Call it madness if you like, but for those who are not so much into the impending NCAA championships (aka March Madness)—and I suspect that will include any Syracuse fan—Mother Nature Network jumps the shark, as it were, and offers some nature/environment-themed tournaments. Such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s third annual “Migratory madness” bird brackets, or the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service “sea creature” bracket, pitting sturgeons against sea snails, abalones, etc.:
NOAA's site quotes the abalone: "I may look like a 6-inch-long oval shell with a single orange foot poking out, but there's a lot more to my story than my good looks. I'm actually the first marine invertebrate to make it onto the Endangered Species Act. Before me, everyone on the list had a spine!"
Ah, baloney! A bit odd, but probably less ultimately disappointing than the “real” March Madness. Anyway, if any of them need someone to dress up in a giant squid costume and act as team mascot, I’m there.