The first Bracket Madness Tournament was the Christmas Movie Tournament. The Tournament had 72 teams with a play in round to get the field to 64. The Brackets were named; Ralphie, Scrooged, Elf and Griswold in honor of our number 1 seeds. The sites of the match-ups also corresponded with the location of where those movies took place; Cleveland Street, IBC Studios, Chicago and the North Pole. The Final Four was held at Madison Square Garden which was at least close to 34th Street.
Play-In Round
The play in round was probably not necessary as all those teams were beat pretty easily in the first round. Two seventeen seeds advanced (Trapped in Paradise, The Ref) and two eighteen seeds advanced (Babes in Toyland and Very Brady Christmas). All had one thing in common, they were pretty crappy movies. I am pretty sure Babes in Toyland advanced because most of our voters and followers thought it was Christmas Porn.
The field of 64 Bracket Copy of xmasbracketmadness-completed
Round 1
The story of Round one was 3 of the 4 number thirteen seeds advanced to round two. The Ralphie Bracket had #13 Holiday in Handcuff’s beat #4 Holiday Inn. This is either another case of the older movies losing out to the younger generation or our voters thought it was another Christmas Porn Flick. The Scrooged Bracket had #13 Gremlins knock off #4 Santa Clause 3 and #11 seed Trading Places defeating #6 Frosty the Snowman. The Griswold Bracket had #13 A Disney Christmas Carol beat the original old school #4 Christmas Carol. The Elf bracket went chalk (all the top seeds advancing).
Round 2
A few surprises in Round 2 with all the #5 seeds advancing. A bit unusual as the #5 vs. #12 upset is always a popular first round upset pick in the NCAA Basketball tournament. All the #13 seeds winning probably played a big part in the #5 seeds advancing as only one The Grinch who stole Christmas (Cartoon version) had to actually play a #4 seed, Jingle All the Way.The three other #5’s advancing were Christmas in Connecticut (a lot of CT voters), Die Hard and A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. The only other upset in the round was #7 seed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that knocked off another older movie #2 It’s a Wonderful Life.
Sweet 16
The Sweet 16 had #7 Rudolph upset another older movie #3 Miracle on 34th Street. The Scrooged Bracket had both top seeds advance. The Elf bracket should of been renamed the Grinch Bracket as #5 Grinch Cartoon advanced with #2 Grinch Jim Carey. The Griswold Bracket had a mild upset with #3 Polar Express beating #2 Fred Claus.
Elite 8
Big upset in the Ralphie Bracket as #1 A Christmas Story lost to #7 Rudolph. The Scrooged Bracket had its namesake advance in Scrooged. The Elf Bracket had #5 seed the original cartoon version of The Grinch That Stole Christmas beating Jim Carey’s version. The Griswold bracket saw Clark and Ellen advance with #1 Christmas Vacation.
Final Four
The Final Four is where Cinderella’s dreams stopped as Rudolph was put down and the Grinch went back to the mountain top angry as Scrooged and Christmas Vacation advancing to the Finals.
Christmas Movie Bracket Madness Championship
#1 Scrooged vs. #1 Christmas Vacation. Two juggernauts facing off and it wasn’t even close. Christmas Vacation and the Griswold’s won easily taking our first Bracket Madness Title.
jeffreybelanger 