The Sweet 16 voting for the Most Influential American tournament saw some historic landslide victories as well as a tie for the first time in tournament history. Some new faces on the strength of some great presentations have advanced to the elite 8 of the tournament. Let's take a look at the winners and losers in the Round of 16.
In the presidential division, Dwight Eisenhower dropped the big bomb on Harry Truman as he commanded and easy victory on his road to the Elite 8. Truman never had a chance as Ike came out fast and stayed strong throughout the voting. While Eisenhower had an easy victory, Franklin Roosevelt thoroughly dominated John Kennedy. FDR set a record for most votes earned in a single round. FDR has not had that big of a margin of victory since the 1936 election when he defeated Alf Landon 523-8 in the Electoral College. Let's pause for a moment....Landon only received 8 electoral votes TOTAL!!! Wow!!! And, can we talk about naming your child ALF (I loved the fuzzy creature as a kid but this is silly!). In any event, FDR moves on to face Ike in the regional finals.
In the presidential division, Dwight Eisenhower dropped the big bomb on Harry Truman as he commanded and easy victory on his road to the Elite 8. Truman never had a chance as Ike came out fast and stayed strong throughout the voting. While Eisenhower had an easy victory, Franklin Roosevelt thoroughly dominated John Kennedy. FDR set a record for most votes earned in a single round. FDR has not had that big of a margin of victory since the 1936 election when he defeated Alf Landon 523-8 in the Electoral College. Let's pause for a moment....Landon only received 8 electoral votes TOTAL!!! Wow!!! And, can we talk about naming your child ALF (I loved the fuzzy creature as a kid but this is silly!). In any event, FDR moves on to face Ike in the regional finals.
In the innovators bracket, we had a historic event as Alexander Graham Bell and Ben Franklin tied with 32 votes a piece. The decision moved in to the hands of the executive committee (not quite the Politboro but you get the idea. In the committee, Bell snuck by Franklin. Bell will do battle with Bill Gates. Gates, the reigning champion hung on to be the Wright Brothers. In a bit of smugness, Gates said after the contest "The Wright Brothers are WRONG this time!" Gates will do battle with Bell in the regional Finals. In the Wild Card Bracket, Lewis and Clark continued to blaze their trail to the final four with a win over Neil Armstrong. After the thorough thrashing, Armstrong told the media, "I crashed and burned worse than Goose in Top Gun! Lewis and Clark will match up with newcomer General George Patton. Patton defeated U.S. Grant. Upon defeating his fellow General, Patton said, "I am a soldier, I fight where I am told and I win where I fight" For his part, Grant felt an allegiance to an old foe. "Now I know how General Lee felt at Appamatox," Grant said. Score one for the ladies as Eleanor Roosevelt knocked off #1 seed Martin Luther King in a regional semifinal matchup. Celebrating and listening to Gloria Gaynor's hit "I Will Survive", Eleanor Roosevelt was pleased with her victory. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," Roosevelt said. "I feel pretty superior right now!" In the other semifinal match up, Jackie Robinson hit a home run in beating upstart Jackie Robinson. Roosevelt and Robinson will battle for a spot in the final four. |