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Interview With the Referee of Puppy Bowl VII (Part II)

PetSugar — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:00:00 PST

The Puppy Bowl is this Sunday, and Ref. Andrew is back as the game's referee! We were lucky enough to talk to him last year, so to get pumped up for the game, check out part two of our interview with Ref. Andrew. We already learned a bit of background on the pups and the referee in Part I, now let's hear more about the action, including last year's "streaker" (!) on the field, in the interview below.

PetSugar: What do you say to yourself when you get up that morning?
Ref. Andrew: I look myself in the mirror for a long time, in the eye, and I say: 'This is your calling, this is what you're meant to do.' It's what I'm born into, my destiny.

PS: Do you have any secret weapons on hand in case things get a little hairy?
RA: Just experience and I consult the Puppy Bowl referee guidebook. I like to keep a little peanut butter behind the ears sometimes, but otherwise it's just my strong bond with the dogs and they know who's boss when I'm out there.

PS: How many pups play at a time?
RA: There are 10 to 12 dogs out there but we do have substitutions. You'll see that on the field, if a puppy's acting up and has too many penalties or is being a dirty dog, I have to eject him from the game. We give everyone a fair shot and I tell you, the puppies we have this year are some of the cutest but also you'll see there's so much action, touchdowns being scored, tackles, it's an exciting year for Puppy Bowl.

PS: Which penalty do you see most and how do you keep order?
RA: There's two: The first is unnecessary ruffness (r-u-f-f, of course) and then the other one is a personal foul. As you can imagine, there are a lot of foul things on that field with puppies. But I throw my yellow flag on it - it's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

Learn about the special guest performer before Puppy Bowl, kitty halftime, and last year's "streaker" (!) when you

PS: Is there anything surprising lined up?
RA: We're bringing out all the stops this year. But, even though we try to keep the show G-rated (and, as the ref, I try to obviously keep control of the game), one of the puppies got extra frisky. He went down into its birthday suit and we have a streaker, a Chinese Crested. I don't know what he was trying to prove but once I saw it on the field, I chased it around, covered it up and I made sure we retained order on the field.

PS: You've convinced me, but can you sum up why our readers should tune in?
RA: Well, we clear out the puppies to set up the halftime show. We bring in the kittens and it's 15 minutes of adorableness so, if you're not a puppy person (which I can't imagine you not being), then you have a chance to see these cute little kittens doing their thing. And if you're not a dog person or a cat person, you have Pepper the parrot singing the most beautiful rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner" that you'll ever hear - it'll bring a tear to your eye, you'll see. Also this year, if you've missed Puppy Bowls I-IV, if you're living under a rock, this one is celebrating the fifth anniversary with Hall of Fame moments from the first four. So that's even more reason to watch because you can see the best, cutest, friskiest moments form the first four all in one amazing sitting.

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Interview With the Referee of Puppy Bowl VII (Part I)

PetSugar — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:06:44 PST

The Puppy Bowl is this Sunday, and Ref. Andrew is back as the game's referee! We were lucky enough to talk to him last year, so to get pumped up for the game, check out our interview with Ref. Andrew, who had tons to say about what he describes as "puppies pretending to play football in a miniature football stadium with 'Puppy Penalties,' 'Fido First Downs,' and 'Terrier Tackles' - it's the cutest two hours of television you could ever ask for."

We agree and will absolutely tune into Animal Planet on Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. EST to the action on the gridiron. Find out what it's like behind the scenes and start the first of our two-part interview below.

PetSugar: How did you get this job?
Ref. Andrew: I'd say that it's very similar to American Idol where they fill arenas with potential hopefuls that want to be the ref . . . but, in reality, I was already working for Animal Planet. I like to think I was born into the position. Some people are teachers, some people are firemen, and I referee adorable little puppies pretending to play football - it was meant to be.

PS: What's your practice like in the off-season?
RA: It's a strict regimen. I mostly eat carbohydrates and sugars to stay fueled and I train in dog parks with big dogs so that I'm ready for the little ones. I've got a really strict exercise regimen as well - gotta be in tip-top shape for the puppies.

Learn more about the "athletes" themselves when you

PS: How many players are there?
RA: All together there are 38 dogs. This year they're all shelter puppies and they've actually all been adopted by the time you see the show on air. That's really the message behind Puppy Bowl and why we're so excited about it: Puppies need to be adopted as well as adults – big dogs, medium-sized dogs, there is a dog out there for everyone.

PS: Do you spend time with the pups beforehand?
RA: I get to meet all the athletes before the game and I give them a little pep talk. I tell them I want a clean game in advance: 'Listen, I'm glad you're here but we need a clean game and I need some order on the field.' And I think they appreciate that.

PS: Where do they come from?
RA:The show's filmed in Silver Spring, MD, (which is right outside Washington, DC) and we use regional shelters like the SPCA of Anne Arundel County, Furry Friends Network - there are so many animals out there that need to be adopted in local shelters, and Petfinder's always a big help in getting us dogs. These are all adopted, which is awesome, but go on Petfinder.com and see all the different ways you can adopt and see puppies and dogs available at shelters near you.

PS: I'm excited for Puppy Bowl V – what was your most memorable moment from last year?
RA: I don't remember the exact name of the dog, it might have been Abigail, a Jack Russell. So, of course, I have to throw my flag for penalties. What happened was I threw my flag and I looked down to retrieve my flag and it's gone - Abigail's running around the field with my flag. So here I am chasing after her, in front of the cameras, and I want to show who's in charge here. It was tough but I got my flag back but not without some excitement before then.

