Community Corner
Asia the Elephant Shoots Hoops, Picks NCAA Winner
Ringling Bros's star elephants helped celebrate March Madness by predicting the NCAA's winner and shooting some hoops themselves at the Barclays Center.
And the winner of this year's NCAA's tournament will be ... Michigan State.
At least that's who Asia the elephant predicted during a celebration of March Madness at the Barclays Center Wednesday morning.
The veteran star of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey used her skill with the easel and paint brush to fill out her regional brackets, selecting the following teams: Michigan State (Midwest), Florida Gulf Coast (South), La Salle (West), Miami (East). She opted for Michigan State as her final pick.
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Then veteran Asia and youngster Mabel shot some baskets, taking advantage of their temporary stay in Prospect Heights during the run of the Ringling Bros. show, "Built to Amaze," which runs through April 1.
The event, which was attended by a small group of lucky students, also included unicycling basketball stars to round-out the morning.
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Check out their skill in the photos and video above, plus hear trainers Ryan Henning, assistant animal superintendent and Ashley Vargas, pre-show host talk about what it's like to work with the animals.
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