Winner: Best Article of the Week (+Canada Prize Sneak Peek)

Day 487, 08:51 • Published in Canada Canada • by Plugson

After much deliberation and necessary delay, this week’s winner of the Shameless Plug Award for Best Article (SPABA) has been found. To recap, we had a list of 10 articles on the poll, which drew some interesting debate. Somehow 3 articles tied for a winning spot with 7 votes each. Admittedly, 2 articles were running under the same ballot choice (oops).

Normally I would post the polling results, but since they were so long and terribly mangled this week, I’ll save the print space. Instead, let’s take the time to discuss how this week’s SPABA will was decided.

Perhaps you’ve all heard about the Canada Prize P.v.P. Tournament taking shape over at the OG. Coincidentally, (yes, it is all a coincidence) we already have a set of judges ready to choose eCanada’s next best writer. They were surreptitiously manipulated into choosing this week’s SPABA winner, giving them some judicial training and eCanada an introduction to the p.v.p. method. Thank you to pdiddy, Dereck Ryan, marcchelala, RoyMunson, and Thordan for the excellent and timely service. The judging criteria and scoring method were as follows:

1) Grammar/Stylistics: /5
2) Aesthetic Appeal: /5
3) Persuasiveness/Veracity/Humourous Appeal: /5
4) Creativeness/Originality: /5
5) eRep/eCanada Content and Relevance: /5
Total: /25

Just as with the Canada Prize competition, there are different rounds in which a lower ranked writer is chosen to more up against a more established one. Here is our SPABA roster:

Round 1:

“The Duncan Reforms” by the 10th/William Duncan of The Glorious 10th.
Verus
“S&E’s Economic Report” by Keneto of Maxim Magazine.

Here are the judging results:

“The Duncan Reforms”
Judge 1: 16/25
Judge 2: 20/25
Judge 3: 20.5/25
Judge 4: 20/25
Total = 76.5/100

“S&E’s Economic Report”
Judge 1: 19/25
Judge 2: 20.5/25
Judge 3: 20.5/25
Judge 4: 18/25
Total = 78/100

William Duncan’s proposal places 3rd and Keneto’s economic report moves to the next round against SensibleVoice’s article.

Round 2:

“S&E’s Economic Report” by Keneto of Maxim Magazine.
Versus
“RoyMunson: CAF are Prepared for Every Possible Scenario” by SensibleVoices of The Sensible Voice.

The judges' scores:

“S&E’s Economic Report”
Judge 1: 19/25
Judge 2: 20.5/25
Judge 3: 20.5/25
Judge 4: 18/25
Total = 78/100

“RoyMunson Interview”
Judge 1: 18.5/25
Judge 2: 21/25
Judge 3: 21/25
Judge 4: 21/25
Total = 81.5/100

The winner of this week’s SPABA is SensibleVoices’ RoyMunson interview. Keneto's article takes a respectable 2nd place. The scores, as you can see, were very close for all articles, demonstrating that the polling tie was perhaps warranted. SensibleVoices receives a spot in the Shameless Plug Hall of Fame and also 50 CAD prize money (generously provided by Banach).

To see a full rundown of the judges’ comments and exact scoring by category, please check out the forum at: http://ecanada.forumotion.com/canadian-discussion-f7/spaba-updated-best-article-march-8-14-t1340.htm

Since the scoring was so close, the Canada Prize judging criteria has been modified to allow for a wider spread of marks. Also, the format and purpose will be different for the Canada Prize articles than those of the SPABAs, so the scoring will be altered to suit the competiton. To see full details, go here: http://ecanada.forumotion.com/canadian-discussion-f7/want-to-know-who-you-are-facing-canada-prize-t1378-40.htm#23405

A reminder: The Canada Prize will begin on March 23rd. Keep your eyes open for the competitors in your local news listings. Give’em a read. Give’em a comment. Please, give’em your support for taking on the challenge.