August 5, 2012: Sunday Showdown!

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Clockwise from the bottom left:

• Faced with the inevitability of Leroy botching his plumbing repair job and flooding the entire kitchen, all Loretta can do is wearily complain to her friend, pocket her point, and get ready with the local plumber's phone number. It's readily apparent by the lost expression on Leroy's face that disaster is imminent.  However in Leroy's defense, he wouldn't need to constantly be fiddling with the kitchen plumbing if Loretta didn't so mercilessly abuse it with her disgusting dinner preparations. Loretta gets the point and leads 1-0.
• Looks like someone saw one or both of the mostly mediocre, completely unnecessary recent adaptations of "Snow White". His comment does fit nicely with his overarching theme of Loretta's mother being an evil witch. Quality dissing aside, I feel a bit sad for Loretta's mother. Many older parents who've lost a spouse find themselves constantly alone and seeking even the most basic of companionship. It really adds an extra layer of cruelty to Leroy's comments if Loretta's mother is indeed living a sad, neglected, life of solitude; wishing her daughter would see her more often. Leroy gets the point and ties things up 1-1.
• It's a simplistic and petty but effective little prank by Loretta. Usually Loretta relies more on clever insults and sardonic wordplay to attack Leroy, but here she shows that she is also capable of going the cruder, whoopee cushion route. As an added bonus, aside from merely making Leroy soaking wet, Loretta also scores the added insult of violating a personal domain of his: the lawn. To modify a common axiom "you don't adjust another man's lawn sprinklers". Loretta takes the point and the lead 2-1.
• "The Lockhorns" have never been shy about having real product references in the past; so I find it  odd that they had to resort to the obvious parody of Coors beer. Perhaps the executives at the Coors Brewing Company didn't want their product to be associated with Lockhorns. If they had asked any of the local Nassau county businesses that have been featured in the past, they would have known that their association with the Lockhorns and resulting "Lockhorn Bump" has been nothing but beneficial. It's their loss I suppose. For embarrassing Loretta with his out of control alcoholism, Leroy gets the point. The day is tied 2-2, heading into the final panel.
• This might be bordering on the compulsive, but I am more than a little perturbed by marriage counselor Pullman's ever present sign hanging ever so slightly outside of the lines of the panel. I cannot recall this ever happening before in all my years of following the Lockhorns. It's an ultimately inconsequential detail, but I just can't ignore it. It should be in the margins. I also find the actual comments by Loretta to be almost equally incongruous as Pullman's sign. The comments would imply that Leroy was a Red Sox fan. As a seemingly life long resident of Long Island, I would peg Leroy to be a Mets or even a Yankees fan. I'm not sure where this sudden Boston connection came from. As for who actually wins and loses this panel and the game, Loretta pulls out the fifth panel and edges out Leroy 3-2.   

Official Count:

Leroy - 76

Loretta - 92
Push - 50