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Which Clydesdale and Dalmatian Commercial's Cuter?

PetSugar — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:30:06 PST

Since my favorite commercial during last year's Super Bowl was Hank and his helper – I'm tearing up just remembering the sweetness – I was expecting big things from Budweiser again this year. Of the three spots featuring the famed horses, there was the Clydesdale immigrant from Scotland, the starcrossed lovers' horses with Daisy circus-bound and this cute clip of a fetching competition:

Since it also prominently starred a pup, I picked this clip to compare to last year's doggie horse trainer commercial (refresh your memory here), which furball-featured ad ranks higher with you?

Buzz In: What Were Your Favorite Super Bowl Ads?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:30:26 PST

The fun of the Super Bowl may be behind us (go Steelers!), but the ads will remain, at least for a little while. Not all of last night's ads had me laughing out loud, but there were a few I particularly liked - and I'm curious to know which ones caught your eye (besides the movie trailers - we're talking about those over here).

My top tier includes Hulu's "evil plot to destroy the world" ad with Alec Baldwin, Teleflora's offensive talking flowers (seriously, folks? Don't send me flowers in a box from now on!), Pedigree's giant pets, and cars.com's David Abernathy, boy genius ad (which reminded me a little of a Wes Anderson movie, though I was also oddly put off when I found out it was for cars.com). Others that made me laugh - maybe more than they should have - were SoBe's 3-D lizards, the Doritos crystal ball (which topped USA Today's ad meter), and the Denny's thugs. The dating Budweiser clydesdales made me "squee" a little, and of course I got a laugh out of Conan's Swedish ad. And even though it's basically a repeat from last year, I'm so glad the E-Trade baby has a friend.

What about you? Which ads had you chuckling or "awww"-ing long after they left the screen?

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First Look: Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:32:37 PST

Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones hopped on set to start filming their new sitcom last week, and it looks like it was just in time! The first ad for the new show, now called Parks and Recreation, aired during the special post-Super Bowl episode of The Office last night.

The short promo shows Poehler as Leslie Knope, a parks committee member from Pawnee, Indiana, wandering around an abandoned pit and picking up trash while talking about her vow to turn it into a lovely park. Things get a little dicey, however, when she finds a particularly unappetizing specimen.

I have to say, I'm not in love with the name Parks and Recreation - can you really hear anyone saying, "Nah, I gotta stay in tonight and watch the new Parks and Recreation"? I might have preferred the previous rumored title - Public Service - but as NBC's Ben Silverman told the New York Times, they didn't "want to seem mean" about making fun of public service. Eh, OK. To check out the promo, just

Flynet

The Super Bowl Movie Spots: Transformers 2, Year One and More

BuzzSugar — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:45:35 PST

It was like movie preview-palooza during the Super Bowl this year with spots airing for Transformers 2, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, Angels and Demons, Monsters vs. Aliens, Land of the Lost and Pixar's Up. Did you catch them all? Which one did you like the most?

I was more impressed with the preview for G.I. Joe than I thought I would be and the spots for Up and Monsters vs. Aliens are adorable. I think my favorite, though, is the one for the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Year One starring Jack Black, Michael Cera and Paul Rudd. There's a longer preview for it that came online over the weekend which you can check out after the jump.

Care to check out these TV spots again? Just

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Angels and Demons

Star Trek

G.I. Joe

Land of the Lost

Year One (2-minute preview)

Pixar's Up

Monsters vs. Aliens 3-D spot

Source, Angels and Demons photo courtesy of Sony Pictures, and Star Trek photo courtesy of Paramount

Bruce Springsteen's Halftime Show: Love It or Leave It?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:36:00 PST

Bruce Springsteen and his band just performed at halftime of the Super Bowl. They played four songs, including "Glory Days" and "Born to Run." What did you think of the performance?

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Catch All the Super Bowl Commercials on AOL

GeekSugar — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:11:00 PST

C'mon. . . who realllly watches the Super Bowl for the football? OK, maybe there's a good portion of you, but usually I'm too busy drooling over the delicious dishes and whipping up fancy cocktails to pay attention to what's happening on the field. Although there is always one thing that piques my interest - the commercials! I can't wait to watch the big Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Trailer, but just in case I miss any of the commercials, I can also head on over to AOL's 2009 Super Bowl Commercial site where all the ads will be streamed!

Check back at the Underwire on Monday -- we'll be posting about the most popular clips and moments from Sunday's game.

Where Do You Stand? Guys Wearing Football Jerseys

DearSugar — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:00:00 PST

Diehard football fans take the Super Bowl incredibly seriously, especially if their team is in it! And while I'm perfectly OK with being a sports fanatic, a little enthusiasm goes a long way. With so much paraphernalia out there, there will never be a shortage of gear to chose from, but ladies, tell me, where do you stand on guys wearing football jerseys as a fashion statement?

Source

Will Your Pets Watch Puppy Bowl V?

PetSugar — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:00:05 PST

I'll definitely tune in to see my new BFF try to keep order with those cute puppies, but I plan to pay extra attention to North's reaction at home. Who knew there were so many of us with pets that like to watch this show?! Check out a clip from a pooch claiming to be "Puppy Bowl's No. 1 Fan":

Will you test if your pets behave like Haskell, and tune into Animal Planet later today? If the answer's yes – and you're feeling extra motivated – take a photo or video to share by posting it on your TeamSugar profile (or YouTube) and then either private message me, or leave the link in your comments below. I'll be doing a roundup of Puppy Bowl viewer reaction videos later this week!