Puppy Bowl IV !!

I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1970s so I went to my fair share of Super Bowl parties as a kid. As a grownup, I'm more interested in going to Disneyland or going shopping during the game, when the rest of the country is glued to the tube.

For the last few years, though, Super Bowl Sunday means one and only one thing to me: Puppy Bowl!

Puppy Bowl is a three or four hour chunk of programming that the Animal Planet channel shows as a continuous loop, pretty much all day this Sunday. Basically they turn loose a couple dozen adorable puppies into a room decorated to look like a stadium, and the little dudes run and play and nap and romp and sniff each others' butts to a jaunty musical accompaniment. Trust me, it is entertainment gold.

My favorite feature is that the water bowls set into the end zones have clear glass bottoms with cameras underneath, so you get a snout-eye-view of puppies drinking water. Too cute.

And if anyone fouls the football field, a guy dressed up like a referee comes out with some paper towels and while he cleans up the business he toots his whistle and intones, "Illegal motion -- Ten yard penalty -- declined!" or something similarly footballish and silly.

My early favorites, based on their photos at the Animal Planet site: Tucker the terrier, Dixie the golden, and the lab named Mrs Roper. Apparently the puppies are pound rescues and they leverage their fifteen minutes of fame into successful adoptions, for themselves and hopefully for lots of other pound puppies out there.

It's totally silly stuff, but it's also interesting to watch how the various puppies' personalities emerge. Some of them really get in there and mix it up. Little guys and big guys rough-house together as equals. Meanwhile, there are frequent cut-aways to other puppies who are tail-gating outside the stadium, eating stuff and watching the action on portable tvs.

And don't miss the spectacular Kittycat Halftime Show! All the puppies go to the locker room, the lights dim, and then a dozen kittens are wheeled into the stadium on a sprawling carpet-covered cat-condo tricked out with tons of fringe and cat toys. Most of the kitties just chase the dots of light caused by the giant disco ball. At the first Kitty Halftime Show a couple years ago, they ended the show with a burst of confetti that scared the beans out of all the kittens. It was hysterical. They shot out of there like watermelon seeds.

Puppy Bowl is fun for all ages and I've heard of dogs that like to watch it too. I know at my house we'll be dining on pupperoni pizza and enjoying the big show.