Giving Thanks the American (and National Football League) Way

About 30 years ago I wrote a two-part package about Thanksgiving for the old Minneapolis Star, the first piece running right before the holiday and the second shortly afterwards.  As many recall, and as many others who weren’t around at the time don’t, the Star was the Cowles family’s afternoon paper in town and the Tribune was the morning paper.  The two combined into a single morning paper soon afterwards. 

After a brief introduction, the first article was actually a questionnaire, with open-ended questions about television viewing on Thanksgiving.  More specifically, it asked a series of questions about watching football games on that day.  As with now, the Detroit Lions had long hosted an early game on Thanksgiving (routinely against the Green Bay Packers), and the Dallas Cowboys hosted another game later in the afternoon.  

I was particularly interested in the extent to which watching football games on Thanksgiving had become an accepted, even celebrated tradition by many people.  Or conversely, the ways in which it deeply offended many people—especially women.  The idea was for people to fill out the surveys and send them back to the Star, and a fair number did.

I may have the results in a disorganized box somewhere in the attic, but it’s been many years since I saw the actual responses so I don’t recall a lot of details.  Yet I do recall two main conclusions, not least because one of them was often expressed with a sadness sometimes suggesting resignation, sometimes anger.  

The first and benign finding (though many will disagree with that description) was that watching football games truly had become an enjoyable tradition for many families and friends, causing surprisingly few people to take agitated offense.  In fact, I seem to recall some number of women saying charmingly jabbing things, like how football kept their husbands and other hulking guys from clogging up kitchens (think of gently funny anniversary cards by Hallmark).  I faintly also recall some readers saying how football was more conducive than stunting to communication and camaraderie among (at least some) family members and other guests. 

The second major finding, however, was light years from lighthearted. 

Watching football games before and after Thanksgiving dinner was OK, was a common answer.  Doing so could even be forgiven by those who thought it fundamentally less than palatable and honorable.  But watching football during Thanksgiving dinner?  That was judged properly miles too far for most people, with the discouragement and pain of some respondents (mostly women) tearing through their answers.

I suspect if I were conducting an updated survey this year I would still focus on football but also would be obliged to add questions about texting and tweeting.  What do people think about doing such things on Thanksgiving?  And if it is, in fact, respectful and socially acceptable to electronically poke away, is there any time during the day—as one would hope is the case—when it might not be?

I like watching football on Thanksgiving as much as the next guy.  Actually, I probably enjoy it more than most guys.  But Thanksgiving is our nation’s most compelling secularly sacred holiday, and in the same way I wouldn’t think of fixing on inappropriate screens in any house of worship, I wouldn’t think of doing so around any Thanksgiving table either.  (Sacrilegious shame on anyone who thinks the real reason is I couldn’t get by with it even if I tried.)