This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I am withdrawing Seattle Bubble from the “Blarch Badness” blog tournament. If you would like to read a more detailed statement, click below.
First off I want to thank Dylan W. and the Seattle Metroblogging crew for putting on this tournament. It was a fun way to learn about new and interesting blogs that I haven’t previously known about. I enjoyed the good-natured contests against Eugene Cho and versus food blog Accidental Hedonist, and through the contest was introduced to the delightful Vintage Seattle.
Unfortunately, the good-natured competition of the tournament was poisoned in the quarter-final round as the match between Huskies Fan and Lookout Landing degraded into a contest of who could cheat the best. When both blogs were allowed to continue to the semi-finals against Seattle Bubble, I had hoped that the over-the-top cheating would be left behind in the quarter-finals, and that we could have a fun, easy-going, and above-the-board competition like those we experienced in the previous rounds.
Regrettably, as the saying goes, bad company corrupts good morals. I don’t know who was responsible for kicking off the cheating in this round, but it would appear that both sides are equally guilty of some serious monkey business in the semi-finals. It seems likely that there were no more than a handful of cheating individuals on either side of this match, but even one determined cheater is enough to ruin the contest for everyone. Previous rounds were entertaining and fun, but with all the cheating and personal attacks that have been flying around, this round has been about as enjoyable as a fistfight.
Therefore, for the sanity of our readers, and in the interest of fairness to the blogs in the Coyote bracket that appear to be keeping with the spirit of the competition, I am withdrawing Seattle Bubble from the tournament. I have removed the poll from our sidebar and the vote links from the top of all our pages, and will no longer promote the contest on Seattle Bubble. It’s simply not worth putting this much effort into a competition that has clearly degraded into a cheat-fest, and would end up being decided by who has the most people pouring in multiple votes in the final hours of the contest.
Thanks again to Rain City Guide and Seattle Real Estate Professionals for their support, and thanks to everyone that voted in any of the rounds of this tournament. It’s been fun.