Category Archives: Ink-Stained Wretches

The 2023 Winner (Loser?) of the March Sadness Biggest Mediot Tournament Is:

…in danger of winning the whole shebang!

Ben ‘mittens losing dullard’ Volin.

Tough break to Chris Gasper, who is once again the runner-up. The power of advancing out of Region N is real.

2019 Champion John Tomase re-eligible 2025
2022 Champ Greg A. Bedard re-eligible 2026
2023 Champion Ben Volin
re-eligible 2027

Thank you to all the media contestants, to the voting public, to the Selection Committee, and to The15 at large. Let’s do this again next year!

2023 March Sadness Championship Match

After a consolation warm-up tilt between two Sports Hub titans with a WEEI-ratings level of voter interest, we come to the main event. Last year’s runner up Chris Gasper, versus his Boring Broadsheet Baseball Paper colleague Ben Volin. Genuine idiocy against faux erudition. Vast big words versus weak passwords. A matchup for the ages. Or until both can compete again. Enjoy.

Polls close 3 PM EDT tomorrow, April 6th.

Sooo, if you have been enjoying this year’s Mediot Tournament, or the one previous, or the Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer columns, or the articles investigating out local sports media, or the Twitter hijinks of the local collaborative, please consider making a one-time donation. Site registration isn’t free. The Crowdsignal plug-in that tabulates the votes costs money as well. Or in the alternative visit our The15 Genuine Merchandise page and buy a shirt or a mug? Up to you. Thanks for reading.

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2023 March Sadness – The Four You Deplore

1 versus 1, and 1 versus 1.
WOW

Will the final matchup be co-host versus co-host? Globie vs. Globie? Or some combination thereof? Polls will remain open until Noon EDT tomorrow, Tuesday April 4th. Consolation match voting commences 3 PM EDT Tuesday until Noon Wednesday, April 5th, and Championship voting from 3 PM EDT Wednesday until the same time Thursday.

2023 March Sadness – The Hateable Eight

Time to decide who the worst in each Region is. Voting open until Noon EDT Saturday, April 1. Accompanying graphics courtesy of Midjourney AI image generation.

Prompt: Tony Massarotti 98.5 sports hub laughing from inside a schoolhouse as he locks Ruby Bridges out of the building.
Prompt: Albert Breer mugshot from college.
AI response: this appears to be Buzz McCallister from ‘Home Alone.’ To help us improve performance click Y if this is accurate.
Prompt: Boston Glove Chris Gasper and his amazing beard.
Prompt: a painting by Dali called “The Persistence of Murray” only the clocks are ketchup bottles.
Prompt: Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reaches across the event horizon of a black hole to reach a pair of floating mittens
Prompt: Dan Shaughnessy drives across the California state line trying to remember if he packed his rubbers
Prompt: Michael Felger sits in a chair. There are napkins covering his body. Gene Lavanchy the host of Fox 25 is standing next to a bed. Gene is hugging Sara Underwood. Gene is smiling. Michael is sad.
Prompt: former New England Patriot Ted Johnson is chased by townsfolk

(Stick tap to Don Konopka & John for the AI prompts & images)

Mediot Madness – The Sour Sixteen – Day Two

Small Graphic. Big stakes.

Now for the two remaining Regions, V and N to tussle and further reduce the mediot field of competitors. Polls will remain open for 24 hours, until 10:00 AM EDT Wednesday, March 29th.

(Note: # 1 Seed Volin has been given a 2-vote lead.)

Sour Sixteen Scouting Synopsis!

(Again done by the redoubtable Patrick from Andover del Norte:)

Welcome to the Sour Sixteen preview! The two higher seeds in Region C should easily advance to the Hateful Eight(TM pending). After his suspension Mazz locked his twitter account, and then after Chris Curtis’s suspension Mazz deleted his twitter account! (Update: Tone’s account is back, but still locked. Like Felgie’s car should have been.) He’s obviously living in fear of winning this tournament. Things are so bad now that you have to buy a Cameo if you’d like to hear Tony’s “Amos ‘n’ Andy” impression. In other news, did you know that an autographed photo of Bert Breer is available for $25 on Ebay? Imagine how much that could be worth in a week! (Disclaimer: the capital value of Bertie’s autograph can fluctuate and the price can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed).

