A couple of weeks ago, the writers over at Bill Simmons’ Grantland posted a teaser to their Facebook page in regards to a tournament of french fry varieties.
I have to be honest, as I was rather let down when they didn’t follow through with it. Truthfully, they were already quite busy running a tournament of the most hated college basketball players and running a daily video stream of commentary for the actual tournament games.
Because they weren’t able to get around to it, I’ve decided to run this tournament myself through my own Facebook page. I’ll be running this through the next two weeks, in hopes of having a true winner at about the same time we have an NCAA championship team.
So go ahead and click over through the following links on my Facebook page to cast your Play In round votes:
There was much debate about the seedings, and don’t even get me started on the reasoning to include tots in this whole thing. In the end, here’s my justification:
- Shoestrings get the third seed because they’re my personal favorite. I am allowed to show some bias.
- Thick cuts get put into their own play in because they’re quite similar and overall don’t seem to have quite the popularity of other styles.
- Special types (i.e. garlic and truffle) are in their own play in because they’re not always widely available and they are quite unique.
- Tater tots get their own play in because they are not truly fries (the original premise of this tournament) but they have become increasingly widely available at restaurants as an alternative option.
- Other specialties, such as chili cheese fries / animal fries / carne asada fries, are not included as they go well beyond what constitutes a ‘side order’.
- No, tater skins don’t count. Partially due to them having so many toppings, and partially because GFY.
Do you think I royally screwed this up? Feel free to let me know!
Either way, cast your votes, and may the best spud win.
For more, debate and discuss over on Facebook: