As you know by now, we’ve just started our 2013 edition of Middle-earth March Madness. With a field of 64 combatants, chosen by our staff (aka selection committee) we’ve had some interesting match-ups that are very close and others that are surprise blow-outs.
With nearly 3000 votes in each match-up, here are some story lines with one more day of Round 1 voting…
The Shire Division
By far the closest match-up is between the great hound (8) Huan and the hasty (9) Quickbeam. There seem to be some strong opinions on this match-up, so we urge you to educate yourself on each character. [Huan Description] [Quickbeam Description]
All the other current leaders in this division are working out pretty close to their seeding. It will be very interested to see if (9) Quickbeam will face (5) Treebeard, or (8) Huan will face (6) Luthien!
The Erebor Division
As expected, the battle between dwarven brothers, (8) Kili and (9) Fili is a close one. Currently Fili has a slight lead, but this could change at any moment! Last year’s victor (16) Samwise Gamgee is having no problem with the infamous (5) Balrog of Moria, and the closest match-up remains (13) Boromir vs. (4) Beren.
The Mordor Division
In a bit of a surprise, (15) Faramir is giving (2) Beorn a run for his money. Faramir is currently holding 52.5% of the vote and this could be our first major upset of the tournament. The other close race has the historically polished (10) “Bullroarer” Took holding steady over her evil magnificence (7) Shelob! (1) Smaug is easily roasting (16) The Watcher in the Water, but there is another upset in the works as (11) Fingolfin seems to have a significant handle on (6) The Great Goblin.
The Angmar Division
Did (16) Denethor ever really have a chance against (1) The One Ring? Sure doesn’t look like it as The One Ring holds 90.03% of the vote! (9) Glorfindel may have been sent by Elrond to help (8) Frodo Baggins escape the Nazgûl, but he seems to be holding the slightest of leads over this Ringbearer with 50.06% of the vote. That is a match that is living up to the seeding – who will win?! In another surprise, brave (10) Merry seems to be reliving his Battle of the Pelennor Fields ‘assist’ against (7) The Witch-king of Angmar, holding 61.99% of the votes.
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We hope you are enjoying our second annual March Madness competition and encourage you to vote often! [Vote in Round 1] [Round 1 Bracket]
Middle-earth Madness officially starts today! We’ve split our field of 64 characters and objects into four divisions: The Shire, Erebor, Angmar and Mordor.
As noted in previous comments and on FB, there are some very interesting match-ups in this first round. In a semi-rematch, can the brave Hobbit Merry take out The Witch-king in a division that includes his own name? Who will win in the battle of brothers as Kili and Fili face off in the Erebor division? And what about last year’s champion Samwise Gamgee?! Can he really take out the ever popular Balrog of Moria? Imagine what “Bullroarer” Took will do against Shelob in the Mordor division. Can the dragon Ancalagon the Black take out Legolas’s father Thranduil in The Shire division?
A note to those of you whom may not know some of the names in the bracket. A great way to educate yourself on the vote is by simply googling the name. We found that Wikipedia has a plethora of information on each character.
Voting in Round 1 will remain open until March 21st at 10pm ET. At that point, we’ll calculate the winners and post the next round on March 22nd. Follow after the break for a complete bracket image (download it), and to vote on all of our Round 1 match-ups! [Round 1 Bracket] (If you are interested in how we came up with this bracket and why some characters are left off (*cough Legolas*), check the note at the bottom of this post) Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2013 – Round 1 – Voting Begins!”
We teased it last week, and now it is finally here: The 2013 Middle-earth March Madness Tournament!
If you recall, the brave Samwise Gamgee came out as the 2012 victor after a series of amazing match-ups and votes that were decided by a single vote!
After weeks of deliberation, our Selection Committee have chosen our combatants and assigned them appropriate seeding on our 64 character/object tournament sheet. Yes, that’s right, we decided that instead of seeding the tournament with only ‘popular’ characters, we should shake things up a bit and offer a more diverse range of characters and objects that span the entire history of Middle-earth.
This year’s divisions are geographic based: The Shire, Angmar, Erebor and Mordor. Like the NCAA Tournament, being assigned into a division does not necessarily mean the character or object comes from that area.
Get ready for a few weeks of unique match-ups and non-stop excitement! Voting will start tomorrow right here on TheOneRing.net, so download your bracket today and fill it out. See if you can predict who will be our 2013 champion! [Download Bracket] [Last Year’s March Madness Results] (And of course, feel free to rant and rave against our Selection Committee in our comments – after all, that is also part of the whole March Madness experience!)
The results are in! After many weeks of intense competition we can finally crown a winner! In the end, Samwise Gamgee, a sturdy and faithful Hobbit from The Shire takes the prize in our first annual Middle-earth March Madness!
Sam defeated his worthy opponent Aragorn with 65% of the votes!
We’d like to thank you all for participating in this year’s event, and look forward to next year’s competition in which we will institute a few of the changes that you have suggested in comments/facebook posts, etc. For a review of each round, click on the following links: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Final Four , Championship
After weeks of competition and a series of amazing match-ups, it all comes down to this! The final two combatants in our inaugural Middle-earth March Madness are Samwise Gamgee and Aragorn! Just when it looked like Legolas was simply unstoppable, Samwise proved his muster by soundly defeating the elf by nearly 13 percentage points! Gandalf was primed for defeat when he barely advanced (by one vote) against Feanor in round 1, so it was no surprise to see Aragorn pull away and beat him by 9 percent. Both characters were number two seeds throughout a tournament that seemed to heavily favor the number 1 seeds. (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Final Four )
Samwise Gamgee: The Trilogy starts and ends with him, the coolest landscape architect ever. After a stellar turn as Frodo’s backbone he came home to a beautiful family and a rewarding political career. “Well, I’m back,” he said.
Aragorn: This man claimed the Crown, brought powers of healing through strange herbal remedies, and kept the lovefires burning for a certain Elven Princess… He had it all, even choosing his own exit on his own terms. Now that’s why it’s good to be the King.
This historic match-up will last until April 4th at Noon ET. If you are passionate about either choice, please take a moment to share with your friends and family! We’ll keep you updated on the match-up throughout the week.
Middle-earth March Madness is down to the Final Four! Coming out of the Rankin/Bass Division, battered and bruised by some close calls, is none other than everyone’s favorite wizard, Gandalf! From the Ralph Bakshi Division, with a final match that was not nearly as close as one might expect, is Aragorn! From the Tolkien Family Division is the solid number one seed Legolas, coming hot off his latest victory over the Ringbearer himself, Frodo. Last, but certainly not least, out of the Peter Jackson Division, is tournament dark horse, and the only remaining Hobbit…Samwise Gamgee! Voting in for the Final Four will last until April 1st at 6pm ET. Check out the results from the previous rounds: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3.
Follow after the break to place your vote and see the latest version of the bracket. (Download) Good luck to all of our competitors!
After weeks of competition and a series of amazing match-ups, it all comes down to this! The final two combatants in our inaugural Middle-earth March Madness are Samwise Gamgee and Aragorn! Just when it looked like Legolas was simply unstoppable, Samwise proved his muster by soundly defeating the elf by nearly 13 percentage points! Gandalf was primed for defeat when he barely advanced (by one vote) against Feanor in round 1, so it was no surprise to see Aragorn pull away and beat him by 9 percent. Both characters were number two seeds throughout a tournament that seemed to heavily favor the number 1 seeds. (