Total Madness

Breaking down round 1 of Philly Madness, and looking ahead to Round 2.

by Nick Norlen and Brian Howard

So Round 1 of the Philly Madness tournament has come and gone. And Philadelphia responded with a whopping 1,468 online votes. Here's the 32 entities that advanced to Round 2, listed with their winning first-round percentages (those below 50 percent denote the first-round match was a three-way):

Ben Franklin (96) vs. The Smoking Ban (52)

Boathouse Row (67) vs. Pierre Robert (65)

Rocky (83) vs. The Love Sculpture (51)

Howard Eskin (53) vs. The Art Museum (53)

Ryan Howard (70) vs. City Hall (67)

The Big Five (72) vs. South Street (57)

Cecily Tynan (62) vs. 30th Street Station (71)

Brotherly Love (55) vs. Cheesesteaks (67)

The Liberty Bell (60) vs. Cardinal Rigali (51)

Committee of 70 (50) vs. Phillie Phanatic (64)

Jim Gardner (78) vs. The Spectrum (59)

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (53) vs. The Trocadero (49)

The Parkway (52) vs. Hall & Oates (54)

Starr Restaurants (53) vs. Philebrity (49)

Terry Gross (55) vs. The Mummers (80)

Mural Arts Program (74) vs. Citizens Bank Park (60)

On Monday night, the Philly Madness selection committee — Nick Norlen (who thought this whole thing up) and Brian Howard — engaged in a little bracketology over Instant Messenger:

Brian Howard: So Round 1: Any surprises?

Nick Norlen: I was surprised the Phillie Phanatic kinda owned the Eagles Chant.

Brian Howard: Yeah, several of the brackets we received had the chant going all the way.

Nick Norlen: Yeah, I kinda figured that.

Brian Howard: Do Philadelphians love Ben Franklin or hate John Street?

Nick Norlen: They don't mind BF. But they definitely hate Street. This was the people's way of impeaching Street with a nonbinding resolution.

Brian Howard: I was shocked most by the results of The Roots/Hall & Oates showdown.

Nick Norlen: Yeah, I kinda blame you for that.

Brian Howard: You do?

Nick Norlen: Yeah, 'cause at the time I was like, "No one likes Hall & Oates." And you were like, "I like Hall & Oates."

Brian Howard: I thought they'd have some pull, but not that much pull. I didn't see Cheesesteaks running away like they did. I thought Tastykakes would put up more of a fight.

Nick Norlen: Nah, I saw that one coming. God, people really love the Mummers. This has to stop.

Brian Howard: Can anyone stop the Mummers?

Nick Norlen: God, I hope so. If the Mummers win, I will lament the day I had the idea to do this tournament.

Brian Howard: I can't see the Mummers beating Ryan Howard. Given the way he owned McNabb, I think he could go all the way. Definitely Final 4.

Brian Howard: The Vallas/Rigali horse race was a nail-biter. That and Love Sculpture/Rocky Statue.

Nick Norlen: Yeah, Love came from behind. Except now it's Love vs. Rocky. Clubber Lang's prediction: Pain.

Brian Howard: Do you see Jim Garnder's trouncing of Renee Chenault-Fattah as a tacit message to Chaka?

Nick Norlen: I wasn't aware that people were that passionate about local news anchors.

Brian Howard: People love the "Old Gard." Can you pick a key matchup in Round 2?

Nick Norlen: Well, there are a few that will indicate how classy we are. For instance, Eskin vs. the Art Museum is kind of a battle between our most base and most enlightened interests.

Brian Howard: Starr vs. Philebrity looks interesting.

Nick Norlen: It's like ... places to be seen vs. places to read about people being seen.

Brian Howard: It's very postmodern.

Nick Norlen: So meta.

Brian Howard: Predict the rest of the bracket.

Nick Norlen: My Elite 8 are Ben vs. Rocky, Howard vs. Cheesesteaks (guarantee it's going to be close), Bell vs. Spectrum, and Hall vs. Mummers.

Nick Norlen: Final 4: Rocky, Cheesesteaks, Liberty Bell, Mummers.

Nick Norlen: Championship: Cheesesteaks vs. Liberty Bell.

Nick Norlen: Winner: Liberty Bell.

Brian Howard: My Elite 8: Franklin vs. Rocky, Howard vs. Cheesesteaks, Hall vs. Mummers, and the Rittenhouse Regional is tough. I could see Bell or Phanatic making it vs. Troc or Spectrum.

Brian Howard: I've got a Final 4 of Rocky, Ryan Howard, Phillie Phanatic, Mummers.

Brian Howard: Championship: Ryan Howard vs. Mummers.

Brian Howard: Winner: Ryan Howard.

Brian Howard: I'm also baseball crazy.

Nick Norlen: So we both think Rocky's going to beat Ben.

Brian Howard: Oh yeah.

Nick Norlen: I think people will get serious when it's Bell vs. Phanatic.

Brian Howard: Hard to say. Baseball season starting could impact this.

Nick Norlen: They're doing that again this year, huh?

Brian Howard: They're gonna do it right this time.

Nick Norlen: Mmmhm.

To vote in Round 2 of Philly Madness, or download the bracket, visit www.citypaper.net/phillymadness.