Crowd Sourcing Talent

Some situations offer especially fertile ground for crowd sourcing - Kickstarter and "American Idol" are two that come immediately to mind, (that elections and popular revolutions come a bit later is kind of sad). But it does have its limitations: It can disperse advice and examples in spades, but it can't do the work for you. Case in point:

"A person in Ottawa known as "PhiloCojones" on Reddit is among four finalists chosen Wednesday to shoot a puck into a net at an Ottawa 67's hockey game contest for a chance to win $1 million.

The problem: PhiloCojones has never shot a puck.

Now the Reddit user is asking for the public for some advice before the Million Dollar Shootout contest takes place during the Ottawa 67's vs. Sudbury Wolves game on March 16. Finalists must shoot the puck into a small opening in the net.

"I realize the chances of winning are slim, but I want to practice and get a feel for a stick and puck before getting out there and flying blind," the user wrote Wednesday. "At the very least, I want to give myself a better chance of winning the '4-person showdown.'"

That's not to say that advice won't give PhiloCojones more of an edge than he/she'd otherwise have; however, if asked to give our two cents, we'd recommend that P.C. learn to walk on the ice before learning to shoot. We've got a sneaking suspicion that if he/she were to fall on camera, the Internet's attention wouldn't be quite as appreciated. 

Metro Ottawa: Reddit user seeking hockey tips for a shot at $1 million