King of the Columnists - Quarter Finals (and R1 Results)

[Prime Time]

The first round is in the books! You can find all the threads and columns related to the first round in the Competition subforum now, if you want to track any of them down again. It was a very well contested affair and I can tell from the scoring that there was a real difficulty in deciding who needed to go through to the next round. Thankfully, though, there were no penalties awarded (barring the two no-shows) and no ties, so I haven't had to get involved at all and the judges were able to make clear decisions between them, in the end.

So beneath are the results. I'm not going to go into a full breakdown of how everyone voted. That's up to the judges if they want to make their individual scores public. I'd only ask that if you do it for one person, you make the knowledge available to everyone competing. So below you've just got your final tally across all five judges, and what that translates to as an average percentage.

Kleckamania 417 – 83.39%
Anonymous 447 – 89.4%

Oliver – 0
Timebomb4321 343 – 68.6%

205 Clive 394 – 78.8%
Don Franc 370 – 74%

Samuel ‘Plan 439 – 87.8%
Typeitinmaan 387 – 77.4%

R-Prof 383 – 76.6%
Skitz – 0

SirSam 396 – 79.2%
JacobWrestledGod 407 81.39%

The LAW 369 – 73.8%
Jeremysclsplx 359 – 71.8%

The Implications 409 – 81.8%
KingZak 342 – 68.4%

I will throw out a couple of bits of information, though. One is that nobody won on every single scorecard. You can clearly see from the results that Anonymous scored the highest overall, but he didn't come top of everyone's list (though obviously he's done well everywhere). But more than that, no one got whitewashed - everyone managed to at least draw with their individual opponent on at least one judge's card. And at the other end of the table, no one came bottom of everyone judges' card either. So though we've got come clear results averaged across the five, the individual pictures are little murkier. Also worth pointing out that the bottom scores are pretty darn respectable, while at the top no one averaged more than 90, so there's still a little bit of room for people to move into if they can hit the overdrive in the later rounds. Commiserations to Kleck, who would have won in most match-ups, and to Jeremy, who got closer to his opponent than anyone else and really pushed it to the wire.

Anyway, here is the draw for the next round, and the topics chosen for you all.

Timebomb1234 vs Anonymous – Communication
R-Prof vs TheImplications – Corruption
205Clive vs JacobWrestledGod – Reality
Samuel ‘Plan vs TheLAW – Animals

The rules are the same for this round, with one exception - your word limit has been raised to 1800. Other than that, all rules remain the same.

DEADLINE:
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Sat, 16 Feb 2019
09:00

New York, NY, USA
Sat, 16 Feb 2019
12:00

London, United Kingdom
Sat, 16 Feb 2019
17:00

Singapore,
Sun, 17 Feb 2019
01:00

Sydney, Australia
Sun, 17 Feb 2019
04:00

Good luck to everyone going forward, and to the people exiting the competition at this stage, thanks for playing!

[Samuel 'Plan]

Commiserations to all the losers and congratulations to all those going through. Good luck to LAW too.

I didn't get round to feeding the first round stuff though still will over the weekend if I've the chance.

[Kleckamania]

Geez, nothing like scoring 3rd highest out of all 16 writers for the round and not advancing on... the competitor inside of me is screaming atm.

Good luck all. Ty to judges and Prime.

[SirSam]

Geez, nothing like scoring 3rd highest out of all 16 writers for the round and not advancing on... the competitor inside of me is screaming atm.

I feel you Kleck. Didn't quite nail it like you but we both certainly got put up against some very stiff opposition in the first round.

Good job to everyone who wrote honestly, as PT said there were absolutely no weak entries this tournament. I personally would have picked a few of these differently, one result in particular really boggles my mind (not mine) but that is why we have multiple judges and I guess speaks to the strength all around.

Funny going from doing so well in the EOY awards and then getting humbled straight away in this. Oh well there is always next tourney.

[205 Clive]

A really close call with some of these scores. "By the skin of the teeth" comes to mind!

Sorry to see people bow out. Good luck for those in this round. Even Jacob

[TheLAW]

Well if this ain't the most bitter sweet news I ever did see. Thanks for the fight Jeremy! Hell of a showdown from what I was told and can see (I really want to see more details!)

And my reward for finally making it past the first round is... 'Plan... Damn you wrestling gods. Damn you indeed.

[JacobWrestledGod]

It’s sad to see the high scores get kicked out but that’s the way it is laid out so it’s fair.

I think it’s going to be a very wild column.

[anonymous]

Sorry, Kleck. Congrats to all who got through. Except Plan.

Thank you for the kind scores.

[kingzak13]

Well, at least I'm close to the majority score this time.

