March Mascot Melee™: The Championship Match

It's on.

 By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin) and Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Well, it's been a long time coming. We've spent the last month whittling down the 64 most fierce mascots in each of the four American major sports down to just two. The tournament has been top-heavy, with two No. 1 seeds (Titans and Devils) and two No. 2 seeds (Angels and Magic) advancing to the Final Four. The Titans and Magic advanced, and thus here we are.

March Mascot Melee™: The Final Four

Only in New Jersey could people be so excited for their kids to meet the Devil. But, can Lucifer make it to the finals for a potential rematch with the Angels?

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) and Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

We're almost home.

After four heated battled in the Elite Eight (Parts One and Two), we are left with the four baddest mascots in American professional sports. Only the NBA bracket champion Magic, MLB bracket champion Angels, NFL bracket champion Titans and NHL bracket champion Devils remain.

Did the actual NCAA tournament (which this is unceremoniously modeled after) end on Monday? Yes. Are we like, a week late? Yes. Do we care? Not really. We're really lazy. And by "we" I mean Jeremy.

Here's a look back at our bracket to see how we got here.

March Mascot Melee™: The Elite Eight Part Two

Ladies, calm down. I'll be here until Ragnarok.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

We're running a little bit behind in our mascot tournament, but we finally made it through the Suite 16 and Jeremy gave is the first half of the Elite Eight earlier today, featuring the finals of the NBA and NHL bracket.

Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty. I will handle the finals from the NFL and MLB brackets, completing our Final Four and getting you ready for the actual games taking place this weekend.

Here's what our bracket looks like at the moment.

March Mascot Melee™: The Elite Eight Part One

Don't be confused by his appearance or his name (Stuff the Magic Dragon) - the Orlando Magic mascot is wielding a power that humans know not.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Florida, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Wisconsin punched their tickets to the "real" Final Four in Dallas this past weekend. This morning, four mascots will join them in our own Final Four, only ours will take place in Kamchatka, which, as everyone knows, is the Thunderdome capital of the World.

March Mascot Melee™: The Suite 16 Part Two

If the Rockets' mascot is just an overweight bear with a smile, maybe I advanced them too far.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Entering the week, we were down to our Suite 16 mascots in this 64-team, Thunderdome-style March Mascot Melee™. Yes, we realize that our tournament has pushed into April, and yes, we realize that we came into the week two full rounds behind the actual tournament that we're supposedly mirroring. We can easily explain those two nagging problems away by saying first that the last time the NCAA Tournament actually ended in March was during the Clinton administration, and second that by the end of the week, we'll be down to four teams, just like the actual tournament. So there.

March Mascot Melee™: The Suite 16 Part One

The Titans' mascot may actually be a raccoon, but check him out eating this cheerleader. I'm not messing with that.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

It's not March any more, but we've only completed the first two rounds of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB brackets in our mascot battle royal. Like the real tournament, one month can't hold us, and we're going to bring you the last four rounds in the coming weeks.

Only the 16 toughest mascots remain, and I'm going to deal with the first eight, representing the MLB and NFL brackets. Here's what our Suite 16 bracket looks like right now, and let's continue the battles.

What Should You City's Mascot Be?

You mean to tell me that the honorable Jaguar "Jaxson de Ville" doesn't represent Jacksonville well? That's a shame, because I couldn't come up with anything better.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

I wanted to take a quick break from the brutality that is March Mascot Melee™ to discuss potential team nicknames.

My buddy Alex commented on our NFL Bracket Round Two story, criticizing certain team mascots and claiming that a team's nickname should have something to do with its city.

Here's some of what he said, with a few typos included.

"A team's nickname and macot should have some relation to the location of the team. Jaaguars are not indigenous to Jacksonville, nor are titans to Tennessee. Alliteration is not a good enough excuse to pick a completely random team name."

Fair enough sir, and you've inspired me.

March Mascot Melee™: Round 2 of the NHL Bracket

Look at that handsome Devil. Who could stop him?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

With the NHL bracket, we finish up Round 2 of the March Mascot Melee™, having already covered Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA over the last few days.

The NHL region has seen fewer upsets than the other regions, and we'll see if that trend continues in Round 2. (Yes, I realize how strange that sounds considering I am in sole control of the outcomes and very well could create some upsets simply because I feel like it. But let's just move on.)

March Mascot Melee™: Round 2 of the NBA Bracket

The Raptors got by the Grizzlies, but can they take down [the] Magic?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Earlier this week, Joe got a head start on Round 2 with his breakdowns of the MLB bracket and NFL bracket. All that's left for Round 2 are the NBA and NHL brackets, and that's what I'm here for. When I left off last week, here's what the NBA bracket looked like:

March Mascot Melee™: Round Two of the NFL Bracket

We may have under-seeded the Vikings as a 6, because they're poised for a Suite 16 run.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

By now, our Suite 16 is a quarter full with mascot representatives from the MLB already in.

Today, we find out which football mascots will make the big jump. First, let's take a look back at our first round NFL winners.

March Mascot Melee™: Round Two of the MLB Bracket

Even Vlad Guerrero knows not to mess with Pittsburgh's Pirate Parrot.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

I'm sure you've all been enthralled by the upsets, buzzer beaters and bracket busters of the NCAA Tournament.

But, even with all that, I know what you've really been looking forward to is the return of March Mascot Melee™. Well, have no fear, because we're bringing you the second round of all of our brackets today and tomorrow, then moving onto the Suite 16 later this week.

Last we left our baseball mascots, this is how our bracket looked.

March Mascot Melee™: Round One of the NHL Bracket

Don't be fooled by his fluffy appearance - sharks are deadly

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Today, we finish up the first round of our March Mascot Melee™ tournament. Yesterday, we covered Major League Baseball and the NBA, and earlier today trusty old Joe Parello tackled the NFL (Get it? Tackled? Because football? Anyone? *Looks around for a high five* No? Nobody? Okay, I'll show myself out).

March Mascot Melee™: Round One of the NFL Bracket

Steely McBeam is just the worst.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

We got our mascot tournament going yesterday with the top mascots from the MLB and the NBA.

Today, we bust out the big guns and tackle the hardest hitting mascots in the National Football League. Check out our bracket below.

March Mascot Melee™: Round One of the NBA Bracket

Does this look like a kind of guy you want to mess with?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

Joe kicked us off with his breakdown of the most vicious mascots from Major League Baseball, and I'm here to walk you through the most fearsome of basketball's furry friends. Here are the top sixteen seeds:

March Mascot Melee™: Round One of the MLB Bracket

Neither of these goofy guys made our tournament, but how awesome is this picture?

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

And so it begins.

Our month-long mascot battle royal opens today with the feistiest mascots from Major League Baseball. It is by far the weakest of our four brackets, if you're curious. I won't waste any more of your time, let's get to the bracket and break down each match up below.

Coming Soon: March Mascot Melee™

By SuiteSports Staff

Have you ever wondered which of the NFL's bird mascots is the toughest?

How about if a New Jersey Devil could defeat a Tennessee Titan?

Ok, chances are you've never given this too much thought, but the folks that brought you last year's March Man Crush tournament are here to sort out these questions, and more, with March Mascot Melee™!

Ed Note: We did not actually trademark that term.