We mark our calendars for the great signature games each holiday season. New Year's Day means the Rose Bowl. Halloween means NBA season openers. Memorial Day and Labor Day mean all-day baseball marathons, usually headlined by big rivalry games like Red Sox-Yankees and Mets-Phillies.
Thanksgiving means … the Lions?
Happy holidays indeed.
Good thing we have turkey and cranberries to look forward to. The sporting side of Thanksgiving Day has gotten more stale than the bread you're using to stuff Thursday's bird. Nothing against tradition, but Turkey Day is one holiday that needs a little something to jazz it up.
Every year, we're treated to Thanksgiving Day NFL games that mean next to nothing. Is anyone looking forward to watching the Cowboys, another Thanksgiving staple, whale on the hapless Raiders? Or the Packers beat up on a Detroit team that hasn't been good since the Pilgrims showed up at Plymouth Rock? Even the Giants and Broncos, two teams with semi-legitimate playoff hopes in their respective conferences, probably won't be much to write home about.
No, Thanksgiving is in need of a jolt. Something to make the holiday about more than poultry and pumpkin pie. A few ideas:
Better NFL matchups: You know what I'm thankful for? All-time great quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Dazzling success stories like the undefeated Saints. Even (shudder) Brett Favre, who's electrified a championship-hopeful team in Minnesota. If any of the true headliners of the NFL were making noise on Thanksgiving, it would make the games worth watching. But as it is, I'll take seconds on dinner and a nice tryptophan-induced nap afterward. Wake me up for the real games on Sunday.
More college games: This is rivalry week in NCAA football! Why should we have to wait until Saturday afternoon for the big games on this weekend's schedule? Getting an early look at Florida-Florida State, Alabama-Auburn or USC-UCLA would add a lot of spice to a dull Thursday evening. No one wants to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday.
Marquee NBA matchups: On Christmas Day, we get the Celtics versus the Magic and Kobe versus Shaq. Thanksgiving? Not so much. Hoops fans need something to look forward to on Turkey Day — understandably, not all holidays are created equal, but a couple of big Thanksgiving basketball games would really enhance the holiday experience.
Of course, this entire discussion is silly. Thanksgiving shouldn't be about sports — it should be about friends, family and enjoying a good opportunity to appreciate the finer things in life.
But let's face it. After you're stuffed from a big holiday dinner, once you're tired of the petty bickering with your in-laws, it's time to hit the couch and turn on the TV. And these days, it's hard to do so without being disappointed.
It's hard to blame the sporting powers that be. Understandably, athletes want to be at home with their families for Thanksgiving, just like everybody else. So do coaches. So do members of the media. So do the beer vendors in the upper deck. Putting together a Thanksgiving Day sports extravaganza requires a lot of work from a lot of people.
But it's worth it. This is about the greatest good for the greatest number — and there are 300 million Americans who would love to enjoy their holiday by kicking back and taking in a good game. It's in our utilitarian interest as American citizens to want a better Turkey Day for all.
We may never see it. Kobe and Drew Brees and Tim Tebow have the freedom to enjoy their holiday dinners with their friends and family, and that may never change. For them, it's a sigh of relief. For us … well, we'll live.
And, if we're really desperate, we'll tune in and see how pathetically the Lions lose this year.
