

“To record a 44% growth in turnover across the past five years is a remarkable achievement the WRU can rightly be proud of, but we will not ease up on our commitment to develop within the aims we have defined in our five year rolling strategic plan. The best is yet to come. Our financial performance is the engine to drive our rugby forwards.

“I want to thank my outstanding executive team, the WRU Board for allowing us the space to get on with the job, and particularly all of the staff of the WRU Group for their exceptional commitment and dedication. On a personal note I thank my Finance Director, Steve Phillips, for his wise and prudent counsel and Warren Gatland for his commitment and dedication to Welsh rugby.

“I want to thank also all our broadcasting and commercial partners for their support and the Welsh Government for enabling us to align certain strategies for the benefit of Wales.

“My biggest thanks however goes to all the players, officials, volunteers and supporters who are the true champions of our sport. Together we can continue to take Wales to the world, welcome the world to Wales and play our part in defining Wales as a proud and united nation.”

Financial highlights of last year, summarised in the 104 page report, include:-
A record turnover of £63.2m, an increase of 16% on 2011 and up 44% on 2007
A record equallingEBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and allocations) of £27.6m, an increase on 2011 of 6%, and an increase since 2007 of 31%
A record £20.1m allocation to affiliated organisations, an increase on 2011 of 4% and an increase since 2007 of 35%
An investment of £3.8m into community rugby, an increase of 23% on 2011 and an increase since 2007 of 31%. This is in addition to a further £2.1m to support the operational costs of the community game, together a record level of funding
A record £4.1m invested into the operational costs of elite rugby, in addition to record levels of direct costs driven by an exceptional Rugby World Cup year
£2.9m committed to refurbishing the Millennium Stadium. This highest single spend on the Stadium since its opening in 1999
A reduction in repayable net bank debt of £7.4m from last year to a record low of £18.8m, having eradicated £20.5m of repayable net bank debt since 2007, keeping the WRU on target to be debt free by 2021
More than 650,000 people attended the various events in the Millennium Stadium



Other highlights include:
Another Grand Slam
A semi-final place in RWC11
An IRB 4th place world ranking
The further development of North Wales as a development region
Ospreys win the RaboDirect Pro12 final
The U20s achieving a third place in the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship and beating New Zealand
Dual contracting of the National Sevens core squad
Growth in age-grade participation levels across the community game
Record TV viewing during RWC11 and the Six Nations
New commercial partnerships during the year and extensions with existing partners

During the year there was an extension of the WRU agreement with kit manufacturer Under Armour, a new deal for all club rugby balls with Gilbert, a new pourage rights deal with Heineken and Brains and renewal agreements with Dove Men Care, SEAT and the Principality Building Society.

Television rights deals, including both with the BBC and Sky to show Rugby World Cup warm-up games, match-day ticket revenue and increased commercial activity were three key revenue drivers.

The robust performance also enabled the WRU to embark on a raft of initiatives and changes including the employment of 19 new rugby development staff to work across Wales.

This confidence was also expressed with the WRU embarking on rugby reforms within the Principality Premiership Division, the formation of a new National Championship Division, significant strategic development in North Wales and initiatives aimed at developing schools and college rugby.

The WRU continued to prioritise the community game across Wales and during the year an additional £1m was invested in the community game including club facilities and recruitment grants.

The WRU also launched and completed the first ever Census of all rugby clubs which has provided the governing body with a unique data base of information about the status of the game in Wales.

The challenges within Regional rugby were recognised with the WRU and the Regions agreeing to the first ever detailed financial analysis of the elite level of Welsh rugby.

During the year many observers pinpointed the attendance at the Millennium Stadium of some 61,000 fans to watch the Rugby World Cup semi final between Wales and Ireland as clear evidence of the level of support the game in Wales now enjoys.

In the Annual Report the WRU also declares its full support for Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland in his secondment as coach for the British and Irish Lions on their 2013 tour of Australia.

The Group Finance Director, Steve Phillips, said: “These results indicate that the Group operates within a business model which understands the marketplace we work in and is able to adapt to the opportunities and challenges it presents.

“Across the last year we have been able to deliver a robust financial performance in an economic environment which presented obvious challenges.

“We recognise our business is cyclical and the inevitable hurdles that arise from that but these are fully recognised within our commercial and financial planning processes.

“That gives our stakeholders and commercial partners confidence in our ability to deliver success and enables us to plan for growth.

“We are delighted that we able to convert our on-field success and business planning into additional revenues for the Group and it is pleasing that we may then re-invest into the wider game and our iconic stadium which will serve us well in the future

“Our executive structure now boasts a wealth of experience and we are able to define our priorities based on a real understanding of the needs of Welsh rugby.”

Picture caption: WRU Group Finance Director, Steve Phillips, reveals the Annual Report at the Millennium Stadium

For media enquiries, contact: Head of Communications John Williams on emailjwilliams@wru.co.ukor telephone 02920 822462 or 07824 357083.



EDITORS’ NOTES

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of the game in Wales and wholly owns and operates the Millennium Stadium.

The principal activity of the WRU is to promote, foster, encourage, control and improve rugby football throughout Wales.

All the Wales international rugby squads for senior, age grade, sevens teams and womens’ teams are based at the WRU National Centre of Excellence (“WRUNCE”).

The WRUNCE boasts an administrative block, gymnasium, indoor 3G training pitch, three outdoor training pitches including one 3G pitch, a running track and a scrum training area. All the outdoor pitches are the same dimensions as the Millennium Stadium pitch.

