Selection Tuesday

Committee expands the field for RBC V

It's that time of year again. It's time for the Random Bracket Challenge, now in its fifth year.

Maybe you've had fun voting in our random bracket challenge in the past.

Maybe you voted but didn’t have fun.

Then again, you may have neither voted nor had fun.

Or you could be like my wife and think the whole thing is kind of dumb.

At any rate, we’re doing it again this year. As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the committee met at the state wrestling tournament and has since been communicating to fine-tune and seed the entries.

There is a change this year as the committee relented to peer pressure and expanded the field to 40 entries. That means there will be 10 entries in each of the four pods with a pair of matchups in each to form the Initial Eight.

Last year, the committee sold out and there were corporate sponsors for each of the pods.

This year we’re back to honoring some locals.

In this case, the pods are named after athletes from Jackson and Martin County who have competed professionally. Chances are that you know little or nothing about two of them.

First, the ones you know:

Wade Wacker was a three-sport standout at Jackson High School was a third-round draft choice of the Minnesota Twins.

Wade Wacker

Wade had a stellar career at Jackson High School and is believed to be the first athlete in state history to be selected to three Minnesota all-star games in three sports, football, basketball and baseball.

He was a third-round draft choice of the Minnesota Twins in 1987 and played for Elizabethton, but a back injury would cut his career short.

Wade did play 45 games as a 19-year-old in 1988 and produced a .331 on-base percentage with 38 hits and 19 walks. He had five doubles, two triples, three home runs and 15 runs batted in.

MCW grad Brandon Williamson has pitched in two seasons in MLB but likely will not pitch in 2025 after Tommy John surgery.

Brandon Williamson

A Martin County West graduate, Williamson played college baseball at NIACC and later TCU.

He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 36^th round in 2018 but signed with the Seattle Mariners as a second-round pick in 2019. Williamson was traded to the Cincinnati Reds organization in 2022.

In his first season in MLB in 2023, he appeared in 23 games (all starts) and had a 5-5 record. In 117 innings he allowed 63 runs (58 earned) on 111 hits, walked 39, hit two and struck out 98.

He was limited to 14.1 innings in 2024 and produced a 3.77 ERA and struck out 12 while walking five. Following Tommy John surgery, he could miss the entire 2025 season.

Now the ones you likely don’t know as much about.

Garland Buckeye, born in Heron Lake, played two sports professionally.

Garland Buckeye

Garland Buckeye was born on Oct. 16, 1897 in Heron Lake. When he was about 10, the family moved to Joliet, Ill., and he graduated from Joliet Township High School in 1916.

He made his major league debut on June 19, 1918, for the Washington Senators at the Polo Grounds against the Yankees.

On June 11, 1927, Babe Ruth hit two home runs off Garland in the same game. That gave The Bambino 20 round-trippers on his way to a then-MLB record 60 homers. After a slow start in 1928, Buckeye was released and signed with the New York Giants. He pitched one game for them, giving up six runs in 3.2 innings.

Buckeye also played pro football.

He was a center and guard from 1920-1924 and 1926. In 1920, he played four games for the Chicago Tigers of the APFA. From 1921-1924, he played for the Chicago Cardinals of the APFA and NFL. In 1926 he played for the Chicago Bulls of the first American Football League.

Milton Portmann was born in Jackson. He played pro football before the NFL was formed and was a decorated World War I hero.

Milton Portmann

Milton Portmann was born Oct. 20, 1888, in Jackson.

He was the second born of three sons of Dr. William C. Portmann and Emma Ball. His father emigrated to the United States as a 10-year-old from Herbetswil, Switzerland with his parents in 1869.

He was captain of the Western Reserve (now Case Western Reserve) football team. Portmann played professional football in the Ohio League for several teams from 1911-1916, the Shelby Blues, Akron Indians, Massillon Tigers and Cleveland Indians.

In 1917, Portmann enlisted in the United States Army. He earned the rank of Major and received a Silver Star and Purple Heart.

How RBC works

There will be a preview newsletter prior to the start of each round of voting. You don't have to subscribe to receive my newsletters to vote but for crying out loud, why wouldn't you? It remains free.

You’ll be able to find each matchup on Twitter @sportsdr44.

Before we get to the pairings, let’s review the past champions.

Random Bracket Challenge I – Mini-donuts

Random Bracket Challenge II – Chili

Random Bracket Challenge III – Minnesota Muskies

Random Bracket Challenge IV – Lynda Carter

No. 1 seeds

Here are the No. 1 seeds:

• Wade Wacker Pod: Okay Boomer

• Brandon Williamson Pod: Glinda the Good

• Garland Buckeye Pod: Wheel of Fortune

• Milton Portmann Pod: Hitting the Snooze Button

First 4 out

• Barry Manilow: Can still sing at 81. Those facelifts, though.

• Windom: The committee let Fairmont into the bracket. There was not enough goodwill remaining to let Windom in too.

• Vladimir Putin: It seems like this should be obvious. Shouldn’t have gotten that close.

• Sydney Sweeney: Almost certainly would have been a No. 1 seed and one of the favorites to win, but it was difficult to find a photo I felt comfortable posting.

The pairings

The first voting will start on Thursday night with any luck.

Here are the first-round pairings in each of the pods. Listed are the seed number and the contestant.

Again, the voting takes place on Twitter (or X) You can find me @sportsdr44.

Wade Wacker Pod

Initial Eight

• 8 Puppies vs. 9 Fairmont

• 7 Phil Collins vs. 10 Colonoscopy Prep

First round

• 1 Okay Boomer vs. Puppies-Fairmont winner

• 4 Delulu vs. 5 Cooper DeJean

• 2 Reverse Mortgages vs. Phil Collins-Colonoscopy Prep winner

• 3 Canada vs. 6 Lee Greenwood

Brandon Williamson Pod

Initial Eight

• 8 Public Speaking vs. 9 Myspace

• 7 Alabama Football vs. 10 Cleaning the Fridge

First round

• 1 Glinda the Good vs. Public Speaking-Myspace winner

• 4 Palm Sunday vs. 5 That Drunk Girl Meme

• 2 Drinking From a Hose vs. Alabama Football-Cleaning the Fridge winner

• 3 Lunchables vs. 6 Parallel Parking

Garland Buckeye Pod

Initial Eight

• 8 Poutine vs. 9 Cop Rock

• 7 MST3K vs. 10 Chester Arthur

First round

• 1 Wheel of Fortune vs. Poutine-Cop Rock winner

• 4 Slay vs. MST3K-Chester Arthur winner

• 2 The Abbreviation Thx vs. 7 Warren Commission

• 3 5 Neat Guys vs. 6 Five Guys

Milton Portmann Pod

Initial Eight

• 8 Take on Me vs. 9 Scrabble

• 7 2005 PT Cruiser vs. 10 Nose Hair

First round

• 1 Hitting the Snooze Button vs. Take on Me-Scrabble winner

• 4 Canadian Bacon vs. 5 Extra VHS Tape Labels

• 2 Sus vs. 2005 PT Cruiser-Nose Hair winner

• 3 Chappel Roan vs. 6 ELCA