who's running this tournament, anyway?

there has been no shot from the starter's pistol,
let alone a posting of the ground-rules, or even
a clear statement as to the object of the game...

yet two competitors have already false-started.

jim has actually posted a reworking of "aesop",
but nobody has said it's part of the contest yet.

(and jim, what are those .prc files?  let's agree
to all use ".mobi" as the extension, for clarity.
oh, and jim, all your t.o.c. links open up p.g.,
which i will assume is not what you intended...
so it's a good thing, for your sake, that you had
a false start, and we'll do it over, or you would
have put yourself at a permanent disadvantage,
perhaps even losing any chance at the podium.
finally, jim, you need to say what you improved,
because we're not gonna try to "figure it out" by
comparing your version to some other version.)

the other false-starter is marcello, of course, who
has put up _something_ or other.  this is troubling
primarily because he's installed it on the p.g. site...
that would clearly be unfair, as it gives his files the
improper appearance of an "official" endorsement...
and it makes us wonder if the tournament is rigged.
plus, the fact that marcello would cheat so brazenly
right off the bat indicates that he won't hesitate later
to use any other ways to leverage his insider status to
create a differential he thinks might give him an edge.

it doesn't bother me -- i'll beat him even if he cheats
-- but i think other people might want to know if this
contest isn't being run fairly.  so i end where i started,
by asking "who's running this tournament, anyway?"

-bowerbird

p.s.  exactly like we'll experience with the super-bowl,
all of this pre-game analysis is a numbing experience.
let's do our fighting in the ring, boys, whaddya say, ok?