You may have seen on the Substack or Bluesky that this March we are doing something different, as in we’re not running the traditional tournament this year. Check out the post on Substack for the full story, but, tl;dr:

Each day in March, we will be reprinting an essay that lost in the first round in one of our previous tournaments.

As you know if you follow us, every tournament, half the essays lose in the first round and 63 of 64 eventually lose each March. This thing is fun but it’s also brutal! So we thought instead of running our planned tournament, March Second Chanceness, this year, in which half of those first-rounders lose AGAIN in the first round, it would be kinder to just bring back 31 of y/our favorite essays for a second read, this time out of the context of competition.

Thanks to those who nominated or self nominated essays for this year, we have a great list to work from. So each day in March let’s celebrate a brilliant piece of writing that got lost in the competition and give it another moment.

(We also have some secret news to announce to you March 1. You have to wait until then.)

If you’re a subscriber to the Substack (and you should be; it’s free!) (and if you’re not, click the link at the bottom of this page) (“fix your life or die” —David Lynch) you'll be notified each day in March with the day’s featured essay.

All the month’s Second Chancenesses will be posted here of course!

And if you missed it, the lottery for 2026’s March Sadness tournament is open.