Leftovers: It’s A Shitty Thing

• Put away those gloves, it’s time for basketball season! The NBA tipped off last night and the 76ers open tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. Be sure and tune in, as it may be the only game they win. The 76ers marketing slogan this year is “It’s a Philly thing,” which is true, because Philly sports teams aren’t usually that good. [Inquirer]

• A Rolling Stones fan has filed a class-action lawsuit because of the Stones’ Atlantic City show postponement. But of course. [AP/6 ABC]

• Congratulations to Doree Shafrir, the ex-PW A&E editor who began her job as associate editor at Gawker today! Doree was one of those people who sat in meetings with me before this blog started when I was just doing non-public test blogging. She gave useful advice — i.e. “What the hell does ‘RISP in close and late’ situations mean?” — that I immediately forgot about and became the puppy photo poster that I am today. Best of luck! [Gawker]

• The bear patrol may not be working in Jersey. A report says that New Jersey’s plans to sterilize the state’s black bears will be ineffective and expensive. But at least we’d get to fuck with some animals. [AP/6 ABC]

• Bensalem pretty much had a fucking parade for the first slot machine delivered to Philadelphia Park. [Bucks County Courier Times]

Blogicized: Lincoln logs

• I do a whole morning of puppies last Thursday, Philebrity does a whole day of Belle & Sebastian. Seems about right. [Philebrity]

• A question that I’m surprised hasn’t been answered before: Does the violence in the riots over cartoons adhere to the same laws of cartoon violence from Looney Toons? [iFlipFlop]

• In addition to being gay, Abraham Lincoln was also now depressed. Man, what won’t we find out about our nation’s 16th president? Did he enjoy watersports? Did he know any magic tricks? Did he hide a totally killer bong in that stovepipe hat of his? [The Trouble With Spikol]

• Found the Super Bowl boring? Blame Conservatives! Because, without conservatives, the NFL would never have hired those obscrure right-wingers the Rolling Stones. [dragonballyee]

Puppy Morning: The Puppy Bowl!

Ever since the Bud Bowl disappeared, we Americans have been waiting for some sort of Super Bowl-themed knockoff to captivate our attention.

Sure, in 2004 there was the Lingere Bowl, but that was on pay per view so nobody saw it. But last year, with little to no fanfare, a new tradition was launched that should be America’s newest pastime: The Puppy Bowl.

This year’s second Puppy Bowl has 12 competitors, all romping around for the opportunity to… well, something. There don’t seem to be any rules or way to win in Puppy Bowl II, but that doesn’t really matter: It’s a bunch of puppies! Romping around! There are some poodles that aren’t quite the cutest, but the beagle mixes, the English springer spaniels and the cuteness of everything else makes it all worth it.

There are preview videos online, including the puppies “practicing” for Puppy Bowl II (it looks suspiciously like the preview video of the game) and a preview of the all-kitten halftime show. An all-kitten halftime show makes about as much sense as, say, the Rolling Stones playing halftime of the real Super Bowl… er, oh, wait. Hmm.

The game even features a “bowl cam,” which sounds illegal, but is actually just a camera at the bottom of the puppies’ water dish.

The whole shindig is on Animal Planet at 3 p.m. on Sunday, so it won’t conflict with the Super Bowl.

Puppy Bowl II [Animal Planet]
Bud Bowl’s Greatest Moments [Shtick.org]