jesskilgannon:

No surprises here - Coheed has made it into MTV’s Musical March Madness bracket for the third year in a row. MMM began in 2010, when some bored editor decided to spoof on the actual March Madness and create a battle of the bands. For those who missed it: in the original 2010 polls Coheed was a bottom-seeded band thrown in there only because they had an album coming out, not because MTV liked them or expected them to win. However, the Coheed fan community latched on to the poll with our characteristic determination. We toppled #5 seed My Chemical Romance to bring our Coheed, the underdogs, to an amazing victory and they became the first ever MMM champs. No denying, it was awesome and a great fan moment.

The tourney was a good time, full of fun alliances and adolescent rivalries (although the end got pretty serious). MTV saw the level of response and decided to make it an internet version of a reality show. Since then, the yearly MMM tourney has become something else that I’ve come to dread. Here’s why:

1. It has nothing to do with the bands anymore. MTV purposely pits loyal fanbases against each other so they can sit back and chuckle while we fight like drunk hockey players. It’s not a musical battle of the bands, it’s a useless skirmish between fan armies that creates nothing positive. I had no issue with Disturbed or their fans, until last year. On Cobalt we still get butthurt Phish fans spamming the threads with “Phish Always Wins!” over a two-year-old internet poll that gave no actual reward. Seriously.

2. MTV includes Coheed because they know it will create drama. We all know MTV doesn’t like us. I think they throw us in there in hopes of seeing us lose and then freak out over it. MTV knows that a legion of other fanbases will band together to rally against Coheed, as revenge for defeats in previous years. And after their “Cheat to Win” comment last week, it’s obvious that they’re trying to incite both sides. Classy. But these are the people who brought us Jersey Shore, so… moving on.

3. Competition brings out the worst in us. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. Our devotion can make us extremely cutthroat by nature, but that is no excuse to act like angry children. I had never seen such nastiness, pettiness, and below-the-belt fighting from Coheed fans as I saw last year, when we took down Avenged Sevenfold but lost to Disturbed. I lost respect for many people during those days.

Above all, it’s honestly kind of stupid. Musical March Madness is an internet poll that only measures whose fanbase is the craziest. It has no prize or reward that benefits anyone other than MTV, the most unsavory bunch of scumbags in this whole debacle. From a social media point of view, it’s repetitive and exhausting. Coheed themselves know better than anyone how dedicated we are, and we have trust in our solidarity as a fan community. We have nothing to prove.

All that being said, though… it’s my responsibility to participate, and participate I shall. 2012 will be one of the most crucial times in the band’s career, and I’m not going to miss an opportunity to help rally my fellow fans. All I’m asking is that we keep it clean and in perspective, veterans and newcomers alike, because it’d be awesome to win this for our boys again. So let’s give it a go! Voting has already started - we’re up against the Shins in the first round. Do it up!