Tabloid Cover Derby 2018 (Year Four!)

[Centerfield]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Nope!

I feel like there should be a wild card.

But then the wild card shouldn't get the same treatment as a poll winner, as it dilutes the sanctity of the poll. So maybe two wild cards, that square off before moving on against the poll winners.

But what if one of the wild cards gets a super high number of votes but it doesn't win because it was matched up against a historically great cover. Doesn't it deserve to advance more than a poll winner that gets like seven votes? I'm not saying you have to change anything, it's that it just seems unfair.

Maybe you could put all the covers in one pool and the ten covers that get the highest votes move on to the next round.

But if you've already voted, and we know who got the most votes, then don't you already have your champion? Do we need a playoff system at all?

[Benjamin Grimm]

The main purpose of the first round is to see the covers in chronological order which allows us to review the season's progress and also determine our first batch of winners. After that, it's a series of do-or-die, one-on-one, mano-a-mano matchups.

Any proposals to make this thing more complicated will not be considered. I'm already giving this as much effort as I care to. I'd rather stop doing it entirely than make it a chore.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: After that, it's a series of do-or-die, one-on-one, mano-a-mano matchups.

[fimg=350]https://lylesmoviefiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/wwe-flashback-mean-gene-okerlund-figure-review-main-pic.jpg[/fimg]
Steel cage death matches, no holds barred!

[Centerfield]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The main purpose of the first round is to see the covers in chronological order which allows us to review the season's progress and also determine our first batch of winners. After that, it's a series of do-or-die, one-on-one, mano-a-mano matchups. Any proposals to make this thing more complicated will not be considered. I'm already giving this as much effort as I care to. I'd rather stop doing it entirely than make it a chore.

You know my post was a joke right?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes.. I apologize if I sounded snippy. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to nip in the bud any long conversation about the thousands of ways that the TCD can be changed.

[G-Fafif]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: the thousands of ways that the TCD can be changed.

TCD OCD.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Three more first-round winners:



The Daily News has now opened the Tabloid Cover Derby with a six-poll winning streak. Panic is beginning to be sensed in the dugouts of the Post and Newsday.

Each of these covers will advance, either to the second round or directly to the third round, depending on their final ranking after all polls have closed.

The ranking of our six winners so far is:

1. MATT OUTTA HELL (Daily News)
2. There IS crying in baseball (Daily News)
3. MICKEY'S CLUBHOUSE (Daily News)
4. TODD COUPLE! (Daily News)
5. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (Daily News)
6. YOU NOAH NOTHING! (Daily News)

[Benjamin Grimm]

After being shut out of the first six polls, Newsday gets its first win in our seventh poll, and the New York Post does the same in the eighth poll. In the ninth, the Daily News resumes its winning ways.

With nine first-round winners so far, the Daily News has seven covers that will advance and the Post and Newsday have one each.

There will be 22 first-round polls. The ten winners with the highest percentage will get a second round bye. These latest three winners all happen to rank below the previous six.

Here's how our nine winners rank:

1. MATT OUTTA HELL (Daily News)
2. There IS crying in baseball (Daily News)
3. MICKEY'S CLUBHOUSE (Daily News)
4. TODD COUPLE! (Daily News)
5. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (Daily News)
6. YOU NOAH NOTHING! (Daily News)
7. WHERE THERE'S A WIL (Newsday)
8. GSELL THE MAN! (New York Post)
9. WHO'S UP FIRST? (Daily News)

[bmfc1]

Is Maja involved in tabulating the results or is she only there for inspiration? I wonder what the back office looks like where the TCD staff is hard at work adding up the numbers.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maja's not seen around the office all that often anymore. She's been living life in the fast lane since she got that TV show. And she's enjoying her 1967 Mets Yearbook shower curtain!

[Benjamin Grimm]

We have three more winning covers to report, two from the Daily News and one from the New York Post.

With twelve first-round winners so far, the Daily News has nine covers that will advance, the Post has two, and Newsday has one.

