Holy Cats

Oh. Lawdy.

Puppy Bowl has been dethroned.  The first inaugural Kitten Bowl:  HUGE HIT in our household.

For starters, the puppies had normal dog names.  The kittens played under aliases, like Tim Teepaw and Tomcat Brady.  Calico Purress and Dan Furrino.  FERRELL (pronounced "Feral") OWENS.  Oh, and of particular interest in our TCU-backing household:  a ginger tabby named Dandy Dalton.

Second, cats are way better at football.  Seriously.  The puppies just sort of mill about, tugging on chew ropes, and occasionally a toy accidentally rolls into the end zone.  The kittens?   Way more focused - well, until they decide to nap midfield.  Either way, ADORABLE. 

When they on task, though, boy, are they on task.  Fast.  And agile.  They play a very physical game.  Lots of wrestling and illegal use of the paws.  Really, more of an arena football vibe.

Third, the Kitten Bowl TAILgate was off the chain.  Some of the cars were made of scratching post cardboard, result being that a couple of the cars were torn to shreds during the festivities. 

Speaking of scratching:  sisal-wrapped goalposts were a nice touch, giving rise to some entertaining "excessive celebrations."  (Oh, and extra points, too - those were scored when a kitty climbed through the goalposts.)  We also enjoyed it when one of the participants climbed into the stands.  Okay, the stands were walls with images of football fans.  So the participant climbed a picture, using his/her claws.  But, still.

Ridiculously cute.

Fourth, the Kitten Bowl organizers actually organized their kittens.  We can never tell which team is which in Puppy Bowl, on account of how different breeds play together.  Kitten Bowl featured four teams, divided into tabby, orange-and-white, gray and black coat colors.

And finally:  Kitten Bowl had Howard Stern's wife.  INTERVIEWING CAT FANCIER NICKY HILTON.  AND THEN THEY BROUGHT IN REGIS PHILBIN TO DO COLOR COMMENTARY.  (They even threw a Neuter Dame reference his way.)

I rest my case, people.

Also winning fans in our household:  National Geographic's Fish Bowl.  Yup, just goldfish swimming around bowls.  But occasionally a clock would pop up, alerting viewers that something exciting was about to happen.  After a fifteen-second countdown:  a plastic plant would plop into the middle of the bowl.  Or a bubbling diver, or another fish.

Riveting stuff.  No, really - oddly riveting.

But the kittens won the day.  And, also, the Seahawks.  Poor Peyton.  His kitten counterpart, Feline Manning, had a much more satisfying evening:  two touchdowns, three field goals and three naps.  That's one more TD and three more FG's than the Broncos were able to muster.

No comment about the naps.