FRIDAY, MARCH 18: FOUR PIZZA BATTLES ON THE DOCKET >>>

Pizza. Everyone eats it. Everyone has a favorite. Loyalty? No other foodstuff can inspire the rabid fandom of a true pizza devotee. The South Sound turned out in force to vote in yesterday's kickoff of the Tournament of Pizza competition. Phone trees were instigated. Neighbors were harrassed. Computer labs were invaded. Our poor little blog had to work overtime as droves voted in First Round action.

Yesterday's Results

The Cloverleaf Pizza, with its rich local history, grabbed franchise Papa Johns Pizza by the crust and flung it against the wall with 69 percent of the votes. The Cloverleaf partied hard last night in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Someone run over there and wake them with the news that they're advancing to the next round.

Ten votes. That's the margin of victory Joeseppi's Italian Ristorante had over the Ale House sports bar. Was it Joe Stortini's political connections that advanced his Joeseppi's to the next round? Maybe it was the Italian joint's massive slice of chocolate cake on the dessert menu. Whatever it was the North Tacoma Italian restaurant will need it March 25 when it faces The Cloverleaf Pizza. Families will be torn apart that day.

Tacoma's Sixth Avenue is a long-ass street. And it's loaded with pizza joints in this competition. Two of them - Delbrocco's Philly style Pizza and Mona Pizza and pasta – faced off yesterday in a brutal battle that went down to the wire. After the cheese stopped bubbling, Delbrocco's emerged victorious with 50.2 percent of the vote. Yup, we're talking one vote. Not one to moan, Mona might have anyway.

Lakewood's Pizza Casa might serve square-shaped pizza, but the tiny joint is anything but square. It's old-school cool, and tough as hell. Cerello's Pizza couldn't capitalize on it's central Tacoma location and fell hard to the Casa with only 30 percent of the votes. Could Pizza Casa's cocktail pictorial paper placemats have anything to do with the win. Delbrocco's might want to ponder that when they face the Lakewood powerhouse March in Second Round action.

Let's weed through the toppings. The following are advacing to the next round:

• The Cloverleaf Pizza
• Joeseppi's Italian Ristorante
• Delbrocco's
• Pizza Casa

Today's Competition (CLOSED)

OK. time to move on to today's pizza battles. Vote for one pizza joint per battle.

Vic's Pizzeria vs. Pizzeria La Gitana

An Olympia powerhouse, and rightful number two seed in the Tournament of Pizza bracket's South Region, Vic's Pizzeria of Olympia is expected by most professional pizza prognosticators (say that three times fast) to cruise to victory on the back of their well-earned reputation, classic hand-tossed New York style pies - available with conventional toppings or those only a Greener could love - and overall awesomeness. However, it would also be foolish to sleep on Yelm's Pizzeria La Gitana, a relative new comer, but a 15 seed boasting a young squad with lots of upside. Word on the street is La Gitana, which popped up to Yelm's delight in a former coffeehouse, makes a tasty wood-fired pizza.

Figaro's Pizza vs. Casa Mia

Casa Mia has built a pizza and Italian food empire of sorts. Born in Hoquiam of all places, and built into what it is today in the restaurant's Lacey and Olympia locations almost 30 years ago, Casa Mia's pizzas have put so many award banners in their proverbial arena rafters that the restaurant is approaching dynasty status. However, has Casa Mia simply been so good for so long that the bracketologist (read: readers who seeded this thing) have started to take the restaurant for granted? A 10 seed? Really? Well, we'll see when Casa Mia takes on the seventh seeded Figaro's (and their mustacheod mascot), in a battle of mini-franchises. Is an upset in the works?

Farrelli's Woodfire Pizza vs. Ramblin Jacks

There may be multiple Farrelli's locations, but each one feels so independent that the Tournament of Pizza bracketolgists (again, read: readers who seeded this thing) voted to include both the DuPont Farrelli's as a No. 5 seed in the South Region, and the Tacoma Farrelli's as a No. 6 seed in the Downtown Tacoma region. Today, Farrelli's of DuPont battles Olympia institution and 11^th seeded Ramblin Jacks, the tasty leader of the Ramblin Jack's empire (see: the Mercado, i.Talia Pizzeria and the Rib Eye). There's no denying the wood-fired, family friendly atmosphere of Farrelli's should equate to a tough pie to defend on the hardwood, but will it be able to match the tenacity of well-conceived Ramblin Jack's favorites like the Smoked Pork Shoulder pizza? The voting will decide. ...

Smitty's Authentic Chicago Style Food vs. Ricardo's

Ricardo's in Lacey is not the type of place you think of when you think of pizza. Steaks? Sure. But it's understandable that the restaurant's pies are flying into the Tournament of Pizza under the radar of most. But as we all know, an "us against the world" mentality can go a long way toward bringing a team together. Smitty's, on the other hand, enters the Big Dance with a lot of hype (co-publisher and occasional food writer Ken Swarner has personally endorsed this pizza), and - perhaps more importantly - Smitty's carries a serious, Chicago-style size advantage. This is the type of pie you need two hands to carry home in the box -able to fill you up in all the right ways. So, what will happen? Smitty's probably has the more "talented" pizza on paper, but as we all know the Tournament of Pizza isn't played on paper (it's played with mouse clicks).