The Ultimate Philly Thing: Billy Penn’s bracket reaches the Elite 8

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Round 2 of voting has ended. Winners are listed below. 

Welcome to Round 3 of Billy Penn‘s pseudoscientific, made-up, but otherwise utterly reliable bracket-tournament-style contest crowning The Most Philly Thing Ever. We picked the most Philly things we could think of in four categories: the most Philly person, the most Philly food and drink, the most Philly thing from the outside and the most Philly pastime. You voted in Round 1 and in Round 2— now the stakes are higher, and the competition is stiffer.

We picked two competitors in each sub-category, and then seeded them. We’re now down to just two things left in each category. Welcome to the Elite 8, people. (Disagree with our seeding and selections? Send your angry tweets to @billy_penn and we may or may not argue back.)

As the Democratic union machine says, vote early and vote often.

Round 3: Most Philly person

Best Founding Father: Ben Franklin and William (Billy) Penn

Chef’s Empire: Jose Garces and Stephen Starr

Most Hollywood: Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan

Most Political: Chris Matthews and Ed Rendell

The round 3 match-up:

It’s come down to this: The two most famous historical figures to ever come out of Philadelphia. Ben Franklin’s a founding father of our nation, but Billy Penn’s statue might be the face of Philly. And we’re, ahem, a bit biased on this one.

WINNER: Ben Franklin

Most Philly food or drink

The competitors: Most Philly Snack: TaskyKake and Soft Pretzel Most Philly Sugary Sweet: Peanut Chews and Water Ice Most Philly Beer: Yards Brawler and Kenzinger Sammich-off: Cheesesteak and Roast Pork The round 3 match-up:

We prob could have guessed it would come down to these two. TastyKake put up a good fight, but there’s nothing more Philly than a Philly Cheesesteak and a Philly pretzel. This is a toughie.

WINNER: Cheesesteak

Most Philly thing from the outside

The competitors:

-Adelphia pun: Filthadelphia and Killadelphia

Most Philly cliche (that’s really true): Rocky’s town and Awful sports fans

Most musical representation: “Summertime” and Motown Philly

Most Philly establishment: Wawa and Reading Terminal Market

The round 3 match-up: 

Reading Terminal Market came from behind to pull out a win in the last round, so now the question is: What’s more Philly? A hoagie and a coffee? Or a roast pork sandwich and a trip to the market?

WINNER: Reading Terminal Market

Most Philly pastime or activity

The competitors:

Best Baseball Team: Taney Dragons and Philadelphia Phillies

Best Basketball Team: Temple U. and Philadelphia 76ers

Best Drunken Party: Mummer’s Parade and Fat Tuesday on South Street

Best Parking Practice: Center lane parking and Saving parking spots

The round 3 match-up:

Good luck choosing between these two Philly institutions. The city thrives behind its beloved baseball team, but the Mummer’s Parade is the one annual party that no one outside the city *really* understands.

WINNER: Mummer’s Parade