Contesting the Praise

Boys and girls, start your engines ....

The contests have begun as part of various Father's Day (Sunday, June 21) promotions. Do you need something in return or would you type a few words and send a pic for nothing but your dad's online immortality (and maybe notice by a Mizzou audience)? There's also a Savannah (Ga.) lookalike contest gains the winners nothing but a newspaper portrait.

Is your dad worth a picture and 50 words in possible exchange for a $50 gift certificate to a Texas art store? Would you like to cop 4 tickets to a Phillies game for eight lines of pop poetry? If you need a big prize to encourage the effort to celebrate your father's virtues then you should be looking at videoing the greatest "GeekDad" or baking 200 words to celebrate the Great American chocolate chip cookied dad?

There are more. Lots more. However, the point is to start celebrating dad ... or at least behave and give him some peace. Please ....