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My Thanksgiving Wish For TV Viewers Of NFL Football

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
I'd actually like to see the new NFL network-TV deals with CBS and Fox be amended so CBS can show one all-NFC game each year.

As you know, CBS has AFC games, and inter-conference teams where the AFC team is the visitor; likewise, Fox has NFC games and inter-conference games wheree the NFC team is the visitor.

Why??

Because both teams that host Thanksgiving games (the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys) are both in the NFC.

Thanks to the NFL's TV deal, one team has to host an AFC team each year, and each of these two teams hosts an AFC club every other year.

This year, the "interconference" game on Thanksigiving is actually a very good one: Dallas hosts Denver.

Here in New England, where many high-school football teams finish their regular-seasons on Thanksgiving, their Turkey Day opponent is a "rival", and in some cases (i.e. Needham vs. Wellesley in Massachusetts), these rivals have met for over a hundred years. And the final regular-season games for most college football teams (most played the weekend before Thanksgiving, some played this coming weekend [November 25th-26th], others played December 3rd) are usually against arch-rivals, again, some going back more than a century.

What do they have to do with the NFL?? Simple. Detroit should host Green Bay every year on Thanksgiving, and Dallas should host Washington every year on Thanksgiving. You would then get two traditional rivalry games on Turkey Day which should be exciting, regardless of the standings of the teams.

But to do that, you would have to amend the NFL TV contracts in order for CBS to do exactly one all-NFC game during the season, so CBS and Fox can each continue to carry a Thanksgiving Day game. As has been the case in recent years, CBS and Fox would continue to rotate the games so that each network gets the "early" game in Detroit every other year and each network gets the "late" game in Dallas every other year.
 
> I'd actually like to see the new NFL network-TV deals with
> CBS and Fox be amended so CBS can show one all-NFC game each
> year.
>
> As you know, CBS has AFC games, and inter-conference teams
> where the AFC team is the visitor; likewise, Fox has NFC
> games and inter-conference games wheree the NFC team is the
> visitor.
>
> Why??
>
> Because both teams that host Thanksgiving games (the Detroit
> Lions and the Dallas Cowboys) are both in the NFC.
>
> Thanks to the NFL's TV deal, one team has to host an AFC
> team each year, and each of these two teams hosts an AFC
> club every other year.
>
> This year, the "interconference" game on Thanksigiving is
> actually a very good one: Dallas hosts Denver.
>
> Here in New England, where many high-school football teams
> finish their regular-seasons on Thanksgiving, their Turkey
> Day opponent is a "rival", and in some cases (i.e. Needham
> vs. Wellesley in Massachusetts), these rivals have met for
> over a hundred years. And the final regular-season games for
> most college football teams (most played the weekend before
> Thanksgiving, some played this coming weekend [November
> 25th-26th], others played December 3rd) are usually against
> arch-rivals, again, some going back more than a century.
>
Most owners and many fans of AFC teams (and maybe even some who play for or coach AFC teams) already feel a strong inferiority complex against the NFC, whose teams tend to play in larger TV markets and, lest we forget, saw its champion win Super Bowls XIX through XXXI. If you're the NFL, then, do you really want to risk further alienation of half of your teams and their millions of fans by shutting their conference completely out of Thanksgiving Day?

> What do they have to do with the NFL?? Simple. Detroit
> should host Green Bay every year on Thanksgiving, and Dallas
> should host Washington every year on Thanksgiving. You would
> then get two traditional rivalry games on Turkey Day which
> should be exciting, regardless of the standings of the
> teams.
>
The question is, though, do the Packers really want to spend each Thanksgiving playing the Lions on the road, and would the Redskins truly be comfortable visiting the Cowboys on Turkey Day every year? If I'm not mistaken, the NFL ended the Green Bay @ Detroit Thanksgiving tradition at the urging of Vince Lombardi, so it wouldn't surprise me if any willingness within the Pack's current management to restart the practice draws some "Vince didn't want it; why should you?" catcalls from some rabid Packers fans. As for Washington @ Dallas on every Thanksgiving, I'd expect that idea to provoke a nasty argument between the obese egos of Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, with Jones, of course, wanting the status quo of the 'Boys at home every Thanksgiving versus Snyder possibly demanding that the 'Skins be the home team every other Turkey Day or, barring that, the NFL reserving another holiday each season for the two teams' annual game in Washington.

> But to do that, you would have to amend the NFL TV contracts
> in order for CBS to do exactly one all-NFC game during the
> season, so CBS and Fox can each continue to carry a
> Thanksgiving Day game. As has been the case in recent years,
> CBS and Fox would continue to rotate the games so that each
> network gets the "early" game in Detroit every other year
> and each network gets the "late" game in Dallas every other
> year.
>
Two much better ideas would be:

A. The NFL retains its tradition of two Thanksgiving games, but an NFC team hosts one game and an AFC team hosts the other.