There will be 22 first-round polls. The ten winners with the highest percentage will get a second round bye.

Here's how our twelve winners rank:

1. MATT OUTTA HELL (Daily News)
2. There IS crying in baseball (Daily News)
3. IT'S RAININ' METS (Daily News)
4. SWEEP SNAKES (New York Post)
5. MICKEY'S CLUBHOUSE (Daily News)
6. MIDNIGHT BADNESS (Daily News)
7. TODD COUPLE! (Daily News)
8. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (Daily News)
9. WHERE THERE'S A WIL (Newsday)
10. GSELL THE MAN! (New York Post)
11. YOU NOAH NOTHING! (Daily News)
12. WHO'S UP FIRST? (Daily News)

Since it's now no longer possible for them to finish in the Top Ten, YOU NOAH NOTHING! and WHO'S UP FIRST? are guaranteed not to get a second-round bye and will have to try to fight their way into the third round.

Also:

We still have a tie in our 17th poll (2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.17 Jul 19 through Jul 23). Please vote if you haven't or make sure that your vote was registered if you think you did vote.
You may have missed yesterday's poll (2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.18 Jul 26 through Aug 12) because it was posted on Thanksgiving Day.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It looks like I probably should have skipped starting new polls during Thanksgiving weekend, as few people seem to be around. We'll put the tarp on the field now and skip the next two days. Tabloid Cover Derby voting will resume on Monday, when I'll also bump the polls that were posted on Thursday and Friday.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Three more polls have closed, with two winning covers from the Daily News and one from Newsday.

With fifteen first-round winners so far, the Daily News has eleven covers that will advance, and the Post and Newsday have two each.

There will be 22 first-round polls. The ten winners with the highest percentage will get a second round bye.

Here's how our fifteen winners rank:

1. MATT OUTTA HELL (Daily News)*
2. SMILE HIGH (Newsday)*
3. WHAT THE BLANK! (Daily News)*
4. There IS crying in baseball (Daily News)
5. IT'S RAININ' METS (Daily News)
6. SWEEP SNAKES (New York Post)
7. MICKEY'S CLUBHOUSE (Daily News)
8. MIDNIGHT BADNESS (Daily News)
9. TODD COUPLE! (Daily News)
10. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (Daily News)
=#FF4000]11. WHERE THERE'S A WIL (Newsday)**
12. GSELL THE MAN! (New York Post)**
13. YOU NOAH NOTHING! (Daily News)**
14. RED WHITE & BLEW (Daily News)**
15. WHO'S UP FIRST? (Daily News)**

* Clinched second-round bye
=#FF4000]** Eliminated from second-round bye



We still have a tie in our 17th poll (2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.17 Jul 19 through Jul 23). If this tie persists, a special tie-breaker poll will be posted on Wednesday.

[Guest cooby]

I am so behind on this! And it's in August already!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Three polls are currently tied:

2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.19 Aug 14 through Aug 24
2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.21 Sep 27 through Oct 26
2018 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 1.22 Oct 27 through Nov 28

Please give them a click and if you find that you haven't voted, make your voice heard! (And if you have voted, here's your chance to reevaluate, if you care to.)

If the ties persist, we'll have special tie-breaker polls like the one posted this morning.

Thank you, and drive home safely!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Four more polls have closed, with two winning covers each from the Daily News and Newsday. (Newsday's SUCCESS was the winner of our three-way tiebreaker.)

With nineteen first-round winners so far, the Daily News has thirteen covers that will advance. Newsday has four and the New York Post has two.

There are 22 first-round polls. The ten winners with the highest percentage will get a second round bye.

