Twitter Fight Club, Round 2

My victory pic: my opponent is the little gator with much potential

I continue to be the underdog.  Sure, I beat a Princeton grad student, @gregorydjohnsen who studies Yemen in round 1.  Just barely, as his narrow lead in the popular vote was overcome by the assessment of the judges.  I successfully

• used my hidden Oberlin ties to one judge, 
• relied on the affection of another judge (an alcoholic UAV) for poutine, 
• overcame a backlash against my series of avatars,

Given that the judges are the equivalent of the electoral college, I guess that makes me the George W. Bush of Twitter Fight Club in 2012. Hmmm.  I will take what I can get. 

In the second round, I face #4 seed: Gregg Carlstrom a.k.a. @glcarlstrom.  Oh my.  He is a reporter for Al Jazeera and has ten times as many followers as I do.  In the first round, I was able to use my proven record of tweeting in quantity to overcome my adversary.  In this second round, my opponent not only has a record of tweeting frequently but with, dare I say it, substance.  Sure, I probably have an advantage in snark, but how do I attack a legitimate reporter who focuses on an important area of the world that I have rarely studied?


My avatar, a pic of me in a Harry Potter robe and a wand ready to duel did not play well--the judges included folks hostile to Harry Potter.  Yes, such folks exist.  But are the next set of judges as flawed?  Moreover, an athlete does not change much when he or she is successful--superstition requires one to wear the same jersey or jockstrap, and this pic is my equivalent of a jockstrap.


Ok, I have settled the question of garb.  But how do I attack a Mideast journalist, besides hope that there is no news in the region on Monday?  Well, I am not one to confuse hope with a plan.  So, I will prep a few blog posts tomorrow to unleash on Monday, demonstrating my expertise where it exceeds my opponent's: academia and perhaps pop culture.  I will have to get all Katniss on him, and hope that he makes some kind of mistake.

The one advantage I have is being in position, as they say in poker: the time zone difference favors me, I think.  He will be posting before me, but then going to bed (if journalists ever sleep).  I will be able to build momentum in the afternoon and evening. 

Oh, and I have one more advantage: this really is an exercise in competitive narcissism.  Need I say more?