{"id":87611,"date":"2014-03-17T10:42:04","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T15:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=87611"},"modified":"2014-03-17T10:42:04","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T15:42:04","slug":"voting-begins-now-middle-earth-madness-2014-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2014\/03\/17\/87611-voting-begins-now-middle-earth-madness-2014-round-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting Begins Now &#8211; Middle-earth Madness 2014 Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"intro\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www-images.theonering.org\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket.jpg\" class=\"no-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-87607 no-lazyload\" alt=\"2014Bracket\" src=\"http:\/\/www-images.theonering.org\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>MORIA \u2014 As we reported <a title=\"Middle-earth Madness 2014 Unleashed!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2014\/03\/17\/87603-middle-earth-madness-2014-unleashed\/\" target=\"_blank\">yesterday<\/a>, the bracket is finalized and the match-ups are set. Our annual <strong>Middle-earth March Madness<\/strong> is now underway!<\/p>\n<p><em>A note on voting<\/em>: This is a tongue-in-cheek attempt to &#8216;crown&#8217; a victor of Middle-earth. Each one of you will participate in your own manner. Some may take it very seriously and do your homework to try and scholarly determine who would actual win the battles. Some of you will simply vote based on popularity. Heck, some of you will vote randomly! However you participate, we encourage you to have fun with it. \u00a0We encourage you to make your case for a certain combatant in the comments, our forums, Facebook or twitter.<\/p>\n<p>For those of you confused by some of the names, educate yourself by simply googling the name. We found that Wikipedia has a plethora of information on each character\/object.<\/p>\n<p>Voting ends at 10pm ET on the final day of the round. In this case, voting for the first round match-ups will end on March 20th. We will then calculate the winners, and post a new bracket on March 21st.<\/p>\n<p>Need a bigger version of the bracket? [<a href=\"http:\/\/www-images.theonering.org\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/2014Bracket.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"no-lazyload\">Click here<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>The Lonely Mountain &#8211; Round 1<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>March 17th &#8211; March 20th 2014<\/em><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884046.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884046\/\">(1) Smaug vs. (16) Elrond<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884061.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884061\/\">(2) Bard vs. (15) Bill the Pony<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884067.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884067\/\">(3) Balrog of Moria vs. (14) Bain, Son of Bard<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884070.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884070\/\">(4) Saruman vs. (13) Treebeard<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884072.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884072\/\">(5) Gollum vs. (12) Grond<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884084.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884084\/\">(6) Aragorn vs. (11) Melian<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884087.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884087\/\">(7) Manwe vs. (10) Frodo Baggins<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884091.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884091\/\">(8) Fingolfin vs. (9) Bombur<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bag End &#8211; Round 1<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>March 17th &#8211; March 20th 2014<\/em><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884149.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884149\/\">(1) Bilbo Baggins vs. (16) Fell Beasts<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884151.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884151\/\">(2) Thranduil vs. (15) Tom, William and Bert<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884158.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884158\/\">(3) Galadriel vs. (14) Beren<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884164.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884164\/\">(4) The Spiders of Mirkwood vs. (13) Anduril<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884171.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884171\/\">(5) The Black Arrow vs. (12) The Watcher in the Water<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884177.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884177\/\">(6) Balin vs. (11) Radagast the Brown<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884179.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884179\/\">(7) Gwaihir vs. (10) Barliman Butterbur<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884181.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884181\/\">(8) Kili vs. (9) Glorfindel<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Erebor &#8211; Round 1<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>March 17th &#8211; March 20th 2014<\/em><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884095.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884095\/\">(1) Thorin Oakenshield vs. (16) Peregrin Took<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884099.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884099\/\">(2) Beorn vs. (15) Glamdring<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884111.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884111\/\">(3) The One Ring vs. (14) Nenya<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884117.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884117\/\">(4) The Bunnysled vs. (13) Ancalagon<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884125.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884125\/\">(5) Morgoth vs. (12) The Arkenstone<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884128.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884128\/\">(6) Gothmog vs. (11) Dain Ironfoot<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884134.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884134\/\">(7) Master of Lake-town vs. (10) The Witch-king of Angmar<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884139.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884139\/\">(8) Boromir vs. (9) The Blue Wizards<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mirkwood &#8211; Round 1<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>March 17th &#8211; March 20th 2014<\/em><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884182.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884182\/\">(1) Gandalf vs. (16) The Great Goblin<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884187.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884187\/\">(2) Tauriel vs. (15) Saurman&#8217;s Palantir<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884190.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884190\/\">(3) Sauron vs. (14) Legolas Greenleaf<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884192.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884192\/\">(4) Varda vs. (13) Faramir<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884198.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884198\/\">(5) Glaurung vs. (12) Shelob<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884205.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884205\/\">(6) Sting vs. (11) William&#8217;s Talking Purse<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884208.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884208\/\">(7) Azog vs. (10) Samwise Gamgee<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;padding:5px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"http:\/\/static.polldaddy.com\/p\/7884217.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><a href=\"http:\/\/polldaddy.com\/poll\/7884217\/\">(8) Luthien vs. (9) Gil-Galad<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><br \/>\nA note on the selection process. TORn staffers got 32 votes to distribute as they saw fit across nearly 100 names. Some staffers are very fond of Silmarillion, some of the Hobbit and others of LOTR, and voted for their favorites. From the results was born the list of 64, who were then distributed across the 4 hobbit-centric areas, as you see. Unlike last year, Legolas did make the cut this year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MORIA \u2014 As we reported yesterday, the bracket is finalized and the match-ups are set. Our annual Middle-earth&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":87612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[85,14,197,22,35,5,29,31,30,149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-contests","category-events","category-fans","category-headlines","category-lotr-books","category-lotr-movies","category-fotr-movie","category-rotk-movie","category-ttt-movie","category-lotr"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/middleearthmarchmadness14-vertical.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-mN5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87613,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87611\/revisions\/87613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}