The tournament so far: Introduction | Local Qualifier | Regional Qualifier | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6

Back in the late 1990s, I’d heard a rumor about an abandoned farm house deep in the wooded area just down the hill from the legendary Belltower House, another abandoned farmhouse southeast of Auburn. The Belltower’s legend came from its numerous late night ghost stories, surely fueled by excessive teenage consumption of alcohol, but also its architectural magnificence. An old book I found at the State Historical Society identified the Belltower House as one of the finest examples of neo-gothic architecture in the midwest, and that was in the 1950’s. By the 1990’s, the house’s arched windows, sliverishly acute peaks, spiral staircase and lookout tower were that much more amazing, especially considering the condition in which the house stood long after it had been abandoned.

But everyone knew about the Belltower House. It sat maybe 30 feet from the road in plain view. And as spooky as it was, I quickly had my favorite Belltower ghost story not for what it said about the house, but what it said about the surroundings.

Classmates and locals would tell the story of the ghost of a woman who would walk up and down the hill from the Belltower House to the house at the bottom of the hill. I’d ask some variation of “What house at the bottom of the hill?” Nobody really knew or cared, because the important part of the story was the ghost lady. Nobody I knew of really went down the hill, because all that was down there was a thick wooded area and some rickety old bridges.
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First thing — the show last night was a blast. Thanks to everyone who came out. I got to see a lot of friends and meet a lot of people — including some folks who had been following this work for years, which was very flattering. If you didn’t have a chance to make it, the cartoons and other work are still there through April 17. There are about two dozen original cartoons from the Daily Nebraskan, Journal Star and Omaha Reader, a few dozen prints of cartoons from over the years, some comic books of my two 24 Hour Comics, some pages from the Poe story I did last year, and finished versions of six of my favorite rejects.

Secondly — there’s been a snag in the Lent 2010 Fast Food Fish Tournament Last Supper! “Who won?” was probably the most commonly asked question last night. My plan was to eat Hardee’s at lunch yesterday and Runza at dinner, but there was so much to get done before the show last night that I didn’t have time to eat dinner at all. So the final round is hanging in limbo until I can get to Runza, which won’t be until Monday as I am out of Runza’s jurisdiction due to Easter family travels.

I thought it would be funny to just say “Oh hey, I couldn’t get to Runza on Good Friday, so the tournament is canceled.” But that would probably be kind of a letdown. So I’m going to make it happen.

Although while typing this, it just occurred to me that Runza’s fish sandwich might be a Lent-only special, in which case it might be gone by Monday. Looks like it’s going to be a race against the clock to get back into town early enough Sunday night to get to a Runza before closing time. I still think it would be kind of funny if this tournament of misery ended with such an anticlimactic thud, but I promise to do my best to give it a proper conclusion.

Today marks the end of the Lent 2010 Fast Food Fish Sandwich Tournament. The Hardee’s Beer Battered Fish Supreme (2-0) takes on the Runza Fish Sandwich (3-0). By this time tomorrow, there will be a champion.

In a comment earlier this week, my friend Neill asked if I was surprised by this matchup. Honestly, yes. Not only did I fully expect McDonald’s and Burger King to be facing off here at the end, Runza and Hardee’s were two of the last fast food places I’d expect to come anywhere near the final. I expected to be grossed out by both sandwiches just based on recent experiences at their respective homes. But both sandwiches have done a great job of doing the traditional things well while also adding their own unique twists, and I can honestly say, if I’m still Catholic by this time next year, I’ll be eating both.

The sequence will keep things interesting. Because my art show is in Lincoln tonight, and Hardee’s doesn’t have any locations there anymore, Hardee’s gets the lunch slot, and Runza will be at dinner. As I’ve mentioned before, the lunch slot has appeared to be a huge advantage, almost always guaranteeing victory. Almost — the Runza fish sandwich has been the only one throughout the entire tournament to break that pattern.

The first heat is only an hour away.

The tournament so far: Introduction | Local Qualifier | Regional Qualifier | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5

We’re so close. This was the conclusion to the semifinals, defining the matchup for the Last Supper. But first thing’s first!

Hardee’s Beer Battered Fish Supreme
Once again, Hardee’s impressed me with the wheat bun and big lettuce leaves. I said it before and I’ll say it again, this sandwich just looks and tastes homemade, and I say that as a good thing even for someone who prefers fast food sandwiches over homemade sandwiches.

There’s not much more to say that I didn’t say last time, other than the fact that the fillet was much better this time. Hardee’s had previously been in the “heavily fried to the point of hard crusty fillet” category, which I later concluded was responsible for tastiness but also post-lunch gutrotting sensations. This particular outing found that the fillet had a similarly hard exterior — which helped maintain fillet stability — without that “overly fried” effect. So somehow, Hardee’s managed to preserve the taste and structural benefits of the hard exterior without the negatives.

About 2/3 of the way through this sandwich, I was thinking “The structural integrity of this sandwich sure is holding up well,” recalling how the fillet slid out from between the bun halves last time I was there. Immediately, the fillet slid out from between the bun halves.

Structural integrity is important to me, but there are two main ways in which a sandwich can fall apart — one is to crumble in to several pieces, and the other is to have the fillet slide out. If I had to choose a way for my sandwich to disassemble, I’d choose the latter. So this problem, while somewhat annoying, could be worse. It’s pretty easy to put this thing back together.
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The tournament so far: Introduction | Local Qualifier | Regional Qualifier | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4

My apologies for the tardiness of this update. There’s actually a stupidly simple explanation — I keep my notebook in the chest pocket of my winter jacket, the weather has been nice, and so all these times when I think about writing this, I find myself somewhere without my notes.

Before I get into this round too much, I want to talk about a pattern I noticed. Consistently, throughout every round of this tournament, the sandwich I have eaten at lunch has defeated the sandwich I’ve eaten at dinner (with the sort-of-exception of the controversial Round 1, when I ate both sandwiches at lunch, in which case the sandwich I ate first defeated the sandwich I ate second). Bronco’s beat Don & Millie’s; Runza beat Culver’s; Bronco’s beat Burger King; Runza beat Wendy’s; Hardee’s beat McDonald’s; Arby’s beat Long John Silver’s. All of the winners were eaten first.

I’ve come up with some theories as to why this might be.
1. By the second sandwich, I’m sick of fish, and I end up taking it out on whichever sandwich I ate last.
2. All of these fish sandwiches are bad, but I really only know that for a fact based on the sandwich I’m eating at the time. The sandwich from several hours ago has had a chance to sweeten in my memories.
3. I have my subconscious favorites, and since I am more excited about eating those, I go at them first.
4. Total coincidence.
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