Ultimate Bracket: Round 1 Continues

Update: Round 1 voting is complete. To vote in Round 2, click .

We kicked off the "Ultimate St. Louis Park Bracket" with a bang last week, as more than 200 Patch readers voted on the first round match-ups in the Orange Region.

As expected, the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 seeds advanced. However, No. 11-seed Steve Simon knocked off No. 6 Shjon Podein, while No. 9 Bobby Z pulled a minor upset on No. 8 Scott Olson. (You can see complete voting results, as well as full details on how the Ultimate Bracket works, )

Today, we're opening up first round voting in the Black Region. Between now and 9 p.m. on Wednesday, tell us which Parkites are more famous by voting below. If you post a comment as well, you'll be entered into a drawing for a $20 gift card (if you commented on our last post, you're already entered).

To see the full bracket, click here. Also, be sure to head to our Facebook and Twitter pages for a little smack talk. And sign-up for our daily newsletter to stay up on all the results.

Round 1 Bios: Black Region

• Thomas Friedman (1 seed): Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who works for The New York Times. He got his start at The Echo while attending . He graduated in 1971.
• Jeff Jacobs (16): Jacobs has been the mayor of St. Louis Park since 1999. Before then, he served as a member of the City Council for eight years.
• Andreas Papandreou (8): Papandreou served as Prime Minister of Greece from 1981 to 1989, and again from 1993 to 1996. He and his family lived in St. Louis Park in the early 1950s.
• Jeff Diamond (9): Diamond is a former NFL executive, having worked for both the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans. He retired in 2004 as president of the Titans. He graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1971.
• Jeff Passolt (5): Passolt is a TV news anchor with the local FOX affiliate. He was a hockey star at St. Louis Park High School and graduated in 1975.
• Joe Nussbaum (12): Nussbaum is a film director, having directed movies such as "Sleepover," "American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile" and "Sydney White." He grew up in St. Louis Park.
• Jim Petersen (4): Petersen is a former University of Minnesota and NBA basketball player who currently calls Timberwolves games on TV. He is also an assistant coach with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Petersen starred at St. Louis Park High School, where he was Mr. Basketball in 1982, as well as the state's first McDonald's All-American.
• Steve Fisher (13): Fisher is currently the No. 1 halfpipe snowboard rider in the country. He won X Games gold medals in 2004 and 2007. Fisher grew up in St. Louis Park.
• Sharon Isbin (6): Isbin is a a widely-recorded classical guitarist. She also founded the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School. Isbin grew up in St. Louis Park.
• Michael Blodgett (11): Blodgett was an actor and screenwriter, known best for his roll as Lance Rockne in the film "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." He attended school in St. Louis Park through fifth grade.
• Amy Klobuchar (3): Klobuchar is currently the senior U.S. senator from Minnesota. She previously served as the county attorney in Hennepin County. Klobuchar lived in St. Louis Park for a while in the 1980s.
• Ken Bartholomew (14): Bartholomew is a former speed skating champion, having won a silver medal in the 1948 Winter Olympics. He also won 14 national championships between 1945 and 1960. Bartholomew and his family lived in St. Louis Park.
• Bob Stein (7): Stein played college football at the University of Minnesota, then played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. At age 21, he became the youngest player to ever play in a Super Bowl when the Chiefs made it to the championship in 1969. Stein was also the first president of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1965.
• Marc Trestman (10): Trestman is currently the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He played collegiately at the University of Minnesota and has coached in the NFL. He graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1974.
• Ethan Coen (2): Along with brother Joel, Ethan Coen has won multiple Academy Awards as director of films such as "Fargo," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "No Country For Old Men." Ethan is the younger of the two Coen brothers, and he graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1976.
• Guy Bannister (15): Bannister worked with the FBI and was famously accused of being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He lived in St. Louis Park in the 1950s.

Special thanks to the St. Louis Park Historical Society for providing much of the biographical information used above.