B. The NFL lets Detroit and Dallas keep their Thanksgiving home games, but adds two Turkey Day games with AFC home teams. If I were the NFL's commissioner, I'd compliment the roughly north-south axis of Detroit and Dallas by giving the early AFC Thanksgiving home game to one of the conference's East Coast teams and the late game to Oakland or San Diego. In this scenario, if rivalries matter enough to the NFL, the NFC network could televise Green Bay @ Detroit followed by Washington @ Dallas, and the AFC network could give viewers a doubleheader of New England @ New York Jets and Denver @ Oakland.<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by AirwaveSurfer on 11/23/05 10:54 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Airwave Surfer actually made some excellent points about NFL telecasts on Thanksgiving Day. So much so, I've changed my mind after reading his ideas.

Among his comments:

> Most owners and many fans of AFC teams (and maybe even some
> who play for or coach AFC teams) already feel a strong
> inferiority complex against the NFC, whose teams tend to
> play in larger TV markets and, lest we forget, saw its
> champion win Super Bowls XIX through XXXI. If you're the
> NFL, then, do you really want to risk further alienation of
> half of your teams and their millions of fans by shutting
> their conference completely out of Thanksgiving Day?

I wasn't even aware of it, and I live near an AFC City, Boston (Foxboro). I was just thinking of ways to make the annual Thanksgiving NFL telecasts more exciting for TV viewers.

Regarding my previous idea of Detroit hosting Green Bay and Dallas hosting Washington every year:

> The question is, though, do the Packers really want to spend
> each Thanksgiving playing the Lions on the road, and would
> the Redskins truly be comfortable visiting the Cowboys on
> Turkey Day every year? If I'm not mistaken, the NFL ended
> the Green Bay @ Detroit Thanksgiving tradition at the urging
> of Vince Lombardi...

> As for Washington @ Dallas on every Thanksgiving, I'd expect that
> idea to provoke a nasty argument between the obese egos of
> Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, with Jones, of course, wanting
> the status quo of the 'Boys at home every Thanksgiving
> versus Snyder possibly demanding that the 'Skins be the home
> team every other Turkey Day.......

Wasn't even aware of that!

Airave Surfer had two alternate ideas:

> A. The NFL retains its tradition of two Thanksgiving games,
> but an NFC team hosts one game and an AFC team hosts the
> other.

But people in either Detroit or Dallas will be upset at losing their long-standing tradition of a Thanksgiving home game.

> B. The NFL lets Detroit and Dallas keep their Thanksgiving
> home games, but adds two Turkey Day games with AFC home
> teams. If I were the NFL's commissioner, I'd compliment the
> roughly north-south axis of Detroit and Dallas by giving the
> early AFC Thanksgiving home game to one of the conference's
> East Coast teams and the late game to Oakland or San Diego.
> In this scenario, if rivalries matter enough to the NFL, the
> NFC network could televise Green Bay @ Detroit followed by
> Washington @ Dallas, and the AFC network could give viewers
> a doubleheader of New England @ New York Jets and Denver @
> Oakland.

An interesting idea, but one problem: At present, Thanksgiving Day games are televised across the full network, and are the only two games that day. They do not go head-to-head.

Yes, CBS and Fox could each do an NFL doubleheader on Thanksgiving, but I doubt the league would go for it because the two Turkey Day games are probably the two highest-rated daytime games of the regular-season. With both CBS and Fox broadcasting games at 12:30 and 4:15 P.M. (ET) on Thanksgiving, you'd split the audience.

I will now withdraw my earlier proposal (which was in the first message that started this thread) and present this one instead:

* Three NFL Thanksgiving-Day games each year, one in Detroit, one in Dallas, and a third in an AFC city.

* Either the game in Detroit or Dallas, whichever looks like the best match-up (maybe the latter) could be played in prime-time and be included either as part of the league's proposed late-season Thursday/Saturday cable-TV package, or more likely, included as part of NBC's new Sunday-night package that starts in 2006.

* This would leave Fox with a game in an NFC home city and CBS with a game in an AFC home city on Thanksgiving afternoon. They would rotate timeslots, so one year, Fox has the 12:30 game and CBS has the 4:15 game; the next year, it's reversed.

* It would also create a tripleheader. Let's assume that one year, we have this as a mythical Thanksgiving tripleheader:

- New York Giants at Detroit, 12:35 P.M. (ET) kick-off, on Fox.

- Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots, 4:15 P.M. (ET) kick-off on CBS.

- Indianapolis Colts at Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 P.M. (ET) kick-off on NBC.

