The Tale of the Tape. How Duct tape took it all in 2013's Mash Madness

[Michael Miller]

I'd been asked for a rundown of how the voting in the Mash Madness went. We've had alot of interest in how the voting unfolded, both in praise of Duct tape's overall victory as well as some incredulity as to how the Silver Spectacle could have taken it all.

Here's how it unfolded:

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Mash Madness 2013 – Battle of the Titans

 

Titans of the known universe gathered at CodeMash 2013 to challenge each other on the Manifest Kanban Battle Board in one of the most epic throwdowns of all time.  (Translation – Manifest created whimsical, 16 contestant tournament for fun and prizes for CodeMash.  Let’s continue.)

Elite Developers and IT Geeksters (anyone who snagged a ticket before CodeMash sold out in 15 seconds should consider themselves elite!) participated in voting for the thought provoking matchups that pitted unique fighting styles battling one another in a manner analogous to a martial arts tournament.  Or something.

The No. 1 seeds advanced comfortable with Morpheus hacking Anonymous, Zombies eating The Big Lebowski and Spock pinching the “Army of Me”- Bjork.  The upset of the tournament came shockingly early with Duct Tape edging out CodeMash darling and overall number one seed – Bacon.  As the tourney progressed CodeMashers stopped and debated the virtues and skills of Gandalf vs Spock, Lara Croft vs Lisbeth Salander and Ctrl+Alt+Del vs Konami Code.  

The Final Four battled Friday morning and pitted Gandalf the Grey vs Zombies and Morpheus vs Duct Tape.  Zombies are definitely not morning people and were easily defeated by Gandalf whose resume includes defeating armies of faster and feistier Orcs.  Morpheus looked like a worthy opponent to slow Duct Tape’s roll but he proved to be no match without Neo or a plate of delicious, maple-roasted, apple-cured, thick-sliced bacon.

And then there were two. 

The Finals.  Duct Tape vs Gandalf the Grey.  With over 10 lead changes this matchup proved to be everything the sold-out crowd had paid to see.  Gandalf waved and spun his staff like a magical Kendo fighter and midway through the battle belted out the crowd pleasing, “You, shall, not, Pass!”  Duct Tape put on a masterfully display of Agile fighting form – punching, ducting and weaving.  In the end, Duct Tape proved to be the one ring to rule them all as Gandalf tapped out to the Tape.

All Hail Duct Tape !

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Thanks to everyone who stopped by and voted, and for the many weighty and philosophically intriguing debates we were witness to around the matchups. Congratulations to our two grand prize winners who picked the metallic adhesive strips to go the distance.

We look forward to next year with another line up of Titans to battle it out for your pleasure!

[Michael Miller]

For the full lineup and rankings please see the attached shot of the Friday end of day standings.

[Michael Miller]

Out of roughly 280+ votes 21 picked Duct Tape to take it all.

On Friday, January 18, 2013 7:05:32 AM UTC-5, Kent Fehribach wrote:

How many total entries were there and how many people picked Duct tape?