I want to start with a big thank you to everyone who takes time out of your week to read these silly blogs and vote in our tournaments. I really do look forward to this every single year and hope you do too. I’m gonna throw out the tip jar one more time, just for funsies – Don’t be an Oscar the Grouch. If you enjoy what we do here and feel so inclined to throw a couple Dollary-Do’s my way to help pay for the sites and whatnot, feel free to Venmo me @ josh-sorensen-5 or PayPal @ JoshSorensen5. Enough with the my blabbering, let’s get to the good stuff!
Our Championship Round came down to a 1 seed and a 2 seed that I think most of us could have picked to run the gauntlet at the outset of our voting even if it took a couple of massive upsets to get there. It was quite the journey for our two finalists but they pushed hard to make it to the finale.
This year was probably the least surprising bracket we’ve ever had in the first two rounds but more than made up for it in the final three rounds. Also it’s been incredibly tight down the stretch. We have not had a muppet win a matchup by 10 or more points (and no more than 4 votes) in the last three rounds. Absolute barn-burner of an ending this year!
This bracket also saw THREE 100-0 victories in the first two rounds and that was it! We end our year together with only one (1) tie in the entire tournament being broken by Mrs. Clumsy Optimist. She most definitely enjoyed that after having to break a record SEVEN last year.
Time to find out how the Championship Round fared. Remember all “scores” are in percentages.
Championship
We’ll start with a little recap of how our two favorite SNL sketches worked their way to the ‘Ship.
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. This Semi-Final… Every time I checked this one it was less than 5 votes either way but in the end, Animal (drum)rolled into the final taking out The Great Gonzo by a final score of 57-43. That’s a 4 vote margin of victory!
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. Our right side Sesame Street bracket final 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 took the win 52-48.
When I made my bracket picks before this whole thing started, I had chosen Kermit the Frog as the overall 1 seed and my pick to win the whole thing. Personal fave and hero Animal took him out in the Elite 8. I thought the right side of the bracket was almost assuredly either going to be Big Bird or Elmo so at least I was half right there. Both Big Bird and Animal had some challenges along the way but had gotten to the Championship on the back of a 2 and 1 vote victory respectively.
The Championship Round voting was absolutely amazing. I checked in on this matchup 5 or 6 times over the course of of the week and every time I looked either of these muppets was ahead back-and-forth but never by more than 2 votes. By the end of voting on Wednesday, our Mr. Noodle Region 1 seed Big Bird held on to a late lead and gets a 1-vote (!!!) win over 2 seed Animal to take the Championship by a final of 52-48! This is the exact same score and vote margin as our champion last year! What a ride!!
Big Bird joins our former champions The Beatles, The Sandlot, Breakfast Tacos & Burritos, The Fresh Price of Bel-Air, Whataburger, Elf, “Friend Like Me”, and “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” “Scotty Doesn’t Know” and ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!‘
Thank you all once again for taking time to vote in this tournament. I do hope this thing was as fun for you as it was for me. We’ll do it again next March! As usual, I’ve got some ideas bouncing around in the old noggin for themes (believe it or not, there’s a spreadsheet…there’s ALWAYS a spreadsheet) but I’m always open and looking for ideas for next year’s bracket. If you have any suggestions, feel free to get in touch with me on Facebook or Twitter.
After knocking 64 of the best, most perfect muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock to a final Champion, our completed bracket looks like this (Click to expand. It gets a little crowded):
The Clumsy Optimist 