2021 Tabloid Cover Derby Round 3.01 CRUSHING vs OFF THE WALL!

[Benjamin Grimm]

CRUSHING
New York Daily News, May 25, 2021.
Winner of Round 1.12
Winner of Round 2.05




OFF THE WALL!
New York Daily News, May 12, 2021.
Winner of Round 1.11

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The covers that were destined to collide

[Edgy MD]

I'm really the only one who went for the first one? The composition is just terrific. Inspired, even.

OFF THE WALL! one is cluttered and incoherent with a goofy inset photo of a face few people would recognize. We know nothing about who he is, what he did, or why he's there, and the tease is so confusing as to make me unclear what I'm even looking for. I have little idea what transpired, or even (SCARY NIGHT IN QUEENS) how baseball related it all is.

CRUSHING, by contrast, is crushing it.

[bmfc1]

I was hoping for three wall-related covers in the semis but this matchup makes it impossible.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The winner of this poll will potentially face THAT'S ALMORA! in the next round, unless ALMORA loses to DEALING.

[A Boy Named Seo]

CRUSHING. I like the photo in OFF THE WALL better but also thought the Mazeika pic detracts.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

This was the Tuesday Night Mets Highlight of the Year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COweLXUHt5Q/

[G-Fafif]

WALL TO WALL!!
Similarly themed back pages
catch each other at the fence

[Edgy MD]

Bernie Sanders: Also crushing it.

[Centerfield]

So glad the TCD is back on. I thought it was suspended due to the lockout.

[Edgy MD]

OFF THE WALL! has a dazzling action shot, but it's deployment is second rate.

Look how much more saturated the blue of the wall is on CRUSHING. Even more so in the blue of Johneshwy's socks. THRILL to the centered, bold, orange headline of CRUSHING miraculously placed between Fargas and the offending wall in three-dimensional space. WEEP at the handsome drop-shadowing which gives the orange strong contrast against both blue and white.

That goofy, goofy inset photo of Mazeika tells us nothing. Who is that guy? What did he do? Why is he allowed to wear a Mets jersey? Why is the color so washed out in the photo? Why is it angled? I DON'T KNOW!

SING about how the text doesn't crowd away the character of the photo in CRUSHING like it so annoyingly does in OFF THE WALL!, where the text pushes from the left margin and all the content wants to fall off to the RIGHT. CRUSHING comfortably puts the subhead beneath the text on the wall where the flat panel of the blue wall and black base make for an excellent canvas.

Yeah, it's a story about an embarrassing loss vs. a walkoff win, but CRUSHING is the class of the field. YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT!!

[bmfc1]

Edgy's passion for CRUSHING is admirable.

[Benjamin Grimm]

[Edgy MD]

A crushing loss for CRUSHING.