In the presidential bracket, the opening contest pitted 1980s icon Ronald Reagan vs. the peace loving Woodrow Wilson. Reagan dominated Wilson like he cruised over Mondale in 1984. It was a total landslide as the Reagan only allowed Wilson to earn 3 of 46 votes. The Reagan-Lincoln round of 32 matchup appears to be a toss up at this time. In other contests, Teddy Roosevelt raced out to an early lead after one period of voting and held on for a quality win over Civil War general and president Ulysses S. Grant. The most closely contested contest of the bracket was Truman and Eisenhower. Truman followed a similar script to his election in 1948. Though the tribune did not print any "Ike Defeats Truman" newspapers, the ol' Missouri war horse was down five votes heading into the second period of voting and he outpaced Eisenhower by nine votes to win by five and move to the next round. The father of the Constitution James Madison used an early lead to advance over James K. Polk. The combination of his role as a founding father and leader during the War of 1812 made Madison too tough for Polk.
The social activist bracket saw Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren dominate Upton Sinclair. Sinclair was overheard saying "It was a Jungle out there." A transparent attempt to promote his work but also an indication that the man who brought us Brown vs. Board of Education wanted this vote to be unanimous as that one was. Federick Douglass found out the hard way what Muhammad Ali meant when he said "I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee". Douglass was stung early by Ali. Though he fought hard throughout, Douglass could not overcome the early lead at the polls and Ali moves on to the second round. Samuel Gompers went to work (get it!!) and knocked off abolitionist John Brown. Gompers was balanced in his lead through both voting sections. Rosa Parks did not have much support either visually or in the class and that made it an easy win for Ralph Nader. Nader pulled away with a big second period to win. Nader was excited after the victory noting that it was his first election that he actually won!
The innovators bracket had some exciting match ups. Eli Whitney could not spin enough magic with this cotton gin and interchangeable parts to get a victory over Alexander Graham Bell. Bell, the father of the phone (which is like texting, kids, but you actually talk into it!!) was to strong and blew Whitney away 31-13. You could tell technology was on the minds of the voters as Bill Gates dominated Jonas Salk. The lopsided score tied Reagan for largest victory. Gates looks tough at the 5 seed and could give Carnegie a run for his money. In an electric play in game, Nikola Tesla could not overcome the overall brilliance of Albert Einstein. Einstein maintained a solid lead throughout the voting. Finally, the Wright Brothers defeat Robert Oppenheimer. The contest can best be described by one student as this "the Wright brothers invented the thing that carried Oppenheimer's invention." The Wright Brothers move on.
In the Wildcard division, the theme of technology continued to carry the day as Steve Jobs moved to the second round with a tight victory over Sam Walton. Walton closed strong with his consumer friendly prices but Jobs held on to win. Bob Dylan may have been the voice of protest in the 60s but he was dust in the wind in his first round match up with Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was "money in the bank" as he trounced Dylan soundly. In a much anticipated match up the the King Elvis Presley vs. the Sultan of Swat Babe Ruth, the King was royalty as he beat Babe by three votes to advance. Finally, it was a picture perfect moment as Steven Spielberg offered no compromise to Henry Clay. Spielberg made Clay want to "phone home" ala E.T. as Spielberg beat Clay 33-11.
The round of 32 is set for after Springbreak. Check back for details.
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