As a number of people have pointed out, this has not been a tournament for drama thus far. What is a ball without a Cinderella story? And yet no flag with deeper than a fifth seed has survived the first two rounds. To a certain, very limited extent, this is due to the vagaries of the brackets and the seeding order, both determined (were you wondering?) in a highly informal process as I was relaxing on the couch on Christmas afternoon.
Much more so, it is because most of the flags of the American states and territories, to a greater or lesser extent, stink. All we have really done so far is winnow out the worst of the batch. There are a few possible exceptions: a flag I like better than y'all do (Louisiana) and one y'all might have liked a whole lot better than I do (American Samoa); at least one pretty good one that got squeezed out (Cal) and at least one that is in, but very likely doomed (but I would not want to openly predict the vote).
We're left with sixteen contenders, and my guess is that we'll start to see closer votes and tougher choices. After all: there can only be four regional champions, and only one winner overall. Semifinals for East and South will open simultaneously on Thursday; semifinals for West and North will open on Friday. L&TM5K readers can "enjoy" a short burst of more conventional content; Vexillophiliacs can stay up late Monday to see who will come out on top in the Hawaii/Washington showdown.
Happy Daylight Savings Time in participating locations!
4 comments:
I think it was a mistake to put the seeding information on the grid. At first I ignored it, not knowing what the numbers meant, but now it's hard to ignore the expectations. I'm not sure whether it will influence me to vote with or against the underdog, but I'd rather have not had that information.
Me, I'm perfectly willing to ignore your expectations! In this case.
Aviatrix: Well, the other half of what we're doing here is a parody of the elaborate U.S. collegiate national basketball championship. That aspect of the tournament requires that the seeding numbers be present and talked about a lot. Objection overruled.
Since I wouldn't know a seeding number from my shoe size, I am safe from being influenced. I have no clue! and I'm happy that way.
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