(Teams listed in my mythical tripleheader are based on the NFL standings at this writing on November 23rd, and is an attempt to get good teams playing on Turkey Day to take advantage of the huge TV audience)
 
> > I'd actually like to see the new NFL network-TV deals with
>
> > CBS and Fox be amended so CBS can show one all-NFC game
> each
> > year.
> >
> > As you know, CBS has AFC games, and inter-conference teams
>
> > where the AFC team is the visitor; likewise, Fox has NFC
> > games and inter-conference games wheree the NFC team is
> the
> > visitor.
> >
> > Why??
> >
> > Because both teams that host Thanksgiving games (the
> Detroit
> > Lions and the Dallas Cowboys) are both in the NFC.
> >
> > Thanks to the NFL's TV deal, one team has to host an AFC
> > team each year, and each of these two teams hosts an AFC
> > club every other year.
> >
> > This year, the "interconference" game on Thanksigiving is
> > actually a very good one: Dallas hosts Denver.
> >
> > Here in New England, where many high-school football teams
>
> > finish their regular-seasons on Thanksgiving, their
> Turkey
> > Day opponent is a "rival", and in some cases (i.e. Needham
>
> > vs. Wellesley in Massachusetts), these rivals have met for
>
> > over a hundred years. And the final regular-season games
> for
> > most college football teams (most played the weekend
> before
> > Thanksgiving, some played this coming weekend [November
> > 25th-26th], others played December 3rd) are usually
> against
> > arch-rivals, again, some going back more than a century.
> >
> Most owners and many fans of AFC teams (and maybe even some
> who play for or coach AFC teams) already feel a strong
> inferiority complex against the NFC, whose teams tend to
> play in larger TV markets and, lest we forget, saw its
> champion win Super Bowls XIX through XXXI. If you're the
> NFL, then, do you really want to risk further alienation of
> half of your teams and their millions of fans by shutting
> their conference completely out of Thanksgiving Day?
>
> > What do they have to do with the NFL?? Simple. Detroit
> > should host Green Bay every year on Thanksgiving, and
> Dallas
> > should host Washington every year on Thanksgiving. You
> would
> > then get two traditional rivalry games on Turkey Day which
>
> > should be exciting, regardless of the standings of the
> > teams.
> >
> The question is, though, do the Packers really want to spend
> each Thanksgiving playing the Lions on the road, and would
> the Redskins truly be comfortable visiting the Cowboys on
> Turkey Day every year? If I'm not mistaken, the NFL ended
> the Green Bay @ Detroit Thanksgiving tradition at the urging
> of Vince Lombardi, so it wouldn't surprise me if any
> willingness within the Pack's current management to restart
> the practice draws some "Vince didn't want it; why should
> you?" catcalls from some rabid Packers fans. As for
> Washington @ Dallas on every Thanksgiving, I'd expect that
> idea to provoke a nasty argument between the obese egos of
> Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, with Jones, of course, wanting
> the status quo of the 'Boys at home every Thanksgiving
> versus Snyder possibly demanding that the 'Skins be the home
> team every other Turkey Day or, barring that, the NFL
> reserving another holiday each season for the two teams'
> annual game in Washington.
>
> > But to do that, you would have to amend the NFL TV
> contracts
> > in order for CBS to do exactly one all-NFC game during the
>
> > season, so CBS and Fox can each continue to carry a
> > Thanksgiving Day game. As has been the case in recent
> years,
> > CBS and Fox would continue to rotate the games so that
> each
> > network gets the "early" game in Detroit every other year
> > and each network gets the "late" game in Dallas every
> other
> > year.
> >
> Two much better ideas would be:
>
> A. The NFL retains its tradition of two Thanksgiving games,
> but an NFC team hosts one game and an AFC team hosts the
> other.
>
> B. The NFL lets Detroit and Dallas keep their Thanksgiving
> home games, but adds two Turkey Day games with AFC home
> teams. If I were the NFL's commissioner, I'd compliment the
> roughly north-south axis of Detroit and Dallas by giving the
> early AFC Thanksgiving home game to one of the conference's
> East Coast teams and the late game to Oakland or San Diego.
> In this scenario, if rivalries matter enough to the NFL, the
> NFC network could televise Green Bay @ Detroit followed by
> Washington @ Dallas, and the AFC network could give viewers
> a doubleheader of New England @ New York Jets and Denver @
> Oakland.
>
Better yet....why don't they do this.....for the NFC....Let Detroit play anyone in the NFC North (their divison-it DOESN'T have to be Green Bay all the time....Chicago and Minnesota can party, too), same for Dallas-let them play someone in the NFC East (New York will be a good idea-the #1 Market in the USA), if you want a AFC package, alternate with the big teams there....New England (Sorry Joe, but they won't go past the second round), Indianapolis (might have to alternate in the years, because the Pacers play on turkey night for the NBA), Denver, Kansas City (Lamar Hunt was begging one year to have an AFC game on turkey day), Cincinnati, Miami, San Diego or Oakland. Who knows, maybe when NBC gets the package next year....they can go on Thursday nights and move ER to 8 ET, then the game at 9....nobody has to work on Black Friday.....right?
 
