And so it was. What started 3 weeks ago with 64 fierce and determined Twitterers…er….Tweeters…umm..,people on Twitter was slowly whittled down to the best of the best: @SpikeJones and @adrants. They both proved their mettle by beating some big time competition along with some spirited upstarts. And in the end, this competition has been less about crowning a champion as it has been about making 63 enemies. So with other further adieu (I have no idea what adieu means but it makes me look cultured no?) here is a look at the Championship match in the @deanshaw Twitter Madness Tourney

@SpikeJones v. @adrants

Pre-Game
In a stunning development that emerged on the eve of the championship match, the nameless, faceless brilliance behind @adrants was revealed to be @stevehall, writer, publisher, cool glasses wearer. With this shocking discovery, @adrants’ dominance through the field of 64 was all of a sudden making sense. This was no the side-project of some snot-nosed Junior Achievement brats, nor the musings of a DeVry University Philosophy Major living in his parent’s basement. This was the real deal. By contrast, @SpikeJones hid behind no alias. He of @BrainsOnFire fame and an accomplished something or other in his own right, including fancy dancy titles at Fleishman-Hilliard. In short, these were no ham n’ eggers, these were true titans at their craft. I also have a sneakin’ suspicion that they can be found at the local waterin’ on any given Friday downing wobbly pops. But enough about that, let’s get to the action.

Tale of the Tape

* Because at the end of the day, it’s all about me

Color Commentary: @adrants
@adrants stuck with the formula that got him to the big dance with clever posts about off the radar news from the field of advertising. If you want RTs of RTs, then follow @chrisbrogan or @mashable or any sycophant that follows @chrisbrogan or @mashable. If you want interesting and amusing takes on interesting and amusing stories @adrants is who you need to follow. One curious strategy was @adrants not mentioning ‘boobs’ during the championship match. It was that savvy move that earned him a spot in the championship game so it showed big coconuts to forgo that proven strategy. He did however slip in a post about ‘Fingers’ and  ‘Hot Chick’ which brilliantly distracted me.  Also, among his tweets were ‘Food Porn’ and Wonderbra 2.0. In short, @adrants stuck with his game and put in a worthy and consistent performance. If you are not following him, you be crazy in the head yo.

Color Commentary: @SpikeJones
Like @adrants, @SpikeJones stuck with the girl that brung him. And that girl likes poking fun at social media enthusiasts and hipsters. Some of his stronger musings included “It’s a vortex, wrapped in a who gives a flying eff.” And “I still don’t care what you had for lunch.” I really think that if this Digital Marketing thingy dingy doesn’t work out he could make a good living writing bumper sticker slogans, or perhaps punch lines for Snooki. What @SpikeJones doesn’t do, which endears me to him (I don’t mean that in a romantical sense – I’m all man) is that he doesn’t RT the news of the day. I mean seriously, do people really think they were breaking a major headline when they tweeted “Wow, huge tsunami in Japan http://oldne.ws/TyiNgToLoOkSmaRT” 12 hours after it happened. I mean, thanks for the breaking news Brian Williams but I heard about it 154 RTs ago http://LAteToThePar.ty/DiPShiT. I would recommend that you follow @SpikeJones but even he would advise against that. So #unfollow @SpikeJones

Final Analysis:
I think one of my million, thousands, hundreds, ok one guy commented:

“I find myself clicking on more @Adrants links then all other twitter accounts combined… hmmm, I wonder why. Plus @Adrants represents on #SoCruise… And @SpikeJones insights on WOM is unbeatable and I enjoy how he pokes at us social media enthusiasts…plus he let me borrow a slide once for a presentation – – this will be a tough one – – but B00bs win!”

I agree 100% with 60% of what this guy say and I don’t envy me and the decision I need to make. If it weren’t for the fact that neither gives a rats a$$ and it’s meaningless accomplishment, I might do what any self-respecting NBA ref or State Senator would do and take a bribe, but alas this is going to have to come down to a gut call. And when I think about guts, I think about eating, and when I think about eating, I think about brisket, and when I think about brisket, I think about Texas, and when I think about Texas, I think about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and when I think about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, I think about football, and when I think about football, I think about touchdowns, and when I think about touchdowns, I think about spiked footballs, and when I think about spiked footballs I think about @SpikeJones.

Winner by the hair of my chinny chin chin: @SpikeJones

Congratulations @SpikeJones, you are the 2011 @deanshaw Twitter Madness Tourney Champion. That and a quarter will get you a cup of coffee (unless you’re going to Starbucks in which case you’ll need another buck 75).

Congratulation to the runner-up @adrants who will assume the crown should @spikejones be unable to fulfill the requirements of champion. I’m certain that will happen by next Tuesday.

Finally, congratulations to all tourney participants, who all bring value to my twitterstream everyday. I love you all for that, especially you @girlsinyogapants 😉

See you all again in 2012.

@deanshaw

To check out the brackets go to challonge/TwitterMadness
For more info on the tourney check out my Diversions page