It’s been a few posts since I’ve covered the world of sports, and what better day than Thanksgiving? The turkey is in the oven and the Bears are in the Lions den. Here in the Northwest it’s a breakfast game with an early start, as opposed to an afternoon start back home in Indiana. Today, it’s da bird and da Bears!

Turkey Bowls started in 1876 with an annual clash between college foes Yale and Princeton, but games between the University of Michigan and the Chicago Maroons (University of Chicago) in the 1890s are credited for “the beginning of Thanksgiving Day football.” Professional football games on this day also date back to the 1890s with the Allegany Athletic Association of Pittsburgh. For the Chicago Bears, “Turkey Bowls” began against the Chicago Cardinals in 1922 and then switched to the Lions in 1934. For the Lions, owner George A. Richards organized games on Thanksgiving as a gimmick to sell tickets and to continue a tradition begun by the city’s previous NFL teams. Richards also owned WJR radio and was able to negotiate an agreement with NBC to carry his games across the network. This is why the Lions are still associated with today’s holiday.  

The Bears last played on Thanksgiving in 2015 and beat the Packers after losing to the Lions in 2014. However, they never played in the 60s when I was growing up. As a result, during Thanksgiving dinners with my cousins, the TV was always on in the background but without the “Monsters of the Midway” the games rarely attracted my interest. We had our own version of the Turkey Bowl in my high school years, with memories of a dusting of snow on the field where we played. It was only a victory if no one got hurt. I’ve actually also been to a college game on Thanksgiving Day between the Texas Longhorns and state-rival A&M.

With regard to other sports, the Maui Invitational Basketball Classic brings back memories of round-ball and turkey. Gonzaga won last night over a Duke team that I thought might challenge the I.U. undefeated season of 1976, a record that has stood now for two-thirds of my life. The Zags still might do it, as they savor the victory with a Thanksgiving meal by the beach. I may return for this turkey tradition in 2020, along with the Hoosiers. Also, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving weekend without the Old Oaken Bucket battle. It’s been played annually since 1920, with Purdue leading the all-time series over Indiana 73-41-6. The Boilers have won the first and last meeting but Indiana will have home field advantage tomorrow. I like to refer to it as the “Toilet Bowl,” where one team or the other barely earns enough victories to qualify for a consolation bowl game. Tomorrow is no exception, with equal 5-6 records! Who will get the gravy?

Without much rest from the Sunday Night’s huge victory over the Vikings, an injured Mitchell Trubisky, and the home field advantage for the Lions, I don’t harbor much hope. In fact, it’s one of the shortest turn-around games in NFL history. Da Bears lead the NFC North with a 7-3 record and a 1.5 game advantage on the defending division champion Vikings. We’ll start our drive to Bend before the game ends this morning, but I’m glad I got a little taste of Bears football to start my 68th Thanksgiving.