December Madness!

[missliz]

yes yes yes! I'm rooting for the humble pencil.

[PSMKay]

Round 1 has begun and will run through Tuesday at approximately noon CST, when we'll move on to Round 2. You each get one vote in each match-up. You are not restricted to the match for your personal level of employment - division names are just for clerical purposes. Votes can be changed up until the poll close. You can see the results of the poll even if you haven't voted yet by clicking the "View Results" button below a poll. To prevent confusion, the currently active polls will be "stickied" so they're easy to find at the top of the board. Discussion threads will remain open until the end of that particular tier of matches.

Winners will be announced here and will progress to the next level. You'll see them again, pitted against new combatants, in about 2 weeks.

I will be updating the bracket form at the top of this thread as matches close so that folks who join us late will be able to jump in.

I see we've got close to 70 people who have already downloaded a copy of the bracket - that's really awesome! This has the chance to get really silly - and that's the point - but let this also be an opportunity to discuss alternate uses for common materials, share the tips you've learned (all in the name of supporting your team, of course), and stories about how particular gadgets and tools have saved your bacon on various productions. Of course, if you want to provide color commentary you can always do that too.

(PS: Nick is awesome.)

[PSMKay]

As we come to the end of the 1st quarter, it's a bloodbath in three of our four matches, with gaff tape, multitool and pencil each handily dominating. However, crowd favorite Binder is struggling to hold its own against the new offensive techniques of the digital light board.

The games are not even in their scoring. The Binder/Board & Gaff/Staples matches have seen 36-37 votes so far, with Pencil/C-wrench at 33  and Multitool/Condoms bringing up the rear at 32 votes. Also of interest is that no match is currently looking to be a flawless victory. In each case, the trailing tool has at least one vote.

Will the light board pull out a surprise upset? Stay tuned for the next update at half-time!

[loebtmc]

The thing about a digital lightboard - they are wonderful inventions, and have really made a huge difference in many facets of our work, but in fact, the digital lightboard is a tool for lighting designers and board ops but not really for stage managers. Which is why I vote for the pencil!

[BLee]

I'm on team headset all the way, but it will be a tough round if we have to go up against the cell phone in round 2. Post-it is my underdog team I would love to see push through to the finals. All in all, this will be an interesting bracket to watch play out.

[RuthNY]

The games are not even in their scoring. The Binder/Board & Gaff/Staples matches have seen 36-37 votes so far, with Pencil/C-wrench at 33  and Multitool/Condoms bringing up the rear at 32 votes.

I believe this is because of the way some people choose to read these boards.  I didn't even see the posting for two out of the four polls until this morning. I read the board by accessing "Recent Posts." rather than by perusing each thread.  I think that's why your numbers are varying--some folk are not seeing all the original poll postings.  I know better now, and will look directly at the "December Madness Board" from now on.

[PSMKay]

That's because I draft the polls on a prep board several hours in advance and move them en masse when they go live.

[PSMKay]

We're coming up on the end of the 3rd quarter here at Gadget Stadium, and from up here I can tell you the scoring has been fast and furious. All four matches have seen at least 50 votes since the starting whistle, and the crowd is going wild.

The binder/light board match remains the one to watch, with both sides going for the brass rings and binder really needing to work on its defensive game as light board creeps up to 1/3 of the total 53 votes. Also seeing 53 votes is the no-contest Gaff Tape vs. Staples & Paperclips. The Stapler is barely holding itself together at 2 votes, and with less than 12 hours on the clock it looks like this match is all bound up for Gaff.

Fan favorites pencil & multitool also continue to dominate their matches against c-wrench & unlubed condoms, although the underdogs have each gained a vote since the end of the first quarter. With a over 45 point spreads in each of these rounds I just don't see how the wrench & condoms can catch up before the clock runs out.

A last minute rally could very well tip the balance for binder and lead to a surprise upset, though. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion tomorrow and the start of the next round for all four leagues.

[PSMKay]

Round 1 has wrapped and Round 2 has begun. The bracket on page 1 was deleted and replaced (after approximately 80 downloads!) with an updated version for fans who are tuning in late.

