Music Madness 2010:Liverpool 1st Round

All Rules and Criteria can be found here

LIVERPOOL REGION: FIRST ROUND ACTION
(1) The Beatles vs. (16) Kings of Leon. Ringo beats them on his own. Next.
FINAL SCORE: BEATLES 9 ~ KINGS OF LEON 0

(8) Wolfe Tones vs. (9) Joan Baez. Who on the selection committee thought it would be funny to send the Rebellious Wolffe Tones to Liverpool? Tough matchup even if the score doesn't indicate it. Spent many a night falling asleep to Ms Baez back in the day and she may have the most beautiful voice on earth. I'm giving her "Song" for "Diamonds and Rust" and Historical Impact, but the Wolffe Tones are just that good that they sweep the rest.
FINAL SCORE: WOLFFE TONES 7 ~ JOAN BAEZ 2

(4) Johnny Cash vs. (13) Tom Petty. Strong case can be made that Petty deserved a better seed. And a  better fate. Generously, I give Petty the Song with "American Girl" and I'll even stretch it and give him Personal Connection for playing half-time of The Greatest Super Bowl in History, but the rest isn't even a contest. The Man in Black moves on.
FINAL SCORE: JOHNNY CASH 6 ~ TOM PETTY 3

(5) Jimi Hendrix vs. (12) Sublime. Gus Johnson's calling this one and he's losing control. Is there an upset in the making? Two careers that were shorter than they should have been. Hendrix narrowly takes the "Entire Collection" category, the big kahuna of them all and the 3 points to go with it. But 40 oz to Freedom takes the Album by a nose over Are You Experienced? Two cover songs go head to head for the Song point, with Sublime's "Scarlet Begonias" (Grateful Dead) beating Jimi's "All Along the Watchtower" (Dylan). Hendrix wins the Historical Impact hands down, taking a 4-3 lead and setting up Personal Connection (2 pts) as the deciding factor. And Lo and Behold, thanks to the many, many memories from 1996 - 2005 that I can recall, Sublime pulls it off. The importance of having a scoring system is clear now, cause my gut woulda said Jimi hands down.
FINAL SCORE: SUBLIME 5 ~ HENDRIX 4

(3) Pearl Jam v. (14) Radiohead. Warning to the Beatles and Led Zepplin: Beware the Jam.
FINAL SCORE: PEARL JAM 9 ~ RADIOHEAD 0

(6) Rolling Stones v. (11) Neil Diamond. I wanted Jewish Elvis to advance, I really did. Always found the Stones to be a tad overrated. I give the Diamond my Personal Connection and Song for "Cracklin Rosie" but that's as far as it can go. I guess You Can't Always Get What You Want.
FINAL SCORE: ROLLING STONES 6 ~ NEIL DIAMOND 3.

(7) Elton John v (10) Willie Nelson. Another nail biter. On the surface you'd think that Elton takes the Entire Collection, but then you realized that early in the 1980s, he got sober and started writing lame ass Lite FM 106.7 crap. Willie's always been Willie. Elton does take the Album for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and song, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters". He also get's the Historical Impact. But the personal connection seals the minor upset for Willie Nelson. Every road trip I took from the age of 3 to 16, he was the soundtrack, and I've been trying to restart that tradition. Can't wait to take my kids on a 4 hour ride and torture them with "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys"
FINAL SCORE: WILLIE NELSON 5 ~ ELTON JOHN 4

(2) Led Zepplin v (15) The Ranonteurs. A sweep. Good for Jack White though, he's got to get some rest so he can try and carry the White Stripes to the Final Four.
FINAL SCORE: LED ZEPPLIN 9 ~ RACONTEURS 0

So when Liverpool starts up again, we're looking at:
(1) The Beatles v (8) Wolffe Tones. This one's going to hurt me. A lot. So cruel.
(4) Johnny Cash v (12) Sublime. Can Cinderella knock off another icon?
(3) Pearl Jam v (6) Rolling Stones. Stones have impressive stats. Beware the entire collection.
(2) Led Zepplin v (10) Willie Nelson. Personal Connection could be a factor.

NEXT UP: CHARLOTTESVILLE REGION. A quick preview of our next bracket:
(1) Dave Matthews Band v (16) Queen. Historical Impact is a weakness for this 1 seed. Personal Connection isn't.
(8) Elvis Presley v. (9) The Band. Honestly have no idea how this plays out.
(4) U2 v (13) Poison. A very strong 13
(5) Billy Joel v (12) Rage Against the Machine. This gives me a chuckle
(3) Pink Floyd v (14) Arctic Monkeys. British Civil War
(6) Phish v (11) Public Enemy. Another unintentionally funny matchup 
(7) Flogging Molly v (10) Jay Z. Ditto
(2) The Doors v (15) Dropkick Murphys. Jim and Co have a tough road.