32 Pets. 6 Weeks. One Winner: Orion’s Pet Madness Bracket Results
Dog lovers rejoice!
PET MADNESS WINNER: SNOOPY
And… we have a winner. Snoopy takes the roses.
When we started this wild ride, I honestly had no inkling who might win. But when Snoopy handily defeated the lazy, carb-loving Garfield and then narrowly nudged out broomstick-balancing Jiji, I began to suspect he could go the distance. Still, I find it interesting that this daydreaming backyard beagle beat out three verified heroes – Miyazaki’s red elk Yakul, Tolkien’s giant wolfhound Huan, and Harry’s beloved owl Hedwig – two of whom, incidentally, died defending their human friend. And yet voters went with the root beer sipping anthropomorphic dog. As a literary crowd, did we appreciate his commitment to reading the entirety of War and Peace? Did we relate to his struggle to write the great American novel? The dance moves? Or perhaps it is the multigenerational bonding we value. Who else can reliably leave you, your parents, your grandparents, and maybe even your own kids crying into their bittersweet hot cocoa every holiday season when A Charlie Brown Christmas rolls around on television?
Of Snoopy, Charles M. Schulz once reflected, “He can win or lose, be a disaster, a hero, or anything, and yet it all works out.” Perhaps we see ourselves in Snoopy. We’re not out there wrestling werewolves or fighting death eaters. We’re just trying to do our best, eat some good meals, show up for friends, and hope it all works out.
Or maybe we all just really love dogs.
Brush Up on Past Rounds
The Finals
SNOOPY
HEDWIG
Will it be Snoopy, the multi-generational canine king of comic strips? He of the bulbous nose and knowing gaze. Snoopy is an imaginative beagle, a frustrated writer, expert napper, and a bittersweet philosopher. Generous with the smooches, this guy’s gratitude for dinner and ubiquitous happy dance swells the human heart.
Or will it be Hedwig, the magical snowy owl, resplendent in white feathers? She of the piercing yellow eyes and unfathomable ability to find anyone, anywhere. Intelligent and proud, always ready to bestow a reproachful look or affectionate nip on the boy she died defending. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom could keep her from her purpose.
tHE sEMI-fINALS
CATS & DOGS VS HOOVED ANIMALS
SNOOPY
YAKUL
Representing the original eight dogs and cats, smooch-happy Snoopy is the last pet standing, fresh off his victory over Middle-Earth’s favorite pony-sized good boy, Huan. He’s up against the singular and loyal Yakul, our finalist from the hooved animal category who beat out Wilbur, Artax, and Babe to reach the finals.
VILLIANS VS UNSUALS
MAX
HEDWIG
What does it say about the Orion community that the least villainous of villains is still with us? Max, the Grinch’s reluctant sidekick survived a sarcastic parrot, a conniving feline, and a literal monster, only to face one of the most iconic birds in literature – the Hedwig of Harry Potter fame. Direwolf Ghost almost made it. Somewhere out there, Jon Snow is looking north, with a stoic tear in his eye.
Pronounced hoo-wan. The kind of guy who will enter a fight of assured mutual destruction with the biggest (were)wolf in town to support your noble quest.