Congrats to everyone for a good first round, and Imp, I am going to be very disappointed if you don't go onto win the whole thing now.

[timebomb4321]

ok .... got my sea legs now. If this has taught me anything it’s that writing and critical thinking are perishable skills. That first column was a huge case of shaking off the cobwebs after 15 years with the pen down. The fact that I am looking forward this much to writing again is a win in itself. So it looks like I drew Brock Lesnar in the quarterfinals. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Headed down to the lab...I’ll be back up in about 6-7 days with a really good column and a headache 🤕 👍👍👍👍👍

[TheImplications]

I need to get round to reading & feeding on that first round (fully read a few, skimmed others, will dive in soon, promise!). And Zak, I've got my work cut out for me drawing R-Prof, but I shall try my best to not suck in the face of strong opposition. And my, what large open topics we have. Very interested to see where folks go with those this round.

[Don Franc]

First tournament for me and first round knockout. But reading from the comments on my column I expected it. But hey, I'm not disappointed considering how I struggled to get the column in on time.

Congrats to Clive, you were the worthy winner of our bout. Good luck everyone!

[Skulduggery]

I'll share my scores. I know, as a competitor, I'd be among those most eager to know the exact numbers! Looks like my numbers aligned fairly cohesively with the rest of the judging panel on most match-ups.

Kleckamania - 79
Anonymous - 84

Timebomb4321 - 65

205 Clive - 88
Don Franc - 67

Samuel ‘Plan - 90
Typeitinmaan - 80

R-Prof - 83

SirSam - 79
JacobWrestledGod - 85

The LAW - 53
Jeremysclsplx - 71

The Implications - 69
KingZak - 56

Looking forward to the quarters!

[mizfan]

This has been great so far, really excited for these match ups.

[Rob S.]

I too shall share. The last two matchups saw me differ greatly from Skul, but we were pretty close otherwise.

ROUND ONE
MERCY
Kleckamania 85
Anonymous 92

INSECURITY
Oliver DQ
Timebomb 4321 70

RESET
205 Clive 83
Don Franc 75

ELITE
Plan 90
Typeitinmaan 72

WEIGHT
R-Prof 75
Skitz DQ

MOMENTUM
SirSam 82
JacobWrestledGod 87

OVERRATED
The LAW 82
Jeremysclsplx 80

JAPAN
The Implications 85
KingZak 85

[TheLAW]

Has anyone beat 'Plan before? I'm not sure how it's done

[SirSam]

PT do you want to field that question? Lol

[Samuel 'Plan]

Shinobi, Prime, Cult Icon and Mazza have all beaten me in tourneys to answer your question, LAW. So it certainly can be done. But that's a wonderful compliment, thank you, haha.

[anonymous]

Just write something that isn’t tediously boring and pretentious. Don’t try and be ‘Plan. He’s the best at his style. Be yourself and be different.

Please knock him out.

[JacobWrestledGod]

Shinobi, Prime, Cult Icon and Mazza are some of the very best (legendary) Writers in LOP, so....
Law, please knock him out.

[The Doc]

Continuing with the theme of transparency, I based my scores on four categories - how engaging was the column, how well did it flow, how well written was it, and how well did it make use of the topic. I used the wrestling classic 5-star scale for each category, with Round 1 basically breaking down to 3 being good, 4 being great, and 5 being outstanding (3.5 and 4.5 were used for "approaching" the 4 or 5 but not quite there). Those numbers were then multiplied by 5 (so each category was out of 25), and thus we ended up with (in the order in which they were read)...

'Plan - 5, 5, 4.5, 5 = 97.5
Jeremy - 3.5, 4, 3.5, 5 = 80.0
R-Prof - 4, 3, 4, 5 = 80.0
SirSam - 4, 4.5, 3.5, 4 = 80.0
JWG - 5, 4, 3, 5 = 85.0
TheLAW - 4, 4, 3.5, 5 = 82.5
Type - 3.5, 3, 4, 5 = 77.5
Nony - 5, 4.5, 5, 5 = 97.5
Timebomb - 3, 3, 3, 5 = 70.0
Kleck - 5, 5, 4.5, 5 = 97.5
205Clive - 4, 3.5, 4, 4 = 77.5
Zak - 3, 3.5, 3, 3.5 = 65.0
DonFranc - 4, 4, 3.5, 4 = 77.5
Imp - 4, 5, 3.5, 5 = 87.5

[mizfan]

Since everyone else is doing it...

I just based mine on how much I enjoyed the column, which is loosely a combination of how well I thought it was written, how interesting it was, and how well it made its point.

