The Rockies Twitter Tournament Wants Your Support And Musical Talent

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From seemingly nowhere, the posts have returned.

After a 24 month hiatus and drama abound, videos and posts have popped up from a Twitter Account claiming that the Rockies Twitter Tournament has been restored with a new brain trust behind the account and a returned outlook towards it’s purpose as a fun community engagement tool.

The first 3 iterations of the tournament ran exclusively off of Bryan Kilpatrick’s account but the one time Purple Row editor has now seemingly pushed off the responsibilities to a mysterious group that, until last night, had refused to reveal their identity.

Last night, that all changed. Bryan and his Utah compatriot Tyler Q revealed they were the minds and the voices behind these videos and will be managing the tournament, set to begin next week.

Football Friday caught up with Bryan Kilpatrick and the World Famous Tyler Q, they spoke to us over email from what they could not deny was their Blogging Station in their mom’s basement, to find out about the tournament, it’s new life, and what it means for Rockies Twitter.

FF: Football Friday understands the Rockies Twitter Tourney has returned with a new brain trust behind it, what led you to bringing this tournament back to life? Why now?  

BK: Being a Rockies fan sucks, as does being a citizen of the world as a whole. So, when Tyler Q initially approached me with a request to keep it going, my first thought was that if we were going to bring the tourney back, it actually needed to be fun for anyone who wants it to be. And, we fully believe that's what will happen. Hell, it could even bring some unity. And why just talk about that when you can be about it?

TQ: I've always loved the tournament! I love the drama, the interaction, the content! I was bummed we missed out on it last year and had been wanting to bug BK about either helping with reviving it or seeing if he'd let me take the reigns. I'm pumped we decided to keep it goin

FF: Rockies Twitter Tourney 3 was subjected to a litany of drama and intrigue. Up to and including me losing in the finals to a media conglomerate. Is Rockies Twitter Tourney 4 changing anything to avoid this drama? Or are you leaning into it from your underground selection bunker?

BK: This iteration of the Rockies Twitter Tourney will be different in that the committee will have the power to overturn Twitter poll results that we deem sketchy--or, really, results that we just don't like.

TQ: [a message has been censored for disparaging a local media conglomerate that gets very sensitive about this sort of thing] Oh I wanna lean into it, I think that what makes it great, except the cheating. Please don't fucking cheat

FF: Why the secretive masks? Are you worried for your safety after the near riots just 2 years ago?

BK: I have attracted the attention of extremist Mormon incels, so I fear for my safety every day. I can't speak for everyone else.

TQ: I can tell you this, we don't do bits here at #RockiesTwitterTourney4. We'd never do something corny like that. Protecting our identities is crucial in keeping with the sanctity of the new format 

FF: Can you give us any insight into the seeding and selection process?  

BK: I will provide this one nugget: Regions were set up in a manner in which the round(s) that can be won with simple Twitter poll votes won't be as subject to a simple popularity contest as previous tournaments.

TQ: Well, I definitely bought one of those bingo hall spinning cage raffle things. That's all I'll say about that 

FF: Rockies Twitter has undergone some "factioning" in recent years as the community has grown. No longer just one group, can we expect that this will make for closer matchups? Will the brackets reflect this cliqueing? 

BK: Only one bracket is truly a clique, and it's easily the worst one within Rockies Twitter! Other than that, we hope to have close matchups as a result of our randomized seeding process combined with the regions strategy outlined above.

TQ: Actually, I don't think it will. I think we're picking the diehards of Good Rockies Twitter cuz we know those are the guys and gals who are gonna Go In and participate

FF: Will there be more media covering the tourney this time than previous iterations? 

BK: I hope there will be no media covering the tourney! I do hope to elicit a few temper tantrums from media members who do not wish to be involved but will be selected anyway.

TQ: I hope so! I'm told a certain baseball team is actually excited to participate, so hoping that'll lead to some attention 

FF: Has there been any talk of "fake accounts" or "back room deals for votes"? Has the committee formed a way to fight back against these?

BK: We are aware of Dappy accounts and will be prosecuting them to the fullest.

TQ: Like I said, don't fucking cheat. If you try to cheat, the panel of judges will drop the hammer on that ass

FF: Version 3 saw some musical numbers, do you think the twitter world can expect some new engaging ways to acquire votes? Should posters plan to step their game up?

BK: Without divulging too much, absolutely. Posters must step up their game, and they'll be encouraged to do so. In fact, just because an account isn't selected to the Field of 68 in the beginning does not mean it won't later be added. Participation is a must. Quality of content will win the day. We feel good about what we've laid out.

TQ: Oh 10000000000% This year is going to have certain rounds based totally around content. Shane's "taco's" song was the highlight of RTT3 and I wish more people put the time and effort into shit like that. I'm actually way excited to see what some people can come up with 

Despite early excitement, Tyler and Bryan aren’t sure if it will return, it all depends on how fun and unifying this experience is in 2021. Maybe after a year off, a pandemic survived, and a sleepier president in the White House we can reflect on what we have as a community rather than what we don’t have. The tournament announces it’s selections this weekend, with high intrigue around how they will seed and who will make the cut.

Get those mandolins ready, folks. It’s going to take more than just showing up to win this one.