# Thanksgiving and football in the USA



## Papalote

Happy Thanksgivingto all  USA foreros!

Boy! My mouth is watering just picturing all that scrumptious stuff you guys are going to be eating for supper. Specially the pumpkin pie. Well, I`ll be in Plattsburgh tomorrow, so hopefully I`ll be eating leftovers.

Since this is a Cutural Forum, I do have a _cultural_ question  : why do you guys have such an important football game for Thanksgiving? Isn`t that a little bit of a ...mm.. can`t think of a word...non-religious? (My brain is frozen `cause it hasn`t stopped snowing since 7 a.m. and the connections aren`t at all there  ) I can only relate to what I see on t.v., but it seems to me that more importance is being given to the football game, adn to shopping, than to the Thanksgiving part. Since I am not a _sportsy_ person  I'm having a lil' bit of a hard time making the connection. Please enlighten me!  

And enjoy Thanksgiving!

Papalote

p.s. You are having a football game today, yes?


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## GenJen54

First of all, Thanksgiving is not a "religious" holiday in the sense that Christmas and Easter are. There is no "Holy Day," associated with it.  While there are church services dedicated to "giving thanks," the holiday is not inately religious.

It is simply a day celebrating our heritage and a day of remembrance and thanks.

I'm not certain exactly when football became a "Thanksgiving" tradition; some time in the 1970s, I presume. It was a marketing coup, really, driven by the NFL and advertisers. 

When else is there a more captive audience than after a big meal, when many people are off of work, gathered in their homes, amidst the company of family and friends, stuffed from the day's gluttony, and ready to partake in the great American pasttime, couch potato-ing (I call it "lumping")?

American football, as a uniquely American sport, has become a "religion" of its own regard, and Thanksgiving is a day when people get to sit down and watch it, while waiting for the turkey to settle before the leftovers are brought out and the eating begins anew! 

Hope that explains it.  I am curious to hear others' take on the matter. 

By the way, I saved a piece of pumpkin pie for you.


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## Isotta

I've probably explained Thanksgiving to twenty people since I've been here. I thought with all the American films that take place during Thanksgiving, people in Europe would have a better idea of what it was? Though today I explained to a boy in my class what Hanukah was, and my roommate said it was normal in France not to be familiar with Hanukah. 

Could it be that Americans talk about holidays more?

Z.

Edit: I wish I could have a bite of that pumpkin pie right now. Oh! and stuffing!!!!


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## Fernando

I think GenJen54 has explained prefectly. Well, most football (soccer) matches in Europe or everywhere are on Sundays (Lord's day in Spanish, French and Italian).

And well, I think I (we?) have a basic knowledge of Thanksgiving Day meaning. Thank you, Hollywood and TV series! My (our?) knowledge of Hanukah is "something related to Judaism". Period.


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## I.C.

The tradition of harvest festivals is older than christianity, but is religious at its root. At first it was thanking the old gods for the harvest.


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## gian_eagle

by the way, which day thanksgiving is?


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## Isotta

It was yesterday.

Z.


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## gian_eagle

I wasn't sure, but I supposed so.

It was because an American tourist arrested here in Peru by drug trafficking wanted to be free a.s.a.p (perhaps the same day) only because it was Thanksgiving day!

Is it true that Thanksgiving is even more important than Christmas in American Culture?


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## GenJen54

gian_eagle said:
			
		

> Is it true that Thanksgiving is even more important than Christmas in American Culture? http://forum.wordreference.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=491397



I wouldn't say it is more _*important*_, it is just different in that it is _unique_ to the US American culture, and for many people, it is their favorite holiday. 

It also marks the start of the "Holiday Season" where people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds celebrate major holidays that come in December, such as:

Hannukuh
Kwaanza
Christmas


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## gian_eagle

What I mean to say is that there is more the tradition of having turkey altogether with the familiy united. This is the oppssite (many times) to Christmas, that has turned into a more commercial holidays, with the idea of buying presents for the dearest ones or friends.


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## GenJen54

gian_eagle said:
			
		

> Is it true that Thanksgiving is even more important than Christmas in American Culture?


In that case, you are pretty well on the mark. Many people still take the time during Christmas to spend time with families, share meals, etc., but you are right, the emphasis is more on the decorations, gift-giving, parties, etc., etc.

One of the reasons I enjoy Thanksgiving so much is because it lacks the "hustle and bustle" of Christmas. Christmas in the US is exhausting!


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## Aupick

Thanksgiving was always my favourite holiday when I was living in the US because it's pretty much devoid of the commercialisation that surrounds all the other holidays. People don't send cards or buy presents and the stores don't even try to get you to do so. All people do is struggle through the snow and traffic jams and crowded airports to get back home and eat a big meal with their family. (And perhaps watch football, I guess.) Beautiful.


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## fenixpollo

g_e -- Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday in November. 





			
				gian_eagle said:
			
		

> Is it true that Thanksgiving is even more important than Christmas in American Culture?


