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A Cuter Bowl
Being a true red, white and blue American, I had to check out at least some of the Super Bowl. I quickly found myself as uninterested as I thought I'd be, but I did find something that was much better and made me truly proud of my nationality. That would be the Puppy Bowl, a creation of the Animal Planet channel.
There is a large pen made to look like a football field. They throw a bunch of doggie toys onto the field and then release the puppies. The viewing public watches the puppies play. It's awesome. There's some soft music, and, best of all, there are no announcers. This goes on for three hours. And I haven't even gotten to the Kitty Halftime Show. It was wonderful. I'm serious. It was much, much more peaceful and relaxing than a football game could ever be.
I did watch some of the Super Bowl telecast. I saw some of the ads, which seemed meaner this year. A mother and daughter inadvertently thinking their husband/father has died; a man repeatedly throwing his cell phone against the forehead of his boss. I guess some people would find them funny but I didn't. (Maybe the frolicking puppies have softened me.) I also saw some of the half time show. I really don't want to see a sixty-two year old man sing "Satisfaction" even if it's the man who wrote the song. I do give credit to Mick Jagger, though. He seemed to agree that it was silly, saying that he could have sung the song at the first Super Bowl. In fact, the song came out two years before Super Bowl I. I'm sure a lot of the folks watching thought it was a bunch of old men covering a Britney Spears song along with some commercial jingles.
During the game there was a promo from the NFL telling us that the Super Bowl is something that unites us all as Americans. If that's true, why has the halftime entertainment four of the last five years featured British or Irish supergroups, such as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Sting, and U2? (I consider McCartney and Sting as supergroups unto themselves.) Are there no Americans available? My vote would go to the Disney creation, DEV2.0 This is a group of pre-teens designed by Disney to be DEVO. Check it out; It's amazing. There have been many manufactured music groups but this one comes with its own playlist. Think of it; we could have a tribute band doing a cover of a cover. Now that's American. I look forward to seeing The B-53.0's and The Dead Kennedy Jr.'s in the future.
In any case, the halftime show for the Puppy Bowl was much better. They took out all the dogs and their toys and brought in a platform with towers and posts covered with cat toys. And then they brought in a bunch of kittens. The music was a little more rocking and there were some colored lights and confetti. It was heartwarming in a way the Super Bowl never is. Next year, I just might have a Puppy Bowl party.
Howard Drucker