No Cinderella has emerged at the ball as the first round of the States and Territories Flag Tournament is now in the history books.
North
In the North Divison, especially heavy in seal-on-blue flags, any kind of
distinctiveness tended to win the day. Third-seed
Indiana led the charge, crushing hapless
North Dakota by a score of 36-3, while fifth-seed
Iowa made similarly short work of
Wisconsin, 25-3. Putting a seal on a white background helped a little, but not much;
Missouri steamrollered the
Illinois eagle 19-9 with the help of a vocal pro-bear contingent.
The closest thing to an upset in the North was delivered by tenth-seed
Montana, which delivered a stinging 22-6 victory over
South Dakota. The flag of the seventh-seed "Mount Rushmore State" was widely panned for what voters saw as an inappropriately promotional slogan incorporated in its design. Montana will go on to face the controversially shaped number two seed,
Ohio, in the second round.
Elsewhere in the North, sixth-seed
Nebraska easily defeated
Minnesota 18-8, and eighth-seed
Michigan breezed by
Kansas 18-9 on the strength of its rampant ungulates. Michigan's deer are expected to struggle next week, however, against the buffalo of first-seeded regional powerhouse
Wyoming.
West
The West Division is home to many flags considered among the strongest in the tournament, so lopsided scores run up by the favorites were not unexpected in the first round of this bracket. The ninth-seed
Northern Marianas managed to surprise eigth-seed
Nevada 16-10, however, winning what is expected to be a merely honorary chance to take on much-feared
Alaska, the West's top seed, in the second round.
Neither third-seed
Arizona nor fourth-seed
Hawaii faced serious competition in their openers, with the Copper State blasting
American Samoa 27-4 and the Aloha State pasting
Utah 26-3. American Samoa's sense of defeat was likely tempered, however, with multiple complaints that it had been been put at an unreasonable disadvantage with its uneviable 14th seed.
Also in the West, the green field of
Washington's flag helped pull the fifth-seed Evergreen State over
Idaho, 19-6; sixth-seed
Colorado took care of business over
Guam, 18-10; and seventh-seed
California decisively trounced the uniquely two-faced
Oregon banner, 21-6. California, another state helped by pro-bear sentiment, will hope to retain that momentum when it takes on legendary second-seed
New Mexico in next week's showdown.
Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky: Hats off! The flag is passing by." -- Henry Holcomb Bennett
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