So far, winners and losers. . .

Contrary to what the worlds dorks, geeks and fanboys argue, it takes more than one shining moment for a superhero to advance far in the Fantasy Final Four tournament. Which is why those king-for-a-day players are now spectating as the Big Dance streamlines from 68 teams to 16.

There has been enough mis-cast spells, malfuntioning grapling hooks and unpredictable blood-thirsty rabbits for even the most casual and jaded fans to be sucked in once again by this event's allure. Will there be more? You ask. Most defninitely, as we whittle down to the final 16. But before dismissing eight more teams Thursday and Friday, let's sort out the winners and losers to this point:

Winner: The Phoenix. The bracket gods are smiling down on Jean Grey as the 1st seeded Phoenix Force in the Southwest Region. She has accrued the most-favored-program status by sweeping seeds 2 through 9 out of their path in the Southwest Region. Joined in Neverland by the three double-digit dwarves: No. 10 Shrek, No. 11 Killer Rabbit and No. 12 Rambo. The combined seeding of the group is 34, tying it for the weakest regional quartet since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The only thing comparable was the 1986 East Region, when No. 1 Luke Skywalker was joined by No. 12 She-Ra, No. 14 Clifford the Big Red Dog and No. 7 Billy Idol. For what it's worth, Skywalker won his two games in the PacMan Maze that year by a combined 28 points. Unless one of the dwarves pulls a James Bond, we'll see The Phoenix on Planet Melmac. The question is whether she will even break a sweat getting there.

Loser: The Animal Conference. A record 13 teams entered the field of 68. Just two remain. It must be mentioned that two of the nine that have been dismissed were beaten by fellow Animal Conference members, but the performance has still been well below expectations. The big culprits: The Road Runner, Wolverine and the Velociraptors, all of which were granted four, five and six seeds but lost to teams seeded eighth or lower. If Godzilla or the Killer Rabbit make the Fantasy Final Four, that will enhance the Animal Conference's body of work for this tourney, but right now that body resembles Slimer's after a big helping of Peter Venkman's trash.

Winner: Sweaty bandanas, big curvy knives, shaken martinis and PP7 pistols. Not exactly the most attractive or flavourful assets, they nevertheless have produced as many Sweet 16 teams as the Animal Conference in James Bond and Rambo. One (Rambo) was a widely criticized at-large selection, the other (James Bond) might have had to win his conference tournament to make the field (which includes players such as Jason Bourne, Magnum P.I., and Jack Bauer). They've both come a long way in a hurry to this historic spot. Rambo is in his first Sweet 16, and 007 his first since 1988.

Loser: Superpower IQ. There have been a lot of great plays, but an amazing number of dumb ones as well. From the epic brainlock at the end of Trinity-Superman to the unneeded Road Runner timeout against Gozer the Gozerian to Buffy the Vampire Slayer's halfcourt shot with three seconds left against Neo to a misplaced whip and hat the whole second half of Indiana Jones-Captain Planet, this tourney has not had many poise Hall of Superhero Fame moments.