> Regarding my previous idea of Detroit hosting Green Bay and
> Dallas hosting Washington every year:
>
> > The question is, though, do the Packers really want to
> spend
> > each Thanksgiving playing the Lions on the road, and would
>
> > the Redskins truly be comfortable visiting the Cowboys on
> > Turkey Day every year? If I'm not mistaken, the NFL ended
>
> > the Green Bay @ Detroit Thanksgiving tradition at the
> urging
> > of Vince Lombardi...
>
> > As for Washington @ Dallas on every Thanksgiving, I'd
> expect that
> > idea to provoke a nasty argument between the obese egos of
>
> > Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, with Jones, of course, wanting
>
> > the status quo of the 'Boys at home every Thanksgiving
> > versus Snyder possibly demanding that the 'Skins be the
> home
> > team every other Turkey Day.......
>
> Wasn't even aware of that!

Personally I'd like to see Detroit-Green Bay and Washington-Dallas in rotating years, while the other plays an AFC team. Not too much different from the present system.

I think dual doubleheaders or a single tripleheader might be overkill, considering the glut of televised football that already exists over the holiday weekend (lots of college games on Friday and Saturday, don't forget, plus the usual NFL on Sunday).

I don't get the Detroit-Atlanta matchup this year at all, aside from the presence of Michael Vick. IIRC, this is the first time the Lions have played an NFC team that's not a division rival on Thanksgiving in about 15 years, maybe even longer.

> Airave Surfer had two alternate ideas:
>
> > A. The NFL retains its tradition of two Thanksgiving
> games,
> > but an NFC team hosts one game and an AFC team hosts the
> > other.
>
> But people in either Detroit or Dallas will be upset at
> losing their long-standing tradition of a Thanksgiving home
> game.

There was talk of something like this in the late 90's and Dallas and Detroit both screamed about it. With good reason, it's a tradition, especially in Detroit.
 
> I don't get the Detroit-Atlanta matchup this year at all,
> aside from the presence of Michael Vick. IIRC, this is the
> first time the Lions have played an NFC team that's not a
> division rival on Thanksgiving in about 15 years, maybe even
> longer.

Well, last year, the Lions and Bears played on Thanksgiving, just not against each other. From pg. 579 of the 2005 NFL Record and Fact Book...

Nov. 25, 2004 *Indianapolis Colts* 41, DETROIT LIONS 9
DALLAS COWBOYS 21, Chicago Bears 7

The caps are the book's, not mine.

That same book shows that from 1967 through 1969, the AF*L*, though having concluded peace with the NFL in 1966, played 2 games on Thanksgiving every year (in KC & SD in 1967, KC & Oakland in 1968, and KC & HOU in 1969), opposite the NFL's games in Detroit and Dallas. I don't know about the kickoff times.

Happy Thanksgiving!

ixnay
 
nobody has to work on Black Friday.....right?
>

If you mean tomorrow, I do. :-( But in an office nowhere near a mall. :)

ixnay
 
> Well, last year, the Lions and Bears played on Thanksgiving,
> just not against each other. From pg. 579 of the 2005 NFL
> Record and Fact Book...
>
> Nov. 25, 2004 *Indianapolis Colts* 41, DETROIT LIONS 9
> DALLAS COWBOYS 21, Chicago Bears 7
>
> The caps are the book's, not mine.
>
>
The CAPS mean the home team. I saw both of those games and my Bears were not good...they might be good now....ya think?
 
I know Green Bay wouldn't go for it - they've had the Thanksgiving Day game multiple times in the last 10 years (by rights, they should get one every seven years, either Detroit or Dallas; they have played Detroit at least three times in that span and have only played on Thanksgiving in Dallas twice since 1970). And nobody with the team likes the idea at all, even if it's done annually and they could get used to it. How would you like a guaranteed short-week road game every year?
 
Iraq Marines' turkey day mission: Find a television and satellite dish

(From the "Stars & Stripes")

HUSAYBAH, Iraq — Cpl. Jeff Gattis stepped inside the cluttered Iraqi electronics shop, dropped his flak vest and Kevlar helmet on the tile floor and got down to business.

“Big, we need big — the biggest one you’ve got,” the 23-year-old team leader from northern Virginia said as he pantomimed a large square with outstretched hands for a young Iraqi clerk.

Here in this dusty Syrian border town, turkey dinner took a backseat to television and satellite dish shopping as the focus of Thanksgiving Day, as one platoon of Marines went into the city’s bustling market place to find a key creature comfort for their newly assembled home.

(Read the rest of this article at:)

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=33247§ion=104<P ID="signature">______________
"What's That?" "French Horns!"

</P>
 
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