GIF Tournament II: ‘McKayla Maroney Nails It’ Vs. ‘SportsCenter Is Next’

GIF TOURNAMENT II -- FIRST ROUND
MORTIFIED MICHIGAN PUNTER REGION

(1) McKAYLA MARONEY vs.
(16) SPORTSCENTER IS NEXT

(1) Hello. I am McKAYLA MARONEY NAILS IT.

Automatic bid. Won Week 13 of THIS WEEK IN GIFs with 521 total votes.

I absolutely destroyed that week, too. I received the second-most votes in the 14-week history of THIS WEEK IN GIFs.

And you know, this isn’t even about me, the GIF. It’s about the moment. A GIF usually enhances or augments the effect of a given moment, but this time, it just stands back and lets the moment speak for itself. That a human being is capable of doing this is almost a miracle. Many of us only see this spectacle once every four years -- just long enough to forget it can happen.

So many of the things surrounding the Olympics are bullshit -- every bit as meaningless as the Games themselves are meaningful. These London games were tremendous, and right now, four years seems like a really, really long time to wait.

(16) Hey, y’all. I’m SPORTSCENTER IS NEXT.

Special nomination. Finished sixth in Week 9 of THIS WEEK IN GIFs with 74 votes.

Yes, yes, I know I’m a sixth-place GIF. Jon just couldn’t bear to see me buried, so he’s given me one last moment in the Sun before you forget about me forever.

There’s so much value in seeing a mascot in candid situations, such as a fight. Because no matter what’s going on around him, he has the same goofy grin sewn all over his face. That’s part of what made RAPTORS MASCOT so special, for example. Googly-eyed delight in the face of despair.

VOTE!