The Pure Joy of the Puppy Bowl

The 20th. annual Puppy Bowl is a reminder of the simple pleasures this Animal Planet special has always afforded its viewers.

I’ve been a fan of the Puppy Bowl since the very beginning. I mean, what’s not to love? For just over 2 hours, we can all settle down to watch a group of talented puppies — sorted into teams Ruff and Fluff — rough house and play with one another, score touch downs and field goals, and just generally be puppies. If you’re the kind of person who can’t bring themselves to enjoy the spectacle of puppies, then I don’t know what to tell you.

In all seriousness, though, I do believe this series is one of those things that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of where they fall along the political spectrum or how they identify. Unlike, say, the Super Bowl, which is always intrinsically political, whether because right-wing commentators think Taylor Swift is some sort of psyop mastermind or because Travis Kelce took the vaccine, the Puppy Bowl seems to be a true nonpartisan space, and thank goodness for it!

Part of the game’s appeal stems from its ability to thread the needle between seriousness and silliness. I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little or nothing about the way that football actually works (despite having been to almost…