The First Annual Montgomery Burns Tournament for Outstanding Achievement in the Area of Popular Culture was held on 7 August 1999 on the stunning North Campus of the University of Michigan in picturesque Ann Arbor. Twenty-one players and fourteen staff people came in to enjoy this grand experiment in the trash arena. The players were randomly divided into two groups. The random draw ended up about as random as the racial breakdown of traffic stops in Los Angeles. The groups played a round-robin within their group and came out as follows: Patty Group W-L Lost To: James Dinan 9-1 Kidder Mark Coen 8-2 Qunitong, Dinan Dwight Kidder 8-2 Coen, M. Burger Mike Burger 6-4 Coen, Dinan, Neuburger, Wright James Quintong 6-4 Edwards, Kidder, Dinan, M. Burger John Edwards 5-5 Kidder, Coen, Elitzur, Dinan, M. Burger Joe Wright 5-5 Quintong, Edwards, Kidder, Coen, Dinan Haggai Elitzur 4-6 Quintong, Kidder, Coen, Dinan, M. Burger, Wright Tim Neuberger 3-7 Quintong, Edwards, Kidder, Coen, Elitzur, Dinan, Wright Mitchell Szczepanczyk 1-10 all but Robinson Duncan Robinson 0-11 all Selma Group W-L Lost To: Craig Barker 9-0 none Jay Rhee 7-2 Barker, Hovan Douglas Grote 7-2 Barker, Rhee Rebecca Golden 5-4 Barker, Grote, Rhee, J. Burger Alex Hovan 5-4 Barker, Grote, Younger, Golden Eric Younger 4-5 Barker, Grote, Rhee, Golden, Long Brian Schefke 3-6 Barker, Grote, Rhee, Hovan, Younger, Golden Joe Burger 2-7 all but Golden and Long Rob Long 2-7 all but Rosenthal and Younger Jon Rosenthal 1-8 all but J. Burger After the initial round robin, the players were then placed into either the Martin Group (places 1-4), the Milhouse Group (places 5-7) or the Ralph Group (places 8-11). Players then competed against the other players in their new group that they haven't played before: Ralph Group W-L Lost To: Haggai Elitzur 6-0 none Tim Neuburger 4-2 Elitzur, J. Burger Jon Rosenthal 3-3 Elitzur, Neuburger, Long Mitchell Szczepanczyk 3-3 Elitzur, Neuburger, Rosenthal Joe Burger 3-3 Elitzur, Rosenthal, Szczepanczyk Rob Long 2-4 all but Robinson and Rosenthal Duncan Robinson 0-6 all In the Ralph Group playoffs, Haggai Elitzur defeated both Tim Neuberger and Jon Rosenthal. The Patty Group refugees went 7-5 against the Selma Group refugees. Milhouse Group W-L Lost To: John Edwards 5-0 none James Quintong 4-1 Edwards Joe Wright 3-2 Edwards, Quintong Eric Younger 2-3 Edwards, Quintong, Wright Alex Hovan 1-4 Edwards, Quintong, Wright, Younger Brian Schefke 0-5 all In the Milhouse Group playoffs, Joe Wright defeated both James Quintong and John Edwards. The Patty Group went 9-0 against the Selma Group. Martin Group W-L Lost To: Craig Barker 7-0 none James Dinan 5-2 Kidder, Barker Mark Coen 4-3 Dinan, Barker, Rhee Dwight Kidder 4-3 Coen, M. Burger, Barker Mike Burger 3-4 Barker, Dinan, Coen, Grote Jay Rhee 3-4 Barker, Dinan, Kidder, M. Burger Douglas Grote 2-5 Barker, Rhee, Dinan, Coen, Kidder Rebecca Golden 0-7 all In the playoffs, James Dinan defeated both Mark Coen and Craig Barker to become The First Annual Montgomery Burns Tournament for Outstanding Achievement in the Area of Popular Culture Champion. For his efforts, he won a 15-year-old laser disc player. The Patty Group went 10-6 against the Selma Group. Overall, the Patty Group went 26-11 against the Selma Group in cross-play. The All-Star game featured a new concept as the players in the championship game picked their teams. If a player negged, they were out of the game. The deviser of the game, Mike Burger, negged on the first question. Stupid poetic justice. By the time the game was done, 6 more players had taken the place of the 8 original players. Afterwards, theme rounds were held and were enjoyed by all. Michelle Szczepanczyk, driving in just for the Simpsons Video Round, defeated Craig Barker in a one-on-one battle royale 225-220 for the Simpsons crown. Other highlights included two music rounds and a history of quiz bowl. I would like to thank all of the volunteers who gave up their Saturday to come read, read and read -- Anne Mitchell, Mike Davidson, Joe Janes, Kevin Olmstead, Julie Stahlhut, E. Tom Chuck, Brian Saxton, Chris Golden, Noel Erinjeri, Steve Traicoff, Dan Schoenberg, Paul Litvak and Ray Robb. Extra special thanks to Anne, Mike, Joe and Paul who wrote the playoff rounds. Excellent questions! Hopefully, we'll see you next year at the Second Annual Montgomery Burns Tournament for Outstanding Achievement in the Area of Popular Culture Tournament.