This week, the Curbed Cup 2013's first round was a rollicking affair of upsets, nail-biting close calls and outright maulings. Before we recap the festivities, let's address one thing regarding competitors and tournament seeding: We opened the floor to nominations in early December, and the bracket was determined by reader votes for specific neighborhoods (one nomination per person). So please save those poison-tipped emails about "elitism" and whatnot. The criteria for "Neighborhood of the Year" are undefined and amorphous — but hopefully voting involves pride in the whacky quilt of neighborhoods that is Atlanta and results in a little spotlight for your community here. We featured two matchups per day this week, and winners will advance for a chance to duke it out as 2013's Final Four.
First and foremost, let's address the seismic first-round upset: Scrappy little (13) Cabbagetown unseated (4) Decatur, which is more populous and never short on pride. The win comes during a week when C-Town is rallying around a local business owner to help keep his doors open through Christmas and beyond. Hats off to that.
The most lopsided defeat of the week goes to 2011 Curbed Cup champion (2) Inman Park, which took 83.8 percent of votes in a contest with newcomer (15) Collier Hills. IP is a perennially strong player in this tournament of enormous importance and huge consequences.
On the nail-biting front, (3) Midtown squeezed past underdog (14) Edgewood, and (8) Candler Park triumphed in a tough contest with sister 'hood (9) Virginia-Highland.
Elsewhere, (11) Westside blew out newcomer (13) Brookhaven, capturing 82.6 percent of votes, and (12) Grant Park edged its higher-seeded neighbor, (5) Ormewood Park, to advance.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the tournament's early dark horse, (10) Kirkwood, pummeled (7) Poncey-Highland, capturing nearly 75 percent of 603 votes. Chalk this up as a down year for Poncey, which reached the semi-finals in 2012.
Put your chest-beating pride on hiatus for now. Round Two begins Monday.
· All Curbed Cup 2013 coverage and discussion [Curbed Atlanta]
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