There's a big problem when the only game I'm looking forward to on Thanksgiving is the Orlando Magic playing at the Atlanta Hawks. Why should a basketball game featuring two mid-level market teams be the best available option on a day that exudes everything football? The answer is that the No Fun League needs to do something about the horrific teams that play on Thursday. I understand there's history with the Detroit Lions playing every Thanksgiving, but when their games are getting blacked out in their own city I think it's safe to say that nobody is watching them. At least "America's Team", the Dallas Cowboys, are relevant but there has to be a better team to play than the Oakland Raiders. The fact is, the NFL has to do something about showing eye-sores of games on a day that should be held in sanctity.
Across America, Thanksgiving has a few standards: Good food spent with good people while watching good football. Whether it's the Thanksgiving Day game of you local high school, a high-scoring college game, or watching the NFL on the tube football and Thanksgiving are synonymous. On a day that is meant for relaxation and recollection of what to be thankful for, what better way to hammer out both than sitting in front of your 48" flat-screen with a cold Budweiser in your hand? But while attempting to do this, the only thing I could thing of being thankful for was that I'm not a fan of any of these teams. Thanksgiving Day should be a spectacle. A showcase of the best that the NFL has to offer. On the one day where football dominates the television like turkey dominates the dinner table, why not put your best foot (or wing) forward? Dump these trashy teams like the Detroit Lions and get with the era. Teams like the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are more likely to be labeled "America's Team" than the mediocre Dallas Cowboys are now. They draw the national attention and will more often than not deliver an exciting game.
To have a game on Thanksgiving should be an honor and a privilege, not a right. If a team is not meeting the standards of playing nationally, then that team should be stripped of its Thanksgiving Day game. Simple as that. I'm sick and tired of watching Dallas and Detroit suck up the air time. And I think the people agree with me on that sentiment.
Perhaps the NFL heard that same cry a few years ago when the instated a third game on Thanksgiving. Perfect! Maybe adding another game will fulfill my needs. You know the whole quantity over quality thing. But instead of making it available to everyone, they put the game on the fucking NFL Network! I just don't get it. You add a game to the day, but only make it available to certain markets. Arguably the best game on paper yesterday was going to be the Giants-Broncos game; two teams fighting for their playoff lives. But the whole country couldn't even watch the game, way to drop the ball yet again NFL. As it turned out, however, that game was just as ugly. At least my time wasn't wasted watching that game.
So that's where I was standing when I turned to TNT. I like basketball as much as the next guy, and the match-up of Orlando and Atlanta, two of the top four teams in the East, is an intriguing one. Yet Thanksgiving still remains a day of the Holy Trinity: football, food, and family. I had delicious food (compliments of Mama Improper Sportsonian), and great family. But I was still left with a void in the football category. My suggestion? Take the always-historical Patriots-Colts game and put that on next Thanksgiving. That will put butts in the seats and eyes glued to the screen long enough to forget about the sweet Apple Pie.
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