The Hollywood News.com is running a contest from now until May 2 to win a box set of The Hobbit trilogy on Blu-ray 3D. It’s open to UK participants only, but three lucky UK Hobbit Trilogy Box Setwinners who can answer a simple movie-related question will be treated to the box set of all three films, which also includes a 2D Blu-ray and Digital Download. If you live UK, follow the link for more details! The Hollywood News.com contest

While fans of basketball were enjoying a Duke victory in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Middle-earth fans were preparing for the epic final of Middle-earth March Madness: Gandalf vs. Bilbo Baggins! This year we decided to keep the poll results hidden to heighten the suspense. I must admit, I took full advantage of my special access to watch the results intently. When we first opened the battle, Bilbo took an early (hobbit-sized) lead of only 1%. Over the next 48 hours, the combatants exchanged that lead nearly every hour. It was a neck and neck competition that only revealed a clear winner in the last 12 hours.

We closely watched for voter fraud and we are pleased to report that no over-voting was recorded. Each vote had a unique IP.  So without further delay, we are pleased to announce that the 2015 Middle-earth March Madness Champion is…. 

Continue reading “And the Winner of 2015 Middle-earth March Madness is…”

thefinals2015This is it! The Finals are set! An epic battle of historic proporations! In one corner we have Gandalf, the Istar responsible for helping save the fate of all Middle-earth. In the other, Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit who would successfully weild and then, more importantly, pass on the most powerful object in Middle-earth, The One Ring.

Since this is the finals, we are not going to share the results until the contest is complete. So you will NOT see a percentage of votes when you cast your own vote. Don’t fret, the committee will be monitoring the competition behind the scenes.


Voting in the finals will remain open until April 8th at 10pm ET. [Finals Bracket] [Final Four Results] [Round 4 Results] [Round 4 Download] [Round 3 Results] [Round 3 Download] [Round 2 Results] [Round 2 Download] [Round 1 Results] [Round 1 Download]

final-four2015Middle-earth March Madness has been touched by scandal! When we tallied the votes in our Elite Eight round-up last night, we noticed the votes in The Hobbit division were suspciously more than those of the other divisions. While yes, certain match-ups spur passionate participation, the numbers on this particular match-up were significantly different. So we dug a little bit deeper. As it turns out, one person managed to bypass the system and vote 2300 times!

As the commissioner of Middle-earth March Madness, I took it upon myself to resolve the issue. I converted those 2300 votes to 1 vote. I also reviewed any other multiple votes and converted those to a single vote. As a result, the winner of The Hobbit division for 2015 is…. Bilbo!

So we have our Final Four!

The Silmarillion division winner is, not too surprisingly, the creator of all existence, Eru Ilúvatar. Eru will face off against Bilbo Baggins, fresh off an attempt to wipe him out of this entire tournament!

Coming out of The Lord of the Rings, non other than Gandalf! Can he easy sweep past The Others division winner, Hurin? Or will Hurin pull off the biggest upset of the year!

Stay tuned and vote!

Voting in this round will remain open until April 6th at 10pm ET. And oh yes, you can count us keeping a close eye on any potential cheaters out there!



The FINAL FOUR
April 3 – April 6th 2015



[Round 5 Bracket] [Round 4 Results] [Round 4 Download] [Round 3 Results] [Round 3 Download] [Round 2 Results] [Round 2 Download] [Round 1 Results] [Round 1 Download]

2015-middleearthmadness-bracket-rd4No April Fools here folks! We’ve reached the Elite Eight in our 2015 Middle-earth March Madness! This round will determine who will represent each division!

Because today is April 1st, and there are a slew of April Fool’s jokes out there, we’re going to just get right too it! Can (4) Bilbo take out the tournament Cinderella, (11) Thranduil? Can (14) Elrond really take out (5) Gandalf?

Voting in this round will remain open until April 3rd at 10pm ET. Vote Now and tell your friends! [Round 4 Download] [Round 3 Results] [Round 3 Download] [Round 2 Results] [Round 2 Download] [Round 1 Results] [Round 1 Download]

Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness – Elite Eight Match-ups! Vote Now!”

2015-middleearthmadness-bracket-rd3We are down to the Sweet Sixteen as the chase to crown the 2015 Middle-earth March Madness champion continues!

Look for special analysis of the match-ups in this round coming soon!

But what about you? Have any strong opinions about this round? Send us a report and it just may make it to the homepage of TheOneRing.net! Email spymaster@theonering.net with your display name and a small bio, and article.

Voting in this round will remain open until March 31st at 10pm ET. As always, tell your friends and vote for your favorites to make it to our final four! [Round 3 Download] [Round 2 Results] [Round 2 Download] [Round 1 Results] [Round 1 Download]

Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness – The Sweet Sixteen! Vote in Round 3 Right Now!”