March Sadness 90s Edition

This is the proudest moment in my Pitt alumni career; goo goo dolls are gonna win it all @marchxness.bsky.social

well played to you both!

@camelliagrass.bsky.social wrote a gorgeous essay on an artist I didn't know much about before, and as a person not super comfortable with competition I am bummed we can't both advance. That said, I'm pretty sure @awolfson.bsky.social's King of Carrot Flowers is gonna flatten me in Round 2.

March Sadness 90s Edition A yearly March Madness-style tournament of essays about songs we love (and occasionally loathe)

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION DAY 8 FINAL SCORES

Soul Asylum 112, Patty Loveless 100
Blink-182 107, Nick Cave 104
GnR 139, Kershaw 72
Mariah 72, Crash Test Dummies 65

And that's it for Round 1. Round 2 games just tipped off at marchxness.com

It's @emilylauracosta.bsky.social with a revelatory punch to the gut:

"And I started to see how the fear is always worse, how fear has paralyzed me throughout my life, how it kept me from understanding reality."

Also, fabulous journalistic approach when it comes to the subjects of Runaway Train.

One week ago I discovered @marchxness.bsky.social March Sadness 90s edition. I had no idea what I was missing! So many of these essays will stay with me for a long, long time if not the rest of my life. Sending so many congratulations to all the writers! ❤️

I do still think you should vote for me, but also come to my matchup for @anniezaleski.bsky.social’s moving meditation on finding the right guitar and sacrificing for your freedom.

March Sadness 90s Edition A yearly March Madness-style tournament of essays about songs we love (and occasionally loathe)

Round 2 of @marchxness.bsky.social! There’s a certain futility in asking people to vote for a country song over Lisa Loeb and Austin Grossman’s essay is great. But I hope you’ll give “Go Rest High On That Mountain” a listen and I hope this essay brings you something.

marchxness.com#/2ndround-gi...

We are back at it! A tough matchup with Sade. May y’all be reading these from the comfort of your homes instead of on a conference center floor!

No rest for the dismal! Round 2 games are tipped off! We have Celine vs REM, Gill vs Loeb, Belle vs Hersh, and Sade vs No Doubt on today's slate. Read, listen, vote by 9am AZ time 3/12 at marchxness.com (and get in your votes on today's games in the next 83')

Where are my #Canadians at? We’ve got about 2 hours to pull a victory for Crash Test Dummies in the @marchxness.bsky.social competition.

3/10, 1st Round: (2) Soul Asylum vs (15) Patty Loveless — March Sadness 90s Edition

Why oh why, @marchxness.bsky.social committee, must this be a 1st round matchup! One of these beautiful essays by @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social & @emilylauracosta.bsky.social will undeservedly bow out of the tournament this morning. Score is close, SO READ & VOTE NOW!
marchxness.com/1stround-sou...

had multiple AWP convos with people about how @emilylauracosta.bsky.social is just one of the best doing it rn, and here's another example. heavy, sad, hard piece that is also its own kind of joy to read because she's so damn good.

So close. If you were ever gonna vote for me now is the time, little under 2.5 hours to go. Only you can make me a Cinderella story…

March Sadness 90s Edition A yearly March Madness-style tournament of essays about songs we love (and occasionally loathe)

Today's games are close! Your vote could do it

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION DAY 8 SCORES, 150’ to play

Soul Asylum 93, Patty Loveless 78
Blink-182 99, Nick Cave 81
GnR 127, Kershaw 66
Mariah 62, Crash Test Dummies 53

Last day of the first round games finishes up at 9am AZ time 3/11 at marchxness.com

heart emojis

I may have outsmarted myself in @marchxness.bsky.social by writing possibly the least sad essay in the competition. Eg: turns out there was actually no goth girl with a heroin problem after all! The music you (I) like is good actually! I finally get to record music with friends! Etc

I can’t escape @camelliagrass.bsky.social’s vulnerability here…

But I feel within me the urge to take one last look. At everything. At the man himself. I don’t know if it’s an urge that can even be satisfied. … Maybe any attempt at looking at him is already, only and finally, a reflection.

Great @marchxness.bsky.social stuff here: @erinkeane.bsky.social on toxic masculine subjectivity—a reminder that bands' legacies shouldn't just price in their shitty conduct—& @camelliagrass.bsky.social on the material artifacts & financial implications of heartbreak. Don't miss 'em.

While country music isn't faring great in this year's @marchxness.bsky.social, @camelliagrass.bsky.social's essay reminded me that these songwriters are often v. good on concrete objects & imagery, q.v. @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social's analysis of the unsparing 3rd-person POV in "You Don't Even."

Nice pairing here by the @marchxness.bsky.social Selection Committee! Both @emryal91.bsky.social's & @lateration.bsky.social's essays are tricky, lateral, & moving in surprising ways. Both damn good & worth your time. I'm leaning Cave!

they are quite particular

It seems that I remain allergic to Crash Test Dummies, but I dig Erin M's @marchxness.bsky.social essay on "Superman" & grief for decency. @erinlangner.bsky.social's look back at Mariah Carey & the sad history of "Without You"—which I didn't know; yikes—is also quite good. Get those votes in!

noice

I didn’t have time today, what with day job, philosophy class, and moving prep… BUT, I got my votes in before the buzzer! <yawn> amazing round one, everyone. So much sublime sadness and vulnerability in so many of the essays.

Thin line between sad and depressing. Oof. 💔

Kathleen is an all-timer and it is a pleasure to have her playing on our courts once again this year!

I just finished reading these 64 @marchxness.bsky.social essays, too, but @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social quoted from and shared each one. As someone who took part in her Poems While You Wait at Columbia, MO's Unbound Festival in 2018 (I don't expect her to remember!), it's an honor to be read by her.

lol

"Next year the tournament theme could be March Chadness, and it's all songs that make you want to punch drywall" — Drew, giving notes, cc @marchxness.bsky.social