The final results of Round 1:
Gaff Tape 55 (W), Staples 2
Binder 37 (W), Digital Light Board 19
Pencil 51 (W), Crescent Wrench 2
Multitool 51 (W), Unlubed Condoms 2

Congratulations to all the round 1 winners, you're headed to the sweet sixteen of Decemberrrrr Madness!

[nick_tochelli]

Can we do this every year? This is a blast!

[PSMKay]

Let's see how the whole thing plays out? If there's enough interest by the time we reach the finals and we can come up with enough new items to keep a second year of DM interesting, I'll be happy to run it again.

[PSMKay]

As we head into the last full 24 hours of voting for this round, we've got two shut-out matches. Headset is running a perfect game against velcro and the protractor team looks like it will also be leaving the field with tails between legs. The other two matches are likely decided already, but we've got some activity worth mention. Laptop had been running a perfect game throughout the first half, but straight edge snuck in two points. Meanwhile, the crowd is in an uproar over the 3 points that duct tape has managed to score against the fan favorite, flashlight.

All matches are showing a total of between 40 and 44 points on the board at this time, bringing us pretty close to the total tally from Round 1.

Of note: your friendly and lovable referee will be heading to a company holiday party tomorrow evening, so Round 3 may be a little late to get underway. I will try to post them from my phone but that will depend on the number of bars, both cellular and physical.

[PSMKay]

Well folks, that's it for Round 2! We'll be heading on to Round 3 shortly, with what may be some closer races than we've seen so far. The bracket in the first post of this thread has been updated again.

The final results of Round 2:
Flashlight 44 (W), Duct Tape 3
Velcro 0, Headset/Com 48 (W - Flawless Victory!)
Laptop 47 (W), Straight Edge 2
Tape Measure 47 (W - Flawless Victory), Protractor 0

The next round will run through Tuesday at noon!

[PSMKay]

As we come to the end of the first half of round 3, we've got two close matches and two near shut-outs.

In the University League, scale rule came out fighting and showed a strong lead through the first quarter. However, blue gel has come back after taking a time-out to regroup, and is now ahead. Only three points separate the two, though, so this could turn out either way, and some serious fan discussions could tip the balance.

Another tight race is going on in the Commercial League, with the Multi-Hole Punch pushing back against the screw gun to take a narrow five point lead during the 2nd quarter. The score currently stands at 19 to 14.

The photocopier is having an easy time of it over in the Regional League as watered-down tea is putting up a tepid, flavorless defense. The score currently stands 31 to 2. The tea's only chance is the copier's tendency to run out of paper and choke at inopportune moments. A bad case of PC Load Letter could leave the copier in real hot water.

Gaffa's colorful little brother Spike is running a very strong game in the Community League, outpacing Post-Its by 24 points. The score currently stands at 30 to 6. However, Post-Its have been creeping up, gaining 4 points in the 2nd quarter, and some members may well be holding off out of indecision in this dicey match-up. We could see a last minute surge for post-its, but they're going to have to come up with some fancy footwork to get out of this sticky situation and their technique has been notorious for losing its staying power late in the game.

Enjoy the half time shows and stay tuned for the exciting 2nd half of Round 3!

[PSMKay]

It's the end of round 3 folks, and what a round it's been! We've had stress, we've had doubling back, we've had calls for repentance. At the end of the day it's the away teams who took the blue ribbon in all four matches. Blue Gel and Scale Rule swapped leads multiple times during the course of their match, and the Multi Hole Punch left the game floor dotted with the blood of the Screw Gun after a vicious game. If this is presages the upcoming higher tier matches, I see great things in our future!

The final results of round 3:
Post-Its 10, Spike Tape 37 (W)
Watered Down Tea 3, Photocopier 42 (W)
Screw Gun 17, Multi-Hole Punch 26 (W)
Blue Gel 18, Scale Rule 28 (W)

The fourth and final round of this first tier of matches has begun and will run through Friday at approximately Midnight CST.