The WRU operates five academies which develop age grade players along a defined player development pathway.

The WRU has designated North Wales as a development region and has installed the RGC1404 representative team into SWALEC League Division One East to promote and aid its development.

The repayable net bank debt of the WRU currently at £18.8m - original loan drawn to construct the Millennium Stadium which was opened in 1999.

The Millennium Stadium is based in the centre of Cardiff, has a closing roof and a removable pitch. It is a multi-event venue which hosts a variety of top level sports including rugby union, rugby league and motorsports along with major concerts.

In Wales there are some 50,000 registered rugby players and the WRU has 250 full member clubs plus four regions.

Wales are current Grand Slam Champions, Sevens World Champions and this autumn they welcome some of the world’s best teams to the Millennium Stadium. They face Argentina on November 10, Samoa on November 16, New Zealand on November 24 and Australia on December 1.

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Is US Per Capita GDP Growth in Decline?

UPDATE 10/2: Mislabeled graph fixed at the bottom of this post. Thanks to Mark Bahner in the comments!

In my column last week at The Breakthrough Institute on Robert Gordon's analysis of US per capita economic growth, I identified what I believe to be an error in his calculation of post-1950 growth rates. Such an error matters because Gordon's recent discussion paper has been called “the summer’s most talked about working paper in economics” and argues a data-based case for US decline. My view is that such discussions should at least start with a solid empirical basis and re-checking assertions grounded in data claims is fair game (not all agree, however).

Gordon has written the following to explain his main graph, which appears just below:

"Each of the successive periods after 1950 exhibits a downward step in per-capita real GDP growth, with steps downward marked at 1964, 1972, and 1987."

I cannot reconcile Gordon's claim with the actual data on the US economy. The data on growth rates (from BEA and US Census, which Gordon has confirmed to me as the correct datasets to use) shows the following rates of change in per capita GDP growth at the break points identified by Gordon:

1928 to 1950 - 2.4%
1950 to 1964 - 2.1%
1964 to 1972 - 2.9%
1972 to 1987 - 2.1%
1987 to 2006 - 1.9%

These numbers do not show successive downward steps in US GDP per capita growth rates from 1950. In fact, the peak is right in the middle of the periods, and otherwise the growth rates are very similar through the period. The calculation of trends on the time series is very sensitive to the start and end point chosen for analysis -- which should raise a red flag for chartist-based arguments.

This discrepancy between our analyses of the data explains why the linear trend I calculate from 1950 to 2006 shows a tiny decrease, essentially no decline, contrary to his sharp decline graphed in red in the figure above. The graph at the top of this post shows data from FRED from 1960 (start of that dataset) on US per capita GDP (plotted on a log scale).  Similarly, it shows no evidence of any stair-step decline in growth rates, certainly not a decrease by half illustrated in Gordon's graph.

I have invited Gordon to address the discrepancy in our datasets and help me to identify where I have made a mistake or perhaps if his data is in error. Readers are welcomed to chime in.

UPDATE: In the original graph posted at The Breakthrough Institute I showed ten-year growth rates for the Maddison dataset rather than the annual values as stated in the graph title. The annual values are shown below. There are no implications for the analysis -- the data is the same. Sorry for the error.

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WINNER OF WEEK 2 OF PANINI PLAYER OF THE DAY CONTEST

With a three-way tie between mrsblu76, Justin Middleton and Super Tom we had to randomly pick a winner the old fashioned way...

List Randomizer

There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Justin Middleton
2. mrsblu76
3. Super Tom

Congrats to: Justin Middleton

You have won the following!!







Email us your address to sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com and we will get these out to you! Also, don't forget to look for a GOLDEN TICKET. Any package could have them cause we don't know where they are....So make sure you email us the code on the GOLDEN TICKET if you find it and tell no one if you have. Keeps the suspense of the contest going!

Also, don't forget everyone if you enter this weekly contest EVERY week you still have a chance at the GOLDEN TICKET. As we award EVERYONE who participates weekly a prize at the end that could contain a GOLDEN TICKET. We will exclude week 1, but if you participate from here on out EVERY week you will get a prize at the end!

ALSO!! AS A BONUS SURPRISE, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOURSELF WITH YOUR PRIZES AND EMAIL IT TO US, WE WILL GIVE YOU 5 POINTS TO THE PLAYER OF THE DAY CONTEST AND A PRIZE ENVELOPE THAT COULD GIVE YOU ANOTHER SHOT AT A GOLDEN TICKET. THE PRIZE ENVELOPE COULD CONTAIN, A ROOKIE CARD, A INSERT OR TWO, A AUTOGRAPH OR JERSEY CARD, OR POSSIBLY A GOLDEN TICKET! IT IS ALL RANDOM SINCE THE PRIZES ARE PREPACKAGED! 

WE WILL ADD YOUR PHOTO TO THIS POST TO SHOW PANINI A HAPPY FAN! THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!!

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Sport Card Collectors Player Of The Day # 14

 

We want to invite newbies to this contest as well! Plenty of time to play catchup! If your going to buy a couple of Panini packs or already own the card anyways why not enter to try to win. The third place division is where you will start but you could jump up fast! Or you could stay there and try to win that prize. Its up to you!

Time to show off your cards of this player!! Remember the rules and how to score points is in this link:

 http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/09/sport-card-collectors-player-of-day_28.html

You have til the end of the day to get your entry in!! 

*Contests are open to U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY! (sorry)

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