The time has come for me to accept that I am out of the Ladies… Hot Blogger Challenge and move on. Though I must say that pulling 46% against Monday Morning Punter was a pleasant surprise. I mean, he put in a better picture, a better writing sample, and has a huge fan base. I will take the moral victory.
Now, as any good primary loser does, I will throw my weight behind the remaining players.
First of all, in the bracket I so recently vacated, the Mid-Atlantic:
AA News Team Member Brian from OMDQ took a big risk and submitted a very personal piece for his writing sample, and it paid off. He offers excellent writing and a big hug. Vote for him.
Another News Team member with a tough matchup. After coming out of the middle of the bracket, he gets to face the reigning #1 seed in the region – Dan Shanoff. Don’t let that sway you, you know you love June Madness upsets. I love it that he recently moved to WordPress so I can read his writing whenever I want.
As thanks for his vocal support for me in my battle with the Punter, Jon gets to face the sudsy one in the second round. I was Jon’s first interview subject, and he is rising quickly in the blog world, so get him while he’s hot. Where OMDQ offers a hug, Jon is going bold with a smoochie-face.
I usually root for the underdog, but in this case, I’m pulling for a front-runner. Jay is a great writer, and a damn nice guy, to boot. He has had me as a guest on his blog Sports Gone South, and wrote a smartass profile of his alma mater for my side project, College Rule Notebook. He is always handy with advice as I belly-flop into the waters of freelance sports writing as well, so he’s aces in my book. And I mean that in a totally hetero way.
RUTS took his clean dome and spice-addled eyes (cutting-edge Dune reference) up against the abs of Sven and won. He faces the dangerous T. Kyle King. This will test the Big Ten stolidity of Penn State fans vs. the dog-fetishists of Georgia. Surely you can’t vote for dog-fetishists.
Jack Cobra is the American dream. He’s a clean-cut former college athlete in a tux in church. He is a stud writer. I wouldn’t even be worried about him, except that he’s going up against marginal pro basketball player (and, like me, former Kansas resident) Paul Shirley. C’mon kids, let’s make history and give a Cubs fan a championship.
Mike and I started our WordPress blogs around the same time last year. He wisely divided his passions into Tar Heels and Everything Else. He allowed me to do some guest-live-blogging during the ACC tournament, and was also kind enough to contribute to College Rule Notebook. He has already begun his campaign to upset #1 seed Orson Swindle in the second round. Vote America, vote Mike White.
This is the toughest bracket, with some high-profile matchups and enormous vote tallies.
You might think this guy needs none of your help. He runs link-factory extraordinaire Deadspin, right? But he drew a difficult second-round matchup in Matt from Kentucky Sports Blog, who mobilized rabid Kentucky fans via his radio show, and brought in the highest total number of votes of any participant in the contest (over 2,000 in his matchup). Still, why do I vote Will? Because 2/3 to 3/4 of the 120,000 hits you see in my counter were nicely giftwrapped and hand-delivered by the moody man you see above. Beat that.
This one breaks my heart. AA used my choice of nickname when pulling together the AA live-blogging force that is the Channel 4 News Team. He gives me a blank canvas to write The Press Buffet every weekend. Shorty writes very well-recieved posts for The Extrapolater in addition to his fine work over at Milk Was A Bad Choice. I’m inclined not to feel too bad for Shorty since he has a fine honey smooching him in his pic, but I can’t root against either guy. I’m going to have to recuse myself and see how it plays out, but you don’t have to. Go make your choice.
That’s it. There are a lot of other bloggers in the brackets I like for various reasons, but these are the ones I feel some loyalty toward, and think are deserving of your votes. See you at the Ladies… place.
Your support means a great deal, sensei. (bows respectfully)
Thanks, brother. I’ve got a bit of a fight going on with The Big Picture. I may need your Karl Rove-esque smear tactics if I can’t stake out a decent lead in the next 24 hours.
The firewall on my work computer blocks out access to the voting panels, so once I get home and see how everyone’s doing, I might pull out the dirty tricks. Except for AA vs. Shorty. Can’t interfere in the civil war.
I appreciate the support, I need it.
Don’t feel bad voting for AA— I don’t, considering my wonderful boyfriend that is Shorty submitted a picture with some other chic all over him 🙂
Oh boy…
Oh, Shorty… What have you done?
Ha–Extra P, maybe you can school him on some good behavior tactics–u know, ways to earn brownie points with the boss, um i mean, gf— anyways, don’t you think he looks cuter in these pics 🙂
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2167285870074500028nQlOab
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2470617280074500028PxvKYu
anyways, sorry you’re not in it anymore—i did transfer the efforts I would have used on my boyfriend and voted for other names I recognized (you being pretty much the only one)
Yep, his failure to use these pictures will cost him against AA. Shame on him.
Thank you for the endorsement, Extra P. I I win this bracket, I’ll be sure to appoint you to my cabinet.
Thank you for the endorsement, Extra P. If I win this bracket, I’ll be sure to appoint you to my cabinet.
I’d like to be Minister of Redundancy.
Done.
And in addition to your list, I also endorse Marco from JCMJ.
Damn it, I had him on my list! I love when I actually plan a post and still screw it up.
I gotta have ya on the APIAS bandwagon bro. Its so close I can almost taste a tie…
I’m there, Goldfish.
What a guy, what a guy.
Also, I noticed the blogroll a week or so back.
Thanks man. See ya on EDSBS tonight