Hey guys, we made it! We’re already through this great tournament. This has been a ton of fun and honestly one of the most regular, boring brackets we’ve ever done early on as far as upsets and Cinderella teams go but shocking in the last few rounds.
Just like every year, I like to make picks like I’m in an office pool before March Madness. For the first time in years, our Final 4 was close to exactly what I picked even if my two favorites to make the finals got the boot in the Elite 8. This is the first year that there were no major surprises as our Final 4 was one 1 seed and three 2 seeds. After this great run, let’s see how the winners of each region fared in the Final Four and who will face off in the title game!
The Championship Round voting begins now and will end Wednesday April 8 at 5pm Central. Championship winner will be announced on Thursday. I can’t believe we are already almost through this year!
But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.
Final 4
Semi-Final #1
(2) Animal vs (2) The Great Gonzo
Our Gary & Mary region champion 2 seed Animal had an easy run of things at first, knocking out Mahna Mahna in the first round 83-17, kicking his band leader, Dr. Teeth, out in the Round of 32 by a final of 89-11. The Sweet 16 saw him get no pushback from the Swedish Chef, easing to a 71-29 win. things got a lot tougher in the Elite 8 as our crazy drummer pulling one of the biggest upsets we’ve ever seen as Animal took down 1 seed Kermit (who I thought would win the whole thing) by 1 vote, 51-49.
The Scrooge Region had a very similar track to the final as 2 seed Gonzo kicked out girlfriend Camilla the Chicken in the Round of 64 by a final of 90-10. He did run into a bit of a tougher opponent in the Round of 32 as personal hero and 7 seed Pepe the King Prawn almost got an upset but ultimately fell short 59-41. The Sweet 16 saw a battle of two of the bigger stars of The Muppet Show but Gonzo took down Fozzie Bear 65-35. The Elite 8 was a battle I thought The Great Gonzo could lose as our voters took a massive liking to the great hecklers Statler & Waldorf but Gonzo held firm, winning by three votes 54-46.
I was excited for this final as it came down to two of my absolute favorite characters from The Muppet Show/Fraggle Rock side of our bracket. I could not choose and it very much seemed like the voting populace had the same issues I did. Every time I checked this one it was less than 5 votes either way but in the end, Animal (drum)rolls into the final taking out The Great Gonzo by a final score of 57-43. That’s a 4 vote margin of victory!
Semi-Final #2
(1) Big Bird vs (2) Grover
The right side of our bracket was a quite fun, if not perplexing, run to the final for the Sesame Street crew. The Mr. Hooper Region champion run started in the Round of 64 as 2 seed Grover took out Elmo’s dog Tango by a final of 81-19. The Round of 32 saw the exact same score as Grover kicked out Zoe 81-19. Only losing a few points in the Sweet 16 Abby Cadabby tried her mightiest, but the fairy was booted 76-24. In one of the bigger shocks I have ever seen in these tournaments, the Elite 8 saw Grover kick out what I figured would be the other muppet in the Finals as he took down 1 seed Elmo by a final of 59-41.
Our Mr. Noodle Region representative, on the other hand, had a much more precarious journey to the Final 4. Our only remaining 1 seed, Big Bird, started off the tournament in dramatic fashion with a 100-0 victory over 16 seed Gladys the Cow. He proceeded to continue an early big run with a 85-15 win over Telly Monster in the round of 32. The Sweet 16 saw a very emotional matchup against best friend and former imaginary friend Mr. Snuffleupagus as the bird moves on 65-35. the Elite 8 matchup was a fist fight as the 1 seed took out voter favorite 3 seed Oscar the Grouch by 1 vote for a final tally of 51-49.
This was a bit of a surprise in the top half of the bracket but Grover is a personal fave so I was somewhat relieved by that. I thought either Grover or Elmo was a shoe-in for that region. As for our right side Sesame Street bracket final, it was so close every time I checked. I had no idea how this one would pan out. In the end we got a 2 vote margin of victory (!!!) as 1 seed Big Bird takes the win 52-48.
After a really fun run up to the final game of the year we have two very tough outs. A 1 seed in Big Bird vs a 2 seed in Animal. What a great run for both of these two!
I not sure most people would have picked this as a possible final match-up of the Tournament even tough these are two unbelievably strong contenders. I cannot wait to see how this one turns out because I have no idea how I am going to vote on this one yet again.
After the Final Four, our bracket now looks like this:
Championship
(1) Big Bird vs (2) Animal
Polls are open. Let’s get to voting and see who wins our Championship! Voting will close Wednesday April 8 at 5pm. Our champion will be announced on Thursday. Thank you all for reading and voting on these again this year. It’s something that brings me a ton of joy every year.
The Clumsy Optimist 