13th Annual FALAFEL Draft Location Madness - The Champion

 I guess it's the year of Bennett...

Thanks to Zacherman, Belfer, Billy, and eventually Marco for staying strong on the anti-Tampa train. The rest of you abdicate your right to complain at all about the heat, humidity, hurricanes, lack of entertaining events, or seeing the league shirtless.

Next up is the room draft once we lock down a place to stay.

Can't believe we're actually going to spend late August in

13th Annual FALAFEL Draft Location Madness - Final 4 Results and Championship Voting

 

It's all come down to this. Tampa makes its predictable run to the finals, but surprisingly gains steam along the way, with Reap also joining the Basic Brigade. On the other side, Pitt and Minny tied with official votes, but Ajay's "Whatever Bennett Doesn't Vote For" tiebreak gave the second spot to Minneapolis. This is funny for a couple of reasons: 1) Ajay's bachelor party is in Minneapolis, so it's possible for a Weissbard/Asheville situation there. 2) If Minny does beat Tampa, it will indirectly be Bennett's fault. Either way, we all win.

I've been Team Minny from the start. The combination of weather, Airbnb potential, MLB game, and enough extra activities to occupy us for a weekend made it my top choice from the location submissions until now. I still don't get the whole Tampa thing outside of the few SC afficionados and those who want to make fun of Bennett (understandable, but not worth sweating our asses off). Key West made more sense to me due to open container laws and general people watching, but I've honestly not heard one positive about Tampa that would excite me about spending a weekend in late August there.

Anyway, Bennett made the Stevens Bowl in 2022, only to lose in dramatic fashion and set up a weirdly charming redemption arc in 2023. I can only hope Tampa suffers the same fate.

13th Annual FALAFEL Draft Location Madness - Elite 8 Results and Final 4 Voting

 

Elite Eight Thoughts:

• Chalk Chalk Chalk Chalk - Despite all the 2 seeds getting knocked out before this round, we end up with the most boring Final Four possible. It's only happened once in NCAA tournament history, and I feel like this is the second time for our bracket? Regardless, I guess this means we all submitted cities that we actually wanted to go to, so maybe that's a good thing.
• Tampa Update - The Tampa Crew got one more on board for this round, with Weissbard succumbing to peer pressure, or else really hating the thought of Atlanta. Kansas City followed by Pitt/Minny will be tougher tests, but Tampa still seems like the overall favorite.
• Friday Night Activities - Just a reminder that there are MLB games in Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh on the Friday night of draft weekend. I'm sure Tampa has a great video game bar that we can hang out at.
• City Spotlight: Kansas City - Along with the aforementioned MLB game, Kansas City has pretty much everything we could ask for in a Draft City. Easy flight for everyone, world-renowned BBQ, plenty of AirBnBs, the Negro League museum, and a 60% chance of running into Taylor Swift. The weather is also considerably better than a more southern city would have.

13th Annual FALAFEL Draft Location Madness - Sweet 16 Results and Elite 8 Voting

Reactions:

• Two Seed Obliteration Complete - Portland ME taking down Vegas has to be the biggest upset of this round, and I'm still a little bit confused as to why. We've been to Vegas and everyone has an opinion one way or another, but a small northeastern city with a difficult airport and no real draw? Are we that into the L.L. Bean store? 
• Staying Domestic - Dublin predictably fell to a surprisingly plucky Atlanta, meaning we're once again not venturing outside the USA. I really like Montreal as a favorite next year, which may pave the way for more adventurous options, but ATL does seem like a city of destiny.
• Tampa Update - Another relatively close call for the Overall #1 seed saw the party lines stay the same as Round 1. Philly never really had much of a chance, but things are about to get a lot more difficult.
• City Spotlight: Atlanta - Similar to Chicago last year, ATL is one of the easiest cities to get to in America, and we would all get to enjoy Delta flights rather than slum it somewhere else. The Braves have home games on both the Thursday and Saturday, so that may alter our schedule but will likely be worth it to watch one of the most exciting teams in baseball. And I've heard from multiple people that the Coca Cola museum is actually really cool for those interested. I've said all this without mentioning that ATL is the strip club capital of the world, where you can order world class wings "Lemon Pepper Extra Wet" from the employees. I don't see a downside.

 

13th Annual FALAFEL Draft Location Madness - First Round Results and Sweet Sixteen Voting

 

First Round Thoughts:

• Numbers Clarification - Nick isn't voting and Ajay is only voting for Tampa each round, giving us 14 votes for most matchups. Ajay will be voting against Bennett as a tiebreaker for any 7-7 matchups, and he gave Indy and the Hamptons the win.
• 2-Seed Mayhem! - I don't think we've ever had more than one 2-seed lose in the first round, let alone three! There are obvious reasons, with Tahoe and LA being far for the east coast contingent and Burlington infamously having a lack of housing options, but two of these matchups weren't even close.
• Tampa Update - Voting was along party lines, with only Esco joining the Tampa brigade for Round 1. I'm not sure if Philly will put up a better fight than Montreal, and with the Dublin/Atlanta winner waiting next round, it appears that Tampa will make the Final Four.
• Rock Chalk - The downfall of the 2-seeds means that the one seeds should have a relatively easy path to the Final Four. Vegas vs. Minny will be interesting, and I think Minneapolis has the best chance of beating Tampa due to its favorable weather and MLB game, but things should get contentious.
• City Spotlight: Philadelphia - While we've all lived somewhat close to Philly at some point in our lives, most of us haven't spent a long weekend in the City of Brotherly Love. Their fans get a justifiably bad rap, but the weather, housing options, and potential activities make it an obvious pick for a draft weekend. Also cheesesteaks. Lots of cheesesteaks.