Bonus Thanksgiving Post of the Week

I thought about leaving this bonus post until Thursday morning, but then I decided that none of you are going to be worrying about this blog when there are parades, turkey, and football to be enjoyed. So I decided to post this for Wednesday, so you all can be prepared for the Thanksgiving Day festivities.


I'm a pretty avid football fan, so for me, half of the fun of Thanksgiving is watching the annual football games that take place on this great holiday. Most of you probably know that every year the Lions and the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving, this year the Lions take on NFC North foe Green Bay, and the Cowboys get a slightly lesser opponent in the Oakland Raiders. Some of you though, may not know that in 2006 the NFL added a third, evening game to the Thanksgiving slate. This game does not have a set team that takes part, and is broadcast on NFL network, so most of you probably haven't ever seen this third game take place. This year, the evening game features the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants.

You probably have the TV schedule memorized by now, it rarely seems to change, but here is a very basic rundown.

The parade starts at 9:00 am, pretty much on all major stations, possibly excluding FOX. After it ends, ABC and CBS pretty much wave the white flag while Fox dominates the first 4 hours of football. NBC goes for the alternative for women route, with the National Dog Show. Undoubtedly, this will cause marital strife in many houses, as wives will see the cute puppies come on at noon, and next thing they know they will be staring at Terry Bradshaw's bald head. CBS takes over football duties at 4 pm. Fox counters with Ice Skating and inspirational cancer survivor Scott Hamilton, meaning some young men in America will have to truly ask themselves "what would Brian Boitano do?" ABC continues to wave the white flag, going with their regular "Rachel Ray" programming. NBC has an interesting game plan, they start with big headed animals (Macy's Parade), then go to cute animals (Dog show), then animal doctors (Dr. Dolittle), and then at 4 they come full circle and go with big headed doctors (Dr. Phil). At 8 the magic really starts to happen. NFL network gets the Giants-Broncos, NBC goes with an Office rerun, ESPN has college football, Fox goes with Night at the Museum, and ABC goes with old steadfast Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Also, the cable channels start breaking out the Christmas movies in the evening, and finally, in perhaps the most interesting choice of all, AMC runs a "Godfather Trilogy" marathon all day starting at 7:30 am, and going throughout the night. For those of you manly men staying up all night before the Black Friday madness, you can pick up the second run of the trilogy starting at 8 pm.

"I'm thankful for the family..."

So that's pretty much how the TV schedule pans out Thursday, pick your spots wisely.


And now, for a little bonus action, I'm going to get all fancy and pick the spreads for Thursday's NFL action.


Packers (-10.5) over LIONS

In all the hubbub about Matt Stafford's gutsy touchdown pass with a separated shoulder last Sunday, people seem to be forgetting that the Lions gave up 37 points to a terrible Browns team. Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings are better than Brady Quinn and Mohammed Massaquoi, and to further put the nail in the coffin, Stafford and Calvin Johnson are doubtful for Thursday, uh oh.

Packers 38, Lions 17



Raiders (+13.5) over COWBOYS

Make no mistake, the Cowboys will win this game, but this is a Dallas team that scored a grand total of 7 points against the Redskins on Sunday, and this Oakland defense isn't half bad when their offense can stay on the field. Bruce Gradkowski will keep the Raiders offense at least partially respectable, and that will keep the scoring low.

Cowboys 21, Raiders 10


Giants (-6.5) over BRONCOS

The Giants defense can't stop anyone, luckily, the Broncos offense can't score. Denver has been in a terrible rut, and the last loss to San Diego was disheartening. Meanwhile, while the Giants still have much to figure out on defense, Eli Manning and the passing attack have them right in the middle of the NFC East race. New York lost a heartbreaker to San Diego 2 weeks ago, Denver lost to San Diego by 29 on Sunday.

Giants 24, Broncos 17


Ok, folks, there it is, your bonus Thanksgiving post, don't get greedy now and expect bonus posts all the time, give thanks for what you are given.


-Latin