Kid Gas should trounce the Far Side Kid to open Region V action. Things get a little more interesting from there on out. You may think it’s odd that Boston’s paper of record employs a sports media ombudsman who lives outside the Boston DMA, but if the weather is perfectly clear, and the moon is full, Chad can more often than not pick up the Boston stations on his Nana’s Philco radio in Downeast Maine. You may have missed it on Friday when Chad postulated on Nip-gate: “I’m not calling for a firing here, but the apparent going rate at the station of a one-week hiatus for making a racist or sexist comment is rather low. It’s not like the show, which oscillates between a chore and a bore on most days, would suffer without his overbearing presence.” Chad had no such reservations, or comments, when his good friend Tomy Masserotti was suspended earlier this month for making racist comments. Obviously Mazz’s overbearing presence is key in the chore vs bore calculation, which is why his one-week suspension was deemed to be sufficient punishment. It’s also understandable for Chad to come down harder on a nobody like Curtis because, unlike those two random African-American gentlemen that Mazz slurred, Mina Kimes was nice enough to “like” one of Chad’s tweets. Finn sucks. However Large Gynamsium Murray is a bald-denying asshole, which makes this match-up too close to call.

Region N is “interesting!”, to quote its moronic #1 seed. Ben Volin may feel entitled to a 10-point advantage, or at least choice of uniforms, since he is the #1 seed in the region, but that won’t be necessary for him to easily dispatch Greg Bedard’s lapdog Nick Cattles. The other match-up is a battle of the ages. Dan Shaughnessy is far removed from relevancy, and from his 2011 Father of the Year award. Christian Arcand is desperately clinging to Adam Jones’ coattails, having been fired from 98.5 and soon to be fired from WEEI. More shockingly, Arcand is also apparently trying to appropriate Gabby Starr’s (#14 in Region T) culture – do a “Christian (from: @gfstarr1)” Twitter search for more enlightenment. Shank is a dinosaur, but Arcand is the voice of a new generation. YOUR generation. Vote accordingly.

Does anyone know what the hell is going on in Region T? The two plucky underdogs have been the story of this year’s tournament. Can Nick “Fitzy” Stevens continue drive the snakes out of the region and take down Michael Felger? Can Gabby Starr pass over Ted “the veg” Johnson? Do you believe in miracles of Old Testament proportions? Yes! No? You make the call. Remember, for a limited time, the the15netdotcomsportsbook is offering $200 in site credits for every $5 wagered on the March Sadness tournament! Time is running out, so Register Now!

(Problem gambling is an urge to gamble continuously despite negative consequences or a desire to stop. Problem gambling is often defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler’s behaviour. Referring to your gambling unfailingly as ‘gaming’ may also be a sign. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria. If you feel you or a loved one need help, of if you are considering a 4-leg parlay on how both of you need help, you can contact The Commonwealth’s Office of Problem Gambling Services Problem Gambling Helpline at (800) 327-5050 or go to https://www.mass.gov/orgs/office-of-problem-gambling-services.)

Patrick is from Andover del Norte.

Tournament Sour Sixteen Set!

The Sour Sixteen are set. Favorites and plucky underdogs. All worthy competitors. Should be fun. Voting will resume Monday, March 27th.

And just a brief flashback as to who were the 16 mediots left at this point in the Tournament in 2022 and 2019:

A lot can happen over a year’s time.
CONSONANTS

If you have been enjoying this year’s Mediot Tournament, or the one previous, or the Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer columns, or the articles investigating out local sports media, or finding out who Jake in Boston was, please consider making a one-time donation. Site registration isn’t free. The Crowdsignal plug-in that tabulates the votes costs money as well. Or in the alternative visit our The15 Genuine Merchandise page and buy a shirt or a mug? Up to you.

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2023 TOURNAMENT ROUND OF 32 – DAY TWO

Spend less time on a new graphic. I can’t!

And now, Region C and Region T get their time to shine. Polls will remain open until this time tomorrow, March 22nd.

UPDATE: New Tiebreaker Poll for voting! So vote! Until 2:30 PM EDT!

(Feel free to check out the matchup preview below if you’re unsure who to vote for!)

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