Learning Practical Money Skills Is Fun With "Financial Football" Video Game

Too often people are taken advantage of in both legitimate business transaction and through frauds by con artists.  So I wanted to give a plug to a very well done educational tool that utilizes a football video game to entice people into learning practical money skills.  Financial Football which was created in partnership between the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Visa's Practical Money Skill's for Life program, and the NFL  lets children, teens, and adults test their money management skills and financial literacy by answering questions that allow you to move down the field and score touchdowns when you make the correct choices.

Available to play online via your personal computer or laptop for FREE, Financial Football puts players fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a FREE iPhone app on iTunes, along with an optimized HD iPad version.  The game can be played in single player mode or against a friend in head-to-head action. It really is a fast-paced, fun game that can be challenging for all ages.

To start the game you can pick its length ranging from 5 minutes to 20 minutes plus select which NFL team you want to play as.  Difficulty settings are also available with Rookie (Ages 11 -14), Pro (Ages 14-18) and Hall of Fame (18+) to choose from.  Players are than able to select defensive and offensive plays with difficulty levels of easy, medium and hard which are followed up with questions about financial literacy and money management that correspond to the selected play's difficulty.

If  you get a question right you than your team is successful with their play, but if you get the question wrong than your QB will get sacked, your running back hit for a loss, or a wide receiver drops the ball.  The harder the successfully completed question the better your players do so an easy question might get you one or two yards, a medium question 5 yards and a hard question could get you ten yards or maybe even a break away touchdown.

This game takes a topic that can be boring and mundane for many kids and adults and adds some excitement to it that will help ingrain important tips and information into people's heads as their competitive instincts get them involved with this game.  As a parent, I'm always keeping an eye out for opportunities that combine entertainment and education to assist getting kids to embrace learning.  Financial Football is a great way to catch children and teens' interest and help them become financially savvy.

For more information about the FINANCIAL FOOTBALL video game, CLICK HERE.

Major League Baseball Customized Fathers Day Uniforms Support Prostate Cancer Awareness & Research

I had to take a second glance and ask the other people in the room with me if there was something wrong with the TV while watching the Detroit Tigers game on Fathers Day as the team's uniforms seemed different.  In fact, they were.  For the first time ever, Major League Baseball (MLB) was having their teams wear customized uniforms and caps for Fathers Day with a "baby blue" theme to them.  While I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the uniforms that sport the Old English D and appreciate keeping a classic look to the outfits, in my opinion these Fathers Day uniforms were very sharp!

For the last several years, MLB has had its teams don pink uniforms on Mothers Day to show support for breast cancer survivors and promote awareness on the topic.  The reproductions of these official pink Mothers Day uniforms and caps that were made available for purchase to fans have had their MLB licensing royalties donated to the non-profits Susan G. Komen and Stand Up to Cancer.  This year the initiative was expanded to include Fathers Day.

The focus of the Fathers Day MLB promotion was to raise awareness, and some money, for prostate cancer prevention.  According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime with 1 in 39 men dying from the disease.  Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths for men residing within the United States behind only lung cancer.  Fortunately, if discovered early and treated many men can survive prostate cancer.  CLICK HERE to learn more about prostate cancer from the American Cancer Society.

As with the Mothers Day specialty uniforms, these unique Fathers Day ones will have their MLB licensing royalties donated to charity as well go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Stand Up to Cancer.  If you like these replica jerseys and caps don't wait to long to grab one as they are meant to be collectible items produced in limited supplies.  I'm not a fan of the flat brimmed snapback caps that seem to be all the rage lately so I'm glad New Era also produced a more traditional Fathers Day version of the ball cap for dads like me who appreciate the vintage look.

Check out all of the Fathers Day looks that were worn around Major League Baseball by all the teams for their June 19th games:




Major League Baseball teams will also be wearing special patriotic themed uniforms on the Fourth of July.  MLB's licensing royalties from these replica Fourth of July caps and jerseys will be donated to the the veterans' support charity Welcome Back Veterans.

So what to think of these special themed uniforms for sporting teams? Love them, hate them or just don't care?