UFC final thoughts and intern Battle Royal!

First, a refresher on the UFC, Rawlings style:

1. How were the combatants determined this year?
It was a struggle, which is a good thing! Last year it began with a shorter list of people who I was pretty sure wouldn't be offended. This year, it was based on employee suggestions, returning fighters from last year, and fan suggestions. The UFC doesn't like process, as you'll learn. It tends to eat up process and laugh at those who enforce it.

2. OK, so how did the bracket get set? Did you hand pick the matchups or seeds? Did you rig it?
A secret panel (so secret that they don't even know who else was on the panel) ranked the combatants by whatever means they chose. It could have been by toughness, it could have been alphabetical. There were no rules. The only rule was that I divided up people into groups of 4 (the top four overall people became one-seeds, the next 4 got two seeds, and so on) The region with the best ranked #1 seed got the lowest ranked #2 seed.
3. How do the games go?
Every day we will have a new matchup. The winner will advance to the next round, the loser goes home. Every employee in the St Louis office or Tech center is eligible to vote. Voting can be done only once per person. (This is not American Idol). To vote, you email your vote to rawlingsufc@hotmail.com. Vote because you think someone would win the (virtual) fight. Or because you like them better. Or because you think it'd be funnier if they won. Or because they don't want to win and you want to read about them even more. I will tally the votes each evening and report the score (and how the battle happened) at the start of the next day.

4. Will anyone find out who I voted for?
No. I'll delete the votes after the score is announced. On fight(s) that I am involved in, an All Star Audit firm of Matt Howell, Inc. will tabulate the scoring. So I won't know that you didn't vote for me.

5. When is voting allowed?
Any time after midnight and before 5:00 pm CST.

6. What is the tiebreaker?
The first vote cast after 8:00 am CST. (you can vote earlier if you want, but the first vote after 8 am is the tiebreaker)

7. Can my wife vote?
If your wife is not a Rawlings employee, she cannot vote. (Sorry Kraemer) I do find it sweet she thinks you are a tough fighter though. You CAN vote for yourself though!

8. What if I don't like either fighter?
You can vote for someone else (in the office). If you get enough support, you could actually beat the fighters who are in the battle. So if you're bummed you missed the UFC, you can still crash this party.

9. Do you really fight?
No. Violence is never the answer. Do the cool thing and don't play with fire.

Which leads me to my summary of this year's field:

Who was left out?
There were a LOT of worthy adversaries that could make a case. Those who could best make a case included Dennis "DT" Turner, "Mad" Mike Imel, and Elaine "Liberty" Bell. "Second" Chance Hollingsworth will have to wait to get his next chance to dominate the UFC. Should the tech center have been more represented? They're the mid-major conference - they'll have to fight their way to respectability. We all know the mid majors are truly majors, like the missouri valley.

Which region is the toughest?
This one's easy: Rio. Are you kidding me? Ron "Busta" Kappauff will have his work cut out if he wants to get out of this regional unscathed. Last year's champ Gessley will want to repeat, and then you've got a pretty frisky R&D 3/4 seed combo in Hoying and Cruz. Did you know Curtis has a black belt? And, no seth, this is not a documentary on Curtis' fashion sense.

Which region is the weakest?
Even though I'm in it, I say it is the Sturgis region. Whiteside's path to glory must take him through only Dan "Big" Bieg, Andy "AK47" Pawlowski, and Tim Lord "of the Rings".

Who are the darkhorse teams that have a shot at making it to the final 4?
Tough one - i mean, who would have thought last season would show Wendy Mathis annihalate everyone in her path on the way to the finals? I think, by region, the darkhorses are: #4 Dave "Italian Stallion" Bommarito, #7 Barb "Black" Foerstel Cake, #6 Wendy "Still Nasty But No-Longer Newlywed" Mathis, and #14 Greg "Venus" Williams.

What is the best matchup?
There are a couple I LOVE. #8 Robert "the Chief" Parish vs #9 Pam "Pan" Klosterman. That'll get ugly. I also like the old school battle of #6 Mike "Gamer" Thompson vs. #11 Ted "ROY" Sizemore. Ted hasn't been a rookie in like 50 years and he's got an extra bounce in his step to prove it. Mike has always been a gamer.

ON TO THE MAIN EVENT!

The Battle Royal,, as defined in Ancient Rome (or Wikipedia) was first coined by the Romans to refer to a form of gladiatorial combat involving a number of gladiators fighting, armed or unarmed, until only one remained standing, or alive. These fights tended to be particularly brutal, even by the standards of the Romans. Early Christians, such as Clement of Rome and Ignatius, actively campaigned against this savage form of entertainment, to no success. (obviously, as it still exists today much unlike the Roman Empire).

So, we are putting the intern class of 2007 into a ring. The last one standing in the ring wins the fight. Here they are, along with a smidgen of info to help your voting which may or may not be true.

Tom "Ashkicker" Asher. Hails from SEMO, the school who has brought more interns into regular gigs than any other school. (sorry Farrar) Working with Tim, Travis, and Logan.

"G I" David Muir. Spending his summer working in leather, and GI is as in military officer, not Gary Indiana or GastroIntestinal. Although ballers from GI get mad respect on the courts.

Erin "David Lee" Rothweiler. Also works with Tim, Travis, and Logan on the Worth side and also from SEMO. But not at all like Tom.

"Husky" Paul Jonff. Works with David "Zoomy" Zumbach on marketing stuff, comes to us as the first intern from Northern Illinois, whose mascot is the huskies. No, Paul isn't husky. but he could become that.

Nick "Human Lancer" Hoette. From Mizzou, working in Rawlings brand marketing. Plus side: Actually won a battle as a human lancer and also works on the side for the River City Rascals. Down side: name is pronounced "hottie"

Paul "Ray Ray" Wray. Working in protective with Dan. If that doesn't give him good odds at surviving an attack, i don't know what does? Then again, if his hair peeks out from the coolflo helmet, he could easily be grabbed and discarded outside the ring.

Nathan "Crouching Tiger" Hudock. Works with Matt Bensing, from Mizzou. Designs new apparel while wearing brass knuckles. Or so I hear.

Maggie "Lindenwood Assassin" Weislar. Working with Scott Siebers and Adam Shupe. Has been working on a competitive analysis to something which might very well be the UFC, and has yet to equal the number of games of Solitaire performed last summer by her predecessor. From Lindenwood.

Nick "Yogi" Berra. Comes from SEMO and works with Mark Kraemer and the sales team. Likely to ask for votes from Kraemer (and his wife).

Daniel "San" Tirado. Learning under the guiding wings and pearly white shoes of Jeff France and the graphics team. Comes equipped with a power notepad that he could both draw up a blueprint of the battle ring and draw the rest of the interns on the outside of the ring.

So, it is now time for you to vote. To vote, just copy this email address, type in one of these interns' names, and wait for the magic that follows.

rawlingsufc@hotmail.com

The winner of this battle royal meets Bob "Sausage" Neaus on Monday. Bob, you'd better vote wisely.