BOWLED OVER

You’d think it’s a completely hopeless situation, having to put up some programming opposite the Super Bowl, but the good folks at Animal Planet seem to have found a way to keep a surprisingly large number of people amused: Film a bunch of puppies running around in a model stadium.

For three fucking hours.

And, to break up the monotony, simply throw in a bunch of cute kitties playing with Kitty-Toys. Presto - a Half-Time Show!

There are enough people (1) who have little or no interest in football, and/or (2) who have what may very well be an unhealthy interest in Puppies and Kitties, to give Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl an audience equivalent to MSNBC’s rating for the State of the Union address...just one little fact I gleaned from the Puppy Bowl Wikipedia entry.

Me, I would have thrown a few feral hogs into the mix. Maybe half a dozen, just to make it interesting. But I guess the animal rights folks would get up in arms after seeing footage of fluffy little Samoyeds or cute Boston Terriers being eviscerated by a pack of bristly 800-pound tuskers.

I’ve gotta hand it to the TeeVee Boyz. I would never have picked Puppy Bowl as a viable alternative to the ridiculous display of Panem et Circenses that is the culmination of the American Football Post-Season...but the ratings speak for themselves.

And I’m happy about that...because there’s nothing quite like the Paternal Pride that a daddy feels when he sees his kid’s name on the Boob-Choob when they roll credits. Yes, indeedy - our very own Elder Daughter was a key member of the Puppy Bowl production team! Take a Bow! Wow!