Round 1 (and round 1.5) is in the books, with a few surprises.

• firstly, due to a screw-up from yours truly, Raging Bull was one of the least-liked round 1 winners; however, thanks to those quirky and likable Jamaicans from Cool Runnings, Jake LaMotta won’t be bothering us any more – which is surprising, and not; RB is decidedly a GREAT movie, but I don’t know that it’s a likable one.
• one of my personal faves, Rollerball, got absolutely trucked by A League of Their Own, losing by 60 votes. I like ALoTO well enough, and realise Rollerball can be a bit lumpy in parts, even though as a science fiction parable it has been disturbingly accurate, but holy cow.
• The Longest Yard also got blown out by Rocky, losing 59-7, tying Rollberball for fewest round 1 votes. It also means that in terms of Italian boxers, Balboa >>>> LaMotta in our eyes, though I’d like to note that neither has a song as good as Warren Zevon’s “Boom Boom Mancini” written about them.
• Most like loser was Dodgeball with 29 votes. Least liked winners were RB and Bring It On with 28 votes.
• Closest match was Raging Bull edging Eight Men Out by a single vote in our highest-quality bracket. Both are excellent, but both are gone.

Voting for this round runs through….well, let’s give everyone at least the Monday workday. If votes slow to a trickle with no close matches, the Elite Eight will be up Mon PM.