 It depends on what you mean by "important."  For many Christians, no holiday is more important than Christmas.  However, since Thanksgiving is not particular to any one religion, anyone can celebrate it... and my guess that more Americans celebrate/observe Thanksgiving than Christmas.  

Isotta, I'm not sure if Americans talk about holidays more, but especially in the last 20-30 years there has been great emphasis placed on respect for non-WASP celebrations (aka "non-traditional holidays"), which has led to more open discussion about, and references in the media to, Hanukkah.

As to the original question, each family celebrates Thanksgiving differently.  I am thankful that no-one in my immediate family likes American Football, and nobody cares who the Cowboys are playing.  We put on music and talk with each other instead of watching TV.... that's why we get together, anyway!

Happy T-day!


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## Isotta

I just thought holiday explanations were taught in school everywhere. We even sang Hanukah songs at school. I was just surprised to find that's not necessarily the case here.

My family always watches _It's a Wonderful Life_, which plays every Thanksgiving Day (even though it's about Christmas?), rather than football while the food is being prepared. 

Yes, everyone does it differently, and there are regional differences. For example, sweet potato casserole or pie is a staple in the Southern Thanksgiving dinner, whereas they don't serve it in the Midwest (I'm told). And even within regions there are differences. Some of my Delta friends celebrated Thanksgiving with their nuclear family plus maybe grandparents, while in our part of the South, Thanksgiving was never below twenty. 

When we lived in Canada, Thanksgiving just wasn't the same. I guess because the stuff Thanksgiving consists of was smaller those years.

Z.


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## TrentinaNE

> For many Christians, no holiday is more important than Christmas.


Which is odd, because from a strictly religious standpoint, Easter is much more important that Christmas.


> no-one in my immediate family likes American Football, and nobody cares who the Cowboys are playing.


Nor the Lions?  


> People don't send cards or buy presents and the stores don't even try to get you to do so.


Because they're already focussed on getting us to shop for Christmas! The Friday afternoon Thanksgiving is the "official" start of the Christmas shopping season, but it's been ages since I've gone shopping on that day -- too insane!


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## JazzByChas

…nor the Washington Redskins or the Tampa Bay Buccanneers ? And BTW, the days of the Dallas Cowboys being a football dynasty are loooong gone… 


I believe the day after Thanksgiving, lately called “Black Friday” is the biggest shopping day of the year. It officially marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. I try to avoid going out on a day like this, but my wife will find _any_ reason to shop!  

I would also agree that Christmas wouldn’t be as religiously significant as Easter, which signifies overcoming all earthly shortcomings…





> no-one in my immediate family likes American Football, and nobody cares who the Cowboys are playing.


 


			
				TrentinaNE said:
			
		

> Nor the Lions?


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## fenixpollo

Trentina, you have a good point... Is the birth of Jesus more important than his death? In the U.S., which one carries more cultural weight? Feel free to comment in the thread on Easter vs. Christmas, now in the Culture Forum.

No, Chas, not Tampa nor D.C., nor even the estimable Cardinals. I mentioned the Cowboys because when I was a kid, my grandpa would always have the Thanksgiving game on -- and it was almost always an NFC East game, and invariably the Cowboys were in it. I don't know if that had to do with the fact that Dallas was a football "Dynasty" or not... I don't like soap operas, either.

Many families use football as a "group activity": the TV becomes the center of the gathering, the game becomes a shared experience. Football becomes a family tradition because of the positive memories people associate with it. Other families actually _play_ football together, while others simply chat. 

Although I'm not a big fan of bloodsports, if football can help a family bond, then I'm all for it. Just don't tackle me too hard when I get the ball.


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## Fernando

I disagree with the Easter/Christmas topic.

From a religious point of view, Christmas is more important than Easter (and a more positive one, of course). And I am saying this from a country where Easter is VERY important.


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## GenJen54

Thank you Mike and everyone else who "self-modded" and moved the new Easter v. Christmas topic to a new thread.  Greatly appreciated! 

For those who wish to continue discussing Thanksgiving and Football in the US, including those turkey leftovers, feel free to do so here! 

Saludos!

GenJen
Moderator


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## swift_precision

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> Although I'm not a big fan of bloodsports, if football can help a family bond, then I'm all for it. Just don't tackle me too hard when I get the ball.


 

LOL@ football being a bloodsport.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  Bro, compared to UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), football is like playing miniature golf or a day at Sea World.  Personally, my family puts on the TV to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade as well as the football game (in which The Lions invariably lose).  We also put on music and talk and blah blah...basically a fun time spent with family.


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## fenixpollo

And this year, the Macy's parade was a bloodsport!  ::lol::


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## swift_precision

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> And this year, the Macy's parade was a bloodsport! ::lol::


 
ooooh yeaa...LOL I remember now.rofl


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