2014 March Badness AZ Edition: First Round

Quick recaps:

Lafaro over Miller:  The long experience of Lafaro held sway here.  Miller stay with him for a while in the area of loony pronouncements, but like most rookies competing in their first Big Dance, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath.  Lafaro used that brief let up to put some distance between him and Miller and never let up.

Biggs over Ugenti in a bit of an upset.  Ugenti was holding sway until Biggs did his best Scrooge impersonation during the debate on the state’s budget –

From State Sen. Steve Farley:

Kavanagh over Pearce: This was another close one until Kavanagh bought the win with $900K of taxpayer money given to private prisons.

Huppenthal over the Gilbert school board.  And it was never close.  The school board types were “just happy to be there”, and it showed.

Melvin over Kwasman.  Kwasman hung close to Melvin as long as the game was about demonizing health care reform, but the well-rounded Melvin was simply too much for the loud, energetic, and ultimately one dimensional Kwasman.

Herrod over Crandell.  Another one that wasn’t even close.

Brown over Thorpe.  The round’s biggest upset.  Apparently Thorpe’s 2013 acting out wasn’t worth as many points as the 2014 antics from newcomer Brown.

Shooter over Barton.  Barton was game, but Shooter had too many arrows in the “crazy” quiver.

Thomas over Lane.  This was a matchup where the favorite (Thomas) showed why he was the higher seed.  Lane is “conventionally” off-kilter, while there is nothing “conventional” about Thomas.  This one was over by the end of the first half; the entire 2nd half was “garbage time”, a Thomas speciality.

Burges over Seel.  The closest matchup of the round.  It was neck and neck the entire game and came down to whoever scored last would win.  That was Burges.

Orr over Townsend.  Bit of an upset here, but Orr was too two-faced for the up-and-coming Townsend.  His head fakes are the stuff of legend.  He may be destined to be “one and done” as a legislator, but he if he is, he’s going to make the most of his “one”.

DiCiccio over Tobin.  Tobin was in prime position to be “Cinderella”, but Cinderella was no competition for the Creature From The Black (Hole of a Soul) Lagoon.

Yarbrough over Dial.  Much like lobbyists (may) have suggested to Dial that he run a couple of bad bills (well, bad for average people, but good for the lobbyists), Yarbrough (may) have suggested that Dial run a couple of wind sprints before the start of their matchup.  It showed.

Murphy over Lesko.  This one was tight with Lesko making a strong run with her wide-eyed and innocent look when she came to the defense of the secretive industry lobbying group, ALEC.  However, Murphy has been using his position as a state senator to attack the already underfunded and overworked Child Protective Services (CPS) for having the audacity to investigate allegations that he abused and molested foster children in his care.  No charges were filed, but that hasn’t stopped Murphy from seeking retribution.

Though Lesko really did make a strong effort –

Pic courtesy Rawstory.com

Yee over Ward.  It was close, but Yee’s specific anti-marijuana tactics and sermonizing edged out Ward’s general anti-healthcare reform jihad.

Horne over Antenori.  Chronologically, Antenori is younger than Horne (I think), but politically, he’s over-the-hill.  He was seeded into the tournament based on past *glory*, but at this point, all he can do is bark (of course, being who he is, he does bark a *lot*, and at anybody and anything).  Horne is still in position to try to defend the voter suppression measures that come out of the legislature.