Kleck 82
Nony 84

Timebomb 72

Clive 68
Don 70

Plan 79
Type 75

Prof 90

Sam 80
JWG 80

LAW 76
Jeremy 67

Imp 87
Zak 61

[Don Franc]

I hate that I lost because there's not going to be a tournament again in quite a while. Like most of the judges I also feel like Clive wrote a better column but we should have more tournaments throughout the year

[Spinmaster]

I'm the only one left, so here you go. As expected my marks are quite different than most others. Simply put I wanted to be engaged and be given something unique. So these are solely based on my personal enjoyment and how well I felt they were written. I penalized if I felt they did not adhere to the word enough.

Kleck- 74
Nony- 90

Oliver- 0
Timebomb- 66

205 Clive- 77
Don Franc- 80

Plan- 82
Type- 82

RProf- 65
SkitZ- 0

Sir Sam- 75
Jacob- 70

Jeremy- 61
TheLAW- 75

The Implications- 80
King Zak- 75

[Samuel 'Plan]

How literal do the judges expect us to be with the topic?

[Prime Time]

You are supposed to be allowed to interpret the topic, which allows for more metaphorical responses. But of course, the column has to convince the judges of the validity of the metaphor.

That's the classic non-answer, but all I can offer at this point!

[mizfan]

I'll say for my part, unless you completely disregard the word, it likely won't factor into my rating.

[205 Clive]

I hate that I lost because there's not going to be a tournament again in quite a while. Like most of the judges I also feel like Clive wrote a better column but we should have more tournaments throughout the year

Thank you for the kind words, but we always second guess ourselves (well, I do anyway), so it's difficult to accept praise the format is quote cutthroat.

As Don has said though, more competitions like this would be interesting going forward.

[Prime Time]

There used to be basically a waiting list of people wanting to run tournaments - more than we could realistically do. But I'd been the only person to suggest one in any earnest, really, since the last CSI.

The busier the forum is in terms of people writing regularly, and the more people express an interest in running these things - provided they can demonstrate that they have thought it through well enough to run it - then the more tournaments we'll end up having.

Based on where we are at now I imagine if the appetite is there there could be another in the summer, potentially. But we'll have to see nearer the time.

[JacobWrestledGod]

i would love to run a tournament, but it's a lot lot harder than it seems. Usually it's tough because you are at mercy of others, to turn in their work on time, to argue about rules, to making the judges happy.

So far this has been extremely calm and well done.

[Prime Time]

Oh it's involved work and certainly not to be taken up lightly. But I thought it was worth making the point, that the practical side of organization is a big part of how and when they run.

[anonymous]

I’d be shit at running a tournament and am very conscious of that. I’m not organized or reliable enough. It takes a certain person to cope with it.

[Prime Time]

Yeah I wasn't suggesting everyone needs to put their name forward to do one. I don't want people to feel 'got at' and there's no real need for people to say why they don't do it.

Just saying that's how more of these will happen. A busier forum and more people - who want to put themselves forward - sharing the workload. Didn't mean anything more than that.

[TheLAW]

Anyone else having a bitch of a time finding time this week. I have three paragraphs rewritten as of right now. Stupid work needing me to go make money. Stupid marriage requiring me to actively participate in Valentine's day lol. I need a vacation so I can focus on this tournament. Lol

[JacobWrestledGod]

I can’t seem to find anytime. It’s still Chinese New Year period, so I am visiting extended families and all. But I will push out a column regardless, though might be less thought out and less proof read.

[205 Clive]

Stupid marriage requiring me to actively participate in Valentine's day

You should celebrate your love for your spouse every other day of the year, not this made up Hallmark holiday!!

[TheLAW]

You should celebrate your love for your spouse every other day of the year, not this made up Hallmark holiday!!

Too true my friend! R2 column is up for anyine interested. I decided not to eat lunch today lol

EDIT# T-MINUS 12 HOURS!

[timebomb4321]

****Message to all ******

It is with a ton of frustration and a heavy heart that I will not be able to submit a column for round 2.... over the past 6 days I have gone through not one but two separate personal issues significant enough to prevent me from continuing on. I apologize to everyone involved surely however family will always come first. I can honestly say that even this short involvement has rekindled my love for writing and I vow to continue to write in these forums as well as continue to read the great work on all the pages at LOP as I have for years. Thank you all for the time, courtesy and feedback and more importantly, welcoming me into the forum family.

Timebomb. Out

[205 Clive]

First of all, sorry that you won't be able to submit an entry for this round. I really enjoyed your first piece.

Secondly, whatever you're going through, I hope it resolves soon. Family always comes first!

[Samuel 'Plan]

Hope things turn out ok for you TB.

I just posted but I totally forgot the KOTC prefix. Sorry guys - any chance a mod could add it on please? I obviously don't want to edit my column.