November 25, 2012: Sunday Showdown!

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Clockwise from the bottom left:

• I suspect Loretta was going for an insult about Leroy's meager income but she just doesn't quite make her point in the panel. Had Loretta prefaced her comment with a line about how Leroy and Loretta earn essentially the same amount, then it would be insulting to Leroy to have his income compared to finding coins in the sofa. The way Loretta frames it actually makes her seem sort of lazy in comparison to Leroy; he's toiling at work all day and she's hanging around the couch most of the time. It's just a sloppy effort overall and we end up with a push.
• Given the overwhelming popularity of the NFL in America, Leroy's statement about the general watchability of any professional football game should ring true with many people. This is nowhere near some of the exaggerated displays of Tim Allen-style overly broad suburban male behavior by Leroy that torments Loretta to no end. Based on the crudely rendered player on the screen Leroy may be watching an Eagles game, their performance this year may actually prove to be the exception to the universal football enjoyment rule. Leroy gets the first point and takes a 1-0 lead.
• If Loretta doesn't want Leroy hogging up all the living room television time with his prolific football viewing, perhaps she should allow him to set up his own "man cave". I think Loretta's rejection of Leroy's "man cave" idea and apparent approval of his ridiculous "man tree house" scheme is based on her, probably correct, assumption that Leroy will find some way to horribly injure himself while attempting construction. She's probably already brainstorming new material to use at the hospital. In the present, however, it's a push. Leroy still leads 1-0.
• We are supposed to assume that Leroy is such an insufferable tightwad that he would be considering asking for the return of a housewarming gift from a moving neighbor many years after giving it to them. I like to think that the Lockhorns' neighbors actually decided to immediately move again after meeting the Lockhorns at their housewarming party. In that case, Leroy would have a legitimate claim in asking for his housewarming gift back. Still without further evidence, I'll go with the more conventional reading of Leroy being a miserable skinflint. Loretta scores a point and ties everything up 1-1 entering the final panel.
• Seeing the piercing daggers of flaming rage addressed at Leroy from Loretta and her mother, our burly highway trooper may just consider giving poor Leroy a break. If anything he should be commending Leroy for not letting Loretta drive the car thus preventing a whole mess of highway casualties. I am sure all law enforcement officials in the county have Loretta's picture on file. Leroy earns the point and pulls off an unlikely final panel victory in a hotly contested Sunday Showdown, 2-1.  

Official Count:

Leroy - 119

Loretta - 130

Push - 81