AIG vs. Comcast in the Championship.

@reuvenb: I agree. AIG will win though since comcast only screws its customers and AIG screwed all of the taxpayers.

Only half of my picks made it in, but all of the ones who made it are fully deserving. Wal-Mart vs. AIG will be a toughie.

@reuvenb: I think you've nailed it. I would be willing to put money on that.

@reuvenb: +1!

There's an unfathomable amount of fail in that Elite 8. I think the next round of voting will be very interesting.

Next round, AIG/Citibank & GM/Chrysler

Then AIG/GM with AIG winning!

@reuvenb: Really?

Comcast over GM? I know that Comcast has crappy business practices, but talk about a company managing themselves into the ground by being oblivious to change? GM's mis-management should earn them a berth in the final.

But, AIG FTW

Wow - I did not see GM & Chrysler making it to this round - can't see either of them moving on. Those companies have been poorly managed, but nowhere near "the worst company in America"

AIG / Tickmaster & Comcast & BoA

Then AIG vs Comcast

then... I would want Comcast to win, but AIG probable will.

My money, had my government not given it all to AIG already, would be on AIG for the win. As much as Comcrap is full of suck, AIG is THE suck.

I expected Peanut Corp to win, not to fail as early as round 2. I guess my company picks are only marginally better than my sports picks...

Anyway, I can see a AIG - Chrysler final, with AIG taking the crown.

Comcast vs AIG huh . .

@reuvenb: x2.

@reuvenb: I think it will be AIG vs BofA in the championship

Personally, I would like to see Ticketmaster in the finals. At least with AIG, we have a choice of not giving them business and buying an identical product from someone else. With Ticketmaster...they pretty much own all the seats for many events, in a sort of a monopoly. Screw them....I want Ticketmaster in the finals!!

This bracket really should have been devised differently. All of the banks should have been in the same bracket, all the media/tech companies in another, etc. A match up like AIG/Peanut Corp really shouldn't have been possible until the final four.

@pecan 3.14159265: Eh :P honestly I don't find Wal-Mart that evil. Their execs aren't (or at least weren't) insanely overcompensated, they try to keep their prices low, they don't flood the world with advertising and they give back to the community.

True, their employees are underpaid... but they are almost universally really, really bad, they stock too much foreign merchandise, but its cheap thats the trade off, they like to check receipts (GOD NO!!) and they run other businesses out of business.. but what business doesn't? Just not that evil to me.

BoA, FTW!

Actually, they probably won't, but I have a personal grudge.

Peanut Corp KILLED PEOPLE through malicious greed. Doesn't that make you win by default?

Other than Walmart beating out Best Buy, I am locked! I wouldn't have predicted Best Buy getting the pass this year given the complaints, but then again, never underestimate the hatred of the Walmart.

AIG v BOA in the final...a match made in heaven.

@Radi0logy: Well, they keep their prices low by pressuring the manufacturers to reduce their costs, which leads to pressures to reduce payroll, and squeeze more productivity, and do "more with less."

@Mike Lisi: There's an unfathomable amount of fail in that Elite 8. No kidding. I'd like an "all of the above" option for the final rounds.

@AraCBR: I would like to see Ticketmaster in the finals also.

Most of the other companies - if you don't like them, don't deal with them.

With Tickmaster - because of their monopoly, you HAVE to deal with them when getting many event tickets.

An amazing turnaround season for AIG - from worst to first!! Or... hmmm well how to say it.. from not the worst to the worst?.. or.. um.. an also-ran to best worst? Or.. huh.

@pecan 3.14159265: "more with less"...like more salmonella with less cleaning of nut processing plants?

@pecan 3.14159265: I don't disagree, necessarily, but really how is it different from any other business. Every business wants to keep costs as low as possible. Its why baseball teams only paid players $10k a year before free-agency, its why cd companies charge $15 for a $0.15 cd, and its why airlines squeeze in as many seats onto a plane as godly possible without concern for comfort.

Its business. I can see a vague way to blame them for abusing their market position to achieve those lower costs, but I guarantee the owners of those companies that wal-mart is pressuring are make boatloads of cash anyways, blame them for not sharing their profits with their employees, not wal-mart for being wise enough to know how much should be paid for a product.

I just LUV bracket-ology!

My guess...
GM vs. Chrysler in the championship.

Winner: Ford.

@Radi0logy: They're not quite evil enough. They're quasi-evil. They're semi-evil. They're the margarine of evil. They're the Diet Coke of evil - just one calorie, not quite evil enough.

I am so disappointed that the "new at&t",which is really southwestern bell, did not make it to the finals. SBC is absolutely THE WORST company ever. They lied to me to get me to switch to their phone service and then said afterwards, "whoops, sorry, you can't get DSL after all. Here's your more expensive phone bill and phone number that used to belong to a fax machine. Enjoy all the beeping phone calls!"

