#2018MMM When the Kat’s Away Preview
Daily Ramble 173: 2018MMM Missing Mammal Division
So there’s a whole division this year without a single mammal in it…wow! I do like opening up the tournament to new faces but I’m not sure I’d be too fearful of a Tardigrade if I were a mammal…oops, I guess I am a mammal. Sure, there are some really nasty critters in this division…crocodiles, snakes, a shark, and even a dragon, but can we really expect these other classes of animals to be able to compete with the mighty milk drinking beasts? I mean, most of these lesser animals don’t even take care of their young after they’ve laid their eggs.
I suppose there’s something to say about the fact that these guys have survived through evolution just as much as the mammals. And they’ve adapted to fill their niche just like any mammal has, but I am kinda pulling for the home team. Regardless, there are some fierce competitors in this division that could turn this bracket into a bloodbath.
2018MMM When the Kat’s Away Preview
This is an interesting bracket to look into. There are animals here that are quite different and we even see critters from different classes of animals facing off against each other. For instance, the Secretary Bird and the Horseshoe Crab are pretty far apart evolutionarily but they are both features in this division.
With the disparate matchups this division pretty interesting, but I do think the top seeded Orinoco Crocodile is a formidable competitor. The muscles and teeth this creature displays can rip most other competitors to shreds and whoever wins the Wild Card Battle tonight (GoldCrest or Praying Mantis) might very well find themselves chewed up in one gulp.
My favorite underdog this round is the Common Octopus. Ranked only 10th, I think this guy has the brains to go far and actually I just saw one on the Blue Planet II show that outsmarted a shark by piling shells on top of himself and pretending he was just a rock…it was pretty impressive. But even with his brains, he might have some trouble when fighting on the land.
My other favorite is the Secretary Bird. This tall avian can handle himself pretty well against a bunch of the possible contenders in this division and I see him going far if he can avoid the beak of the Alligator Snapping Turtle.
As for overrated, I’d say that while the Green Anaconda surely deserves to be considered a top seed, I worry that he may run into trouble if he wins and has to continue the competition while digesting the loser. The whole tournament style doesn’t really seem to favor the reptiles who I think tend to leave more time between hunts for resting than the other competitors.
- Orinoco Crocodile (winner) vs. Wild Card Winner (TBD Today)
- Goliath Tarantula vs. Bothrops Asper (winner)
- Secretary Bird (winner) vs. Horseshoe Crab
- Alligator Snapping Turtle (winner) cs. Mantis Shrimp
- Eurasian Eagle Owl (winner) vs. Beaded Lizard
- Komodo Dragon (winner) vs. Giant Salamander
- Cookiecutter Shark vs. Common Octopus (winner)
- Green Anaconda (winner) vs. Tardigrade