The second round of our tournament saw a ton of runaways and a few very tough picks that I ultimately could not choose. By the end of Wednesday voting we ended up with our first tie of the tournament, which was really unbelievably tough on Mrs. Clumsy Optimist after having made zero tie-breaks in the Round of 64. There were two other matchups that were decided by three votes or less! We also had only one match end in the 100-0 score. This is also the best seeding I have ever done. More on that later.
The Regional Semifinal round begins now and voting will end Sunday, March 29 at 5pm Central. It’s hard to believe March is basically finished. Good luck with making up your mind on some of these. I’m still completely at a loss on how to vote on almost all but like 2 of these match-ups and I honestly have been for the last two rounds. Definitely not going to get any easier going forward.
But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.
Round of 32
Gary & Mary Region
(1) Kermit the Frog vs (8) Sam the Eagle
The battle of “Name” the “Animal” looked to be a great match but Sam the Eagle really ran up against it in the Gary & Mary Region 1 seed as Kermit the Frog moves on somewhat shockingly easily 79-21.
(2) Animal vs (10) Dr. Teeth
Personal favorite 2 seed Animal put the hammer down against the 10 seed Dr. Teeth. The Electric Mayhem drummer moves on 89-11. Justice for Janice!!
(3) The Swedish Chef vs (6) Rowlf
Could not pick this one. I love love love Rowlf, but The Swedish Chef is an all-timer. I’m not even sure I ever made up my mind and voted on this one. Y’all did not share my indecision though as 3 seed The Swedish Chef moves on 70-30.
(4) Beaker vs (12) Gobo Fraggle
Gobo Fraggle tried his best. He really did. But our only real Cinderella story left in this tounament meets an early end as 4 seed Beaker gets the easy win 81-19.
Scrooge Region
(1) Miss Piggy vs (8) Red Fraggle
Miss Piggy is proving to be one of the most consistent player in our field. After getting through the first round 76-24, she takes out Red Fraggle by a final of 74-26.
(2) The Great Gonzo vs (7) Pepe the King Prawn
Another I could not choose. Pepe is a favorite in this house. But Gonzo? Gonzo is the best. I could not vote on this one either and in this case everyone was as stressed as I was. In the end The Great Gonzo gets a 3-vote win. Every time I checked it was within 3 or 4 votes either way.
(3) Fozzie Bear vs (6) Boober Fraggle
Fozzie and Boober. Boober and Fozzie. What a pair. I think we all saw this one coming but Fozzie Bear moves on 81-19.
(4) Statler & Waldorf vs (5) Rizzo
I flippin love Rizzo. I was hopeful that he could withstand the hecklers’ offense but he got lit up and Statler & Waldorf move on 77-23.
Mr Hooper Region
(1) Elmo vs (8) Julia
As we move from Muppets to the Sesame Street side of the bracket, we start off with our only 100-0 victory of the second round as Elmo gets the sweep.
(2) Grover vs (7) Zoe
I thought Grover would fly through the first two rounds and I was right here as Grover knocks out 7 seed Zoe by the same score he had in the first round, 81-19.
(3) Abby Cadabby vs (6) Gonger
Oh, Gonger. Of the new group of Sesame Street characters, he is by far my favorite even if he is relegated to only Monster Foodies sketches. I think people just may not know how much ass he kicks. In a great match, the 3 seed took a tough shot from him but ultimately Abby Cadabby gets the victory 67-33.
Seriously though. Watch this supercut of Gonger losing it with Cookie Monster’s antics. El Oh El.
(4) Ernie vs (5) Bert
This match. I got yelled at by multiple people for making this matchup happen so early. I get it. This was an impossible choice in the second round. This tournament has been like that though. Tough all around. The roommates fought it out, Bert sitting there just trying to read his book and all, but after all that, 4 seed Ernie took the victory by 3 votes 59-41.
Mr Noodle Region
(1) Big Bird vs (8) Telly Monster
Telly Monster is so sweet. Big Bird is maybe the sweetest character ever created. This one hurt to choose, but I think y’all made the correct pick here as Big Bird moves on to the regional semifinal 85-15.
(2) Cookie Monster vs (10) Guy Smiley
Our 2 seed Cookie Monster came in hot and kept the pedal down, taking down America’s favorite game show host Guy Smiley by a final of 89-11.
(3) Oscar the Grouch vs (6) Rosita
The Mr. Noodle Region continues its blowout scores here as 3 seed Oscar the Grouch took down 6 seed Rosita by another 89-11 score.
(4) Count von Count vs (5) Mr. Snuffleupagus
All that blowout nonsense came to an end here. I absolutely could not pick this one. They are both perfect and I didn’t have it in me to make a decision. So I didn’t. Classic. But my refusal to choose set in motion what would become our first 50-50 tie of the year. And the first time we had to involve Mrs. Clumsy Optimist in all this. She was devastated haha.
Literally she could not choose. But she takes her tie-breaking job seriously so she sat and watched videos of Count and Snuffy for over an hour. After agonizing over her pick, she finally chose Mr. Snuffleupagus to move on to the Sweet 16. That was a tough one and we thank her for her service.
Look at this seeding! Great job by the committee. Three of our regions get the 1-4 seeds in the Sweet 16 and the other is 1,2,3,5 and the 5 seed was there via tiebreak over the 4 seed. Absolutely impossible picks going forward btw.
That leaves our bracket looking like this (Click to expand. It gets a little crowded):
Sweet 16
Gary & Mary Region
(1) Kermit the Frog vs (4) Beaker
(2) Animal vs (3) The Swedish Chef
Scrooge Region
(1) Miss Piggy vs (4) Statler & Waldorf
(2) The Great Gonzo vs (3) Fozzie Bear
Mr Hooper Region
(1) Elmo vs (4) Ernie
(2) Grover vs (3) Abby Cadabby
Mr Noodle Region
(1) Big Bird vs (5) Mr. Snuffleupagus
(2) Cookie Monster vs (3) Oscar the Grouch
Alright everybody. Like I said, good freakin’ luck. There are some absolutely impossible decisions to be made here and one absolutely devastating matchup. Literally all 8 of these matchups are almost undecidable to me. Great work on voting y’all. For real. Polls are open and will close on Sunday, March 29 at 5pm Central.
Let’s get to voting and see who makes the Regional Finals! See you guys on Monday with our Elite 8!
The Clumsy Optimist 