Here's how our nineteen winners rank:
=#0000BF]
1. GOOD WIL! (Daily News)*
2. MATT OUTTA HELL (Daily News)*
3. SMILE HIGH (Newsday)*
4. WHAT THE BLANK! (Daily News)*
5. There IS crying in baseball (Daily News)*
6. IT'S RAININ' METS (Daily News)*
7. SWEEP SNAKES (New York Post)*
8. MICKEY'S CLUBHOUSE (Daily News)
9. MIDNIGHT BADNESS (Daily News)
10. TODD COUPLE! (Daily News)
=#FF4000]11. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (Daily News)**
12. WHERE THERE'S A WIL (Newsday)**
13. YO-END-IS! (Daily News)
14. GSELL THE MAN! (New York Post)**
15. YOU NOAH NOTHING! (Daily News)**
16. SUCCESS (Newsday)**
17. RED WHITE & BLEW (Daily News)**
18. JAKE & RAKE (Newsday)**
19. WHO'S UP FIRST? (Daily News)**

=#0000BF]* Clinched second-round bye
=#FF4000]** Eliminated from second-round bye

[bmfc1]

The State of Florida should hire BG to count votes.

[Benjamin Grimm]

As Round Two begins today, let's take a look at our brackets. You'll note that there's still at tiebreaker in progress for the 14th slot.

Our 22 first-round polls resulted in fourteen wins for the Daily News, five (maybe six) for Newsday, and two (maybe three) for the New York Post. Ten covers received a first-round bye (Eight from the News and one each from Newsday and the Post) and the Daily News has already clinched ten of the spots in the Sweet Sixteen.

[bmfc1]

It was very sneaky of Wilmer Flores to get non-tendered in order to get sympathy votes and win the TCD.

[Benjamin Grimm]

ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND


ELIMINATED


Our tiebreaker for Round 1.22 has ended, and Newsday's DEGROMINATION has won, knocking the Post's CY OF THE TIMES from the competition.

The New York Post is in a bad position in this year's Tabloid Cover Derby. They only have two of the 22 first-round winners. Newsday has a respectable total of six, and the Daily News is in good shape so far, with fourteen covers still alive.

Three of Newsday's surviving six covers feature Jacob deGrom, and those three are the only remaining deGrom covers. Along with DEGROMINATION, which will be up again for voting tomorrow, there's JAKE & RAKE, which is currently struggling in the 2.02 poll, and NATIONAL TREASURE, which we'll see again on Sunday.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The Tabloid Cover Derby will now go on a brief hiatus. Tomorrow we'll get the first poll closing of Round Two, which is the play-in round where six covers will fill out the open slots in our Sweet Sixteen. Voting for Round Three will begin on Friday.

In the meantime, these are the six Round Two polls that are currently open for voting:

Round 2.01 WHO'S UP FIRST? vs BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Round 2.02 JAKE & RAKE vs WHERE THERE'S A WIL
Round 2.03 A WRIGHT TO REMEMBER vs YO-END-IS!
Round 2.04 DEGROMINATION vs RED WHITE & BLEW
Round 2.05 NATIONAL TREASURE vs GSELL THE MAN!
Round 2.06 SUCCESS vs YOU NOAH NOTHING!

[Benjamin Grimm]

The last poll from Round Two has closed, and we have now finalized our Sweet Sixteen.

We have ten covers from the Daily News, four from Newsday, and two from the New York Post.

There are two covers that feature Mickey Callaway, two that feature Wilmer Flores, and two for an Amed Rosario/Asdrubal Cabrera combination. And there's one each for Amed Rosario alone, as well as for Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, Jacob deGrom, Todd Frazier, Robert Gsellman, Matt Harvey, Brandon Nimmo, Rusty Staub, and David Wright.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The poll posted this morning was the final poll of the third round, and we'll now be taking a brief hiatus while we wait for the remaining third round polls to close, and we take an opportunity to allow all of our Tabloid Cover Derby workers to spend the holiday week with their families.

We'll resume with the opening of the fourth round, which will determine our Final Four, in early January.

[bmfc1]

Is there a TCD HQ Holiday Party? If so, can we please see a picture or two?

[Benjamin Grimm]

[bmfc1]

A very young, good-looking, staff.