Desert Island Pop Culture Tournament: Day Four

The premise is easy. You are stranded on a desert island for the rest of your life and are permitted to bring just one entertainment choice along with you. Chad Campbell & Justin Rozzero, along with an assist from the PTB Nation staff, have chosen 64 essential items across eight different categories. After a random draw, these 64 items have been matched up tournament-style. You will vote to determine the one item you could never live without! Here are the categories!

Games & Activities: All materials needed to play the game or activity are included

Yearly Events: You get to watch these special televised events each year

Complete Television Series Collection: You receive a DVD set of the entire series

Complete Movie Series Collection: You receive a DVD set of the entire collection of movies, where applicable

Wrestling Pay Per View DVD: You receive a DVD copy of the full unedited wrestling DVD

Magazine Collection: You receive an ongoing subscription to the magazine

Complete Video Game Series Collection: You receive a copy of the entire series of a game title, where applicable

Music Albums: You receive a digitally mastered CD of the album

Come back each and every day to vote and share your opinions at the Place to Be Nation Facebook page!

Previous Desert Island Tournament days (polls still open):

Desert Island Pop Culture Tournament Day One

Desert Island Pop Culture Tournament Day Two

Desert Island Pop Culture Tournament Day Three

March Madness vs. Deck of Cards

Day four opens with a battle of long standing traditions as the greatest month-long event in sports squares off against possibly the greatest game piece ever created.

March Madness is a term every basketball fan can here and immediately elicit nostalgia and hysteria.  The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship first started being broadcasted on television in 1969, but the term March Madness was mainly formed in the way the tournament was shaped from 1975-1985.  During that time, the field expanded from 32 teams to 64 and the shaping of those events and the broadcast schedule implemented by CBS are still in effect today.  March Madness’ staying power has a lot to do with the community the whole event takes.  A person doesn’t have to be a college basketball expert to fill out a bracket and perhaps win the office pool.  March Madness will also create some underdog and unexpected narratives making the event essentially fall safe from not being interesting every year.

Playing cards have a long standing tradition as a form of entertainment.  Dating back to imperial China in the 9th century, a variety of games can be played by a single person in the traditional deck of cards we are accustomed to today.  Even a game like solitaire has numerous iterations and wrinkles that can be thrown in.  The deck of cards as a result is one of the most versatile entries in the desert island tournament.

Which way will vote? Will you side with the craziest month of sports or the endless hours of entertainment provided by a simple deck of 52 cards?

 

Football vs. Royal Rumble 1992

In our second battle of the day, we see a fight between a beloved piece of athletic equipment and a beloved piece of wrestling history.

Originally created way back in 1540, the football is known to millions around the world, regardless of culture or location. Inflated with air, lined in rubber and coated in leather, the revered “pigskin” can provide hours of toss and catch enjoyment. American football has become the country’s number one sport, and you don’t need to travel far to catch a glimpse of kids and adults of all ages tossing one around an open neighborhood field or street.

Coming at you live from Albany, NY on January 19, the 1992 edition of the Royal Rumble was the first to offer a true prize. And that prize was a dandy, as the winner would walk away with the vacant WWF World Title. Despite a shaky undercard, the loaded Rumble match was a who’s who of former and future world titleholders. Featuring a beautifully woven storyline throughout, with Ric Flair entering early and trying to deliver on his promise of being the “Man”, expert tour de force commentary from Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan, a wild crowd and all the top stars of the day, the 1992 Rumble match still stands as the peak example of the gimmick to this day. Flair would outlast 29 men to take home the gold, and his epic post-match promo put the cherry on top of this delicious wrestling sundae.

Would you rather kick and toss around the old pigskin? Or relive one of the greatest pro wrestling matches of all time? You make the call!

Wrestling Observer Newsletter vs. National Lampoon’s Vacation Series

The third matchup of day four is an interesting clash between pro wrestling’s most important independent publication and one of the greatest comedic movie series to ever grace video store shelves.

Launched in 1983 by Dave Meltzer, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON), has been the go-to source for wrestling (and eventually MMA) news, notes, rumors and archives for decades. With an ever growing circulation and a massive online presence, the WON still stands as the official word on the backroom dealings of pro wrestling. The newsletter is published weekly and contains oodles of information and some of the best biographical looks at wrestling’s greats that you will find this side of Chad Campbell. Even if you have never subscribed, not a week goes by that an in-the-know wrestling fan isn’t affected by Meltzer’s writing in some way.

Around the same time the WON launched in 1983, so did the Nation Lampoon’s Vacation series. The first installment saw Chevy Chase (Clark Griswold) and Beverly D’Angelo (Ellen Griswold) traipse their family across the country, headed for the beloved Wally World. Of course, many antics led to much trouble for the Griswold family along the way, but in the end, Clark ensures his family gets the full Wally experience, even if it comes courtesy of a federal crime. Two years later, the Griswolds found themselves across the pond, traveling through Europe thanks to winning the grand prize on a game show. While filled with the same zany pratfalls and seasoned with nudity, European Vacation fell short of the original. However, the franchise would rectify that loss of yardage by delivering the crown jewel of the series in 1989: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Easily the best of the series, Christmas Vacation is filled with iconic quotes, characters and scenes set across the perfect yuletide backdrop. Finally, the series came back nearly fifteen years after it first launched as Clark and Ellen led their family to Las Vegas. While not as good as the original trilogy, Vegas Vacation was a solid performance and provided some nice callbacks for fans of the franchise.

So, what will it be? Hours and hours of reading about the ongoing saga of the behind-the-curtain pro wrestling and MMA or spending your life watching the Griswolds fumble their way through vacation after vacation?

Friday Night Lights vs. Exile on Main Street

The final battle of day four is a true battle of Americana that pits dramatic TV against classic rock and roll.

Based on both a book and a movie by the same name, Friday Night Lights debuted on NBC in October 2006. Despite a shaky second season, FNL featured some of the best writing, acting and drama to appear on network TV in the modern era. Never given a chance due to poor programming by executives, FNL constantly fought the always looming cancellation threats with the poise and grace of Tami Taylor. While many may see FNL as a football show, it evolves far, far beyond that pigeonhole. It is a story of love, hate, triumph and tragedy, all told through the eyes of a small Texas town, where pigskin is King and Queen. FNL was also able to stave off the death knell of many high school based dramas: students graduating and moving on. Instead of finding ham-fisted ways to keep the kids around, the show let them leave, only to pop in sporadically when it made sense. By digging up quality young talent to step in and fill the void, FNL chugged right along through a high quality fifth season, when it was finally forced to kneel on the ball and give itself up thanks not to a lack of quality, but rather thanks to the mysterious quagmire that is the TV industry.

Despite mixed reviews early on, Exile on Main Street is widely considered to be the greatest album ever produced by the legendary Rolling Stones. Exile was an immediate commercial success, reaching #1 on the charts within weeks of its release in May 1972. Many love the album due to the blending of styles by the band, featuring standard rock & roll as well as blues, gospel and country. The album would go platinum and still ranks highly on greatest album lists around the world to this day.

Which way will you vote to get us to the halfway point of the tournament? Are you rolling with the Stones? Or do you follow Coach Taylor down that tunnel, screaming out the Panthers’ mantra: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!”