Deadspin: puppy bowl

Puppy Bowl V! It's On!

Dashiell Bennett — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:20:06 EST

OMG THE CUTENESS! A freakin' parrot sang the national anthem! Greatest counter-programming move in history. Puppies!!! [Animal Planet]

Your Puppy Bowl Recap

rickchand — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:00:54 EST

The writers strike may have crippled other shows, but the Puppy Bowl remains strong; ratings for Puppy Bowl IV on Sunday were up 35 percent from last year. Just like Super Bowl XLII, some are calling this the best Puppy Bowl ever, although the Bissell Kitty halftime show had too much nipple in my opinion. The huge ratings bonanza for Animal Planet can be traced in part to the inspired play of Abigail the Jack Russell Terrier, who won the Most Valuable Player award. Not everyone was on board with that selection, however. From Planet Haystack, your most trusted name in Puppy Bowl coverage:

While Abigail had a lot going for her, she did not remain within herself and did not allow the game to come to her. Her sprints were random and frenetic ... she was out of position more than once ... and all of that splashing at the water dish was completely unnecessary, not to mention psychotic. Abigail gave all the appearances that she wasn't very well-coached, taking the element of "wreckless abandon" a little too far. Not unlike a puppy version of Bill Romanowski.

Puppy Bowl IV drew eight million viewers, a record. And look, the New York Times even interviewed yours truly about it.

Puppy Bowl IV: What, No Flea-Flicker? [Planet Haystack]
Just Fine As Tackles, But They Can't Pass [New York Times]
Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl Draws Eight Million Viewers [Multichannel News]

Refreshingly Free Of Jim Nantz, It's Puppy Bowl III

mjdeadspin — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:45:00 EST

Puppy Bowl III has been going strong for over an hour now... these little guys just don't get tired. Well, one of them did... he decided to just lay down at the 50-yard-line for a while. One of the bigger, meaner dogs with lower self-esteem called an immediate press conference and accused the other dog of getting tired during the Puppy Bowl. Andy Reid insists there are no issues between the two.

It seems like some of the dogs are a little bit older this year, like they've invited back a couple of last year's MVPs. I love this thing. I'm so glad they show it at 3:00, instead of waiting until 6:00 and having it go up against the Super Bowl. If they didn't, you'd all be really confused about the random "Awwwwww"s thrown into the liveblog.

I couldn't enjoy this more if they had a couple of black lab head coaches.

Puppy Bowl III [Animal Planet]

Test Those Dudes For Steroids, Stat

Leitch — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:50:02 EST

Lest we find ourselves too caught up in the rigmarole of yet another Bowl of Super, we remind you of the true highlight of any Super Bowl Sunday ... The Puppy Bowl!

Animal Planet has reinvented the Big Game with the cutest, fuzziest and - at times- fiercest players on the field. When we say "rookie" we aren't kidding - some of these athletes are just nine weeks old. From bulldogs to boxers and everything in between, it's a fantastic team playing in a spectacular brand-new stadium.

As always, the Puppy Bowl — a competition with rules that mainly consist of going "awwwwww" — runs for three hours before the game, which is about 4,000 times better than listening to Jim Nantz. At halftime, they will be running a special "Kitty Bowl," which is like the Puppy Bowl, except its players are aloof and indifferent to all spectators. Which makes it decidedly more similar to the actual Super Bowl.

Seriously, though .... awwwwwwwwwww.

The Puppy Bowl [Animal Planet]