It’s a Good Friday indeed. 64 articles entered our Cartilage Free Captain Best Article Bracket, but only one emerged, and it’s most definitely not the one anyone predicted.

The votes are cast and tallied. You have spoken. The champion of the Best Article Bracket and the totally scientific best article in Carty Free history is...

In Appreciation of Erik Lamela, Tottenham’s Do-Everything Attacker (Sean Cahill)

It was a close thing! Just like in the Final Four, this one came right down to the wire, and Sean’s retrospective on the Tottenham Hotspur career of Erik Lamela came down to a margin of just 3 votes out of 233 cast. It’s clearly the best thing to ever appear on this website. That’s just math.

In full honesty, I couldn’t be happier for Sean — his love letter to Erik Lamela has resonated with readers in a way that I don’t think even he expected. Along the way it knocked off some articles that we thought were locked-down title contenders. But what do we know — we just write the damn blog, we don’t consume it the way y’all do, and this was a really interesting view into what readers appreciate and value at this point in time.

The best part is that Erik Lamela has finally won something! Lift that trophy and sharpen your elbows, Erik. You and Sean have earned it.

We hope you enjoyed this easy and reheated coronavirus-inspired #content and a look back in time. There’s more on the way as we eagerly await the return of actual football.

[Luther Vandross takes the mic]

The blog is shit...
But heeeeere we are
We write a lot of crap
Akin to the Daily Star
And all these posts
No one reads
You voted for the best
And now it seeeeeeeems

One Shining Moment, it’s all on the line
One Shining Moment, there frozen in time

And when it’s done
Win or lose
You know deep in your heart
That this blog’s Tier 2.......

One shining moment...........