Give Thanks Give Back Give Up

   So much for Thanksgiving tradition.  One in particular, may be in need of an overhaul.     Where his holiness, Pete Rozelle, used to step out of the office for a cigarette and coffee, no doubt the more politically correct Roger Goodell has substituted bottled water.  So if the commish has a few minutes to spare, never a guarantee when you’re running the NFL, this might be a good time to discuss a bad trend.  Being it involves the league’s TV contract and the billions it brings in, you have a great chance of getting and keeping his attention.  

     With this conglomerate, it’s all about the show.  That probably explains why the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals were nowhere to be found on Thanksgiving Day.  Had they both decided to sit out the entire season, it’s doubtful the remaining owners would’ve complained.  But that wasn’t possible.  

     Since 1934, there’s been consistency with the Detroit Lions and their habit of playing the early game on Thanksgiving Day.  It’s a tradition, to be sure.  But at what cost?  Consistency on the field is another matter altogether.  Being brutally honest, this is a horrid franchise and the numbers bear it out.  

     Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Lions have had a winning record only 10 times reaching Thanksgiving Day but a losing record 21 of those years.  Six seasons they were .500.  Yet given the enormity of the TV contract and what it’s supposed to produce, the stats don’t bode well for the Silver and Blue continuing to be the featured team on Turkey Day.

     This year marked the sixth straight Detroit entered the game with more losses than wins.  Of course the Lions are capable of giving a national TV audience a good game, as they did by beating Pittsburgh in overtime back in 1998.  But when networks supply amazing amounts of revenue, it’s their right to expect equally amazing competition in return.  

     Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt has long lobbied for another game on Thanksgiving and finally, gotten his wish.  This isn’t to imply the Kansas City boss would shed a tear if his team were to eventually supplant the Lions as the first game on this Thursday.  There was no guarantee in the first place that fans were running out to purchase the NFL Network.  These are people who are lucky if they can get their digital clocks to stop flashing "12:00".  By 8 PM on Thanksgiving evening, it wouldn’t matter to them if they fell asleep in front of the Broncos-Chiefs game or an I Love Lucy marathon.  And given the NFL Network’s earliest reviews, Lucy would’ve fared nearly as well in the ratings.  

     Three decades ago as the NFL was ascending to unimagined heights, Pete Rozelle was still uneasy, warning about the possibility of overexposure.  What a difference a generation makes.  Now it’s more a case of, too much of anything is good for TV ratings.  

     The phrase ‘give thanks, give back’ was the league’s attempt to snuggle up to the soft spot in us and all the good deeds of the United Way and NFL Charities.  Naturally little or nothing was said about the wonderful tax breaks the teams get for their involvement.  

     Still, priorities being what they are, we can only hope for the best.  And that doesn’t mean Scott Mitchell or Charlie Batch at quarterback.  Once again, after watching this team, we know the indigestion didn’t come from the turkey.