@David Eckert: For typical insurance purposes (ask AIG), the average dollar value on a human life is $1.5M. Given that, AIG has figuratively killed orders of magnitude more people via financial ruin + future public debt to our kids. So they win.

Or for the practice of having actuaries place a dollar value on a human life, they win again.

@Jozef: I think up against any opponent weaker (stronger?) than AIG, Peanut Corp would have advanced.

@pecan 3.14159265: as much as i don't like walmart for some of their business practices, it pains me to say that i feel as though they are one of the "good guys" this past year. they started that $4 prescription program, they held a sustainability summit in china to work on improving their (& china's factories) impact on the environment, they pledged to reduce their energy usage & increase the amount of power that comes from renewable resources, they're one of the few major retailers still hiring instead of laying people off, yadda, yadda.

i still don't like some of their practices, but i've come to realize that some new standards for "evil" have been set.

@coan_net: Three different musical groups / performers, two sporting events, and one show, at four different venues, and we've had to pay TicketMaster their stupid damn fees for every ticket to every one. *sigh*

@Radi0logy: But in Wal*mart's case they drive vendors to not only get as much as they can out of their production lines, they force them to cut corners and produce substandard products that fall apart a week later. Sure you paid less than I did for jeans, but I don't have to buy a new pair ever month or every couple of years even.

that's part one for me.

Part two: They treat their staff badly, crap benefits and I feel sorry for you if you are a minority working for wal*mart.

part three: they are an Ol' boys club, they treat and pay women on a different pay scale.

That's my arguments against Wal*mart, I hate them as a company and I think that they are a blight on this country.

That said I think I'll have to vote for AIG

Updated PDF, anyone? :D
[ajama.org]

@snowburnt:
1) force them to cut corners and produce substandard products that fall apart a week later

Well then you better go picket the dollar store, cause their junk falls apart before you walk out the door. Selling cheap stuff isn't evil. No one that buys stuff from Wal-Mart is under the impression that it will last as long as clothes from Banana Republic.

2) They treat their staff badly

Like I said above, garbage in, garbage out. I've yet to have a shining customer service experience at Wal-Mart. They earn what they make, thats for sure.

3) they treat and pay women on a different pay scale.

Would like to see more on this - are you talking about at the store level or in management/corporate? Either way I have a hard time buying it. Isolated cases? Sure. Every company has em. But universally you walk in you make 20% less than a man if you have a vagina? I seriously doubt that.

@snowburnt:

So let me get this straight. If I work at Wal-mart and I'm a minority, then you empathize with me. Out of curiosity, how would you feel about me working at Wal-mart if I'm NOT a minority?

(I just don't understand what the whole minority statement added to your point, I guess.)

My bet.... AIG takes it all.
I mean, did any of the other companies have such a sizable negative impact on the recession?

@techstar25:
GM can't face Chrysler for the championship.
I totally agree they'll face off in the finals, but not for the championship.

If they do face off , I'd bet on GM.

@Radi0logy: Classic article that cuts to the heart of what @snowburnt was talking about, I think: [www.fastcompany.com]

@BigFoot_Pete:
You've never wanted to plunge an ice-pick into your ears after hearing that "Put on a happy face" Wal-Mart commercial?

I for one despise Wal-Mart now.
A couple months back I renewed my Sams Club business membership. Then this past weekend went back for gas & stuff only to find out that the owner of the business account had canceled it, and instead of refunding me the pro-rated amount I had renewed for or transferring it to a new account (which I was willing to open at the time), the 'customer service' girl said she'd need the RECEIPT for the renewal transaction. They even acknowledged the date I'd renewed, but refused to reimburse me unless I proved I had a receipt.

@The_Legend:
AIG ftw

Does the winner get an award or a trophy?

How about giving them a pile of fake doggy-poo.

@slsashrk96: I have GM losing to AIG in the finals in my bracket. I'm ahead in our fantasy league, but Comcast making it to the finals would lose it for me.

@pecan 3.14159265: In this economy, while Walmart treats employees badly and have shady business practices, they sell stuff cheap. And at least people willing give their money to Walmart, and aren't forced to give their money to it like they were with AIG. So AIG is definitely going all the way.

@yzerman: I lean more towards AIG/Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster pissed off a lot of people with that whole ticket reselling crap, and has generally been regarded as evil for years. And I think the other bracket's going to be Comcast/Bank of America. Comcast is a perrenial bucket of suck and magnet for consumer anger, and Bank of America is another financial institution getting bailed out by the tax payers, and helped cause the current financial mess. GM and Chrysler are just badly run. And of course, AIG is going to take it all.

Too bad it can't be a real competition such as AIG vs. Ticketmaster. That would be the battle for the ages. To me, they are both the most vile companies in America.