I’ve been getting ready for Thanksgiving for months. Thirteen weeks to be exact. Countless hours of watching sports, three to four days a week concentrating just on football, excessive drinking and overeating, and even nightly arguments at the dinner table, all preparing for the big day.

Our setting will resemble the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight. We will all get a little blurry, act a little fake, stand around not doing much, except my family is not afraid to throw a few punches.

Credit via Netflix

I know. Thanksgiving can be difficult sometimes. The infighting, backstabbing, and awkwardness of mature adults stumbling around for hours on end. But enough about the Dallas Cowboys.

I know that a lot of people like to take work off the week of Thanksgiving – but the Nuggets loss 145-118 to the Knicks on Monday at the Pepsi Center was a little uncalled for.

But get ready for the first Black Friday football game!

How ironic is it that Black Friday is supposed to be about getting great deals, and yet, we must watch Desmond Ridder and the Raiders that night.

Adjusting to new traditions is part of Thanksgiving as well. You can change your stuffing recipe, replace the Mac and Cheese with a green bean casserole, and go for the twice-baked potatoes instead of the usual mashed. But it’s still going to take me a while if the Detroit Lions start winning on Thanksgiving Day.

It’s always so weird waking watching football while drinking beer at 10am on a Thursday morning. Okay, mostly just the watching football part, but still.

I’m not saying that Thanksgiving is all about football. But when my alcoholic uncle heard that the Cowboys were giving 4, the Packers were giving 3.5, and the Lions were giving 10, he said. “What’s Thanksgiving? I’ll add it to my parlay.”

Then, when asked if he liked the yams, he replied. “Yeah, but I’ll take the Yaints plus the two-and-a-half in yat one.” Then he hurled on my floor.

That one was bad. I’m forcing jokes like your third piece of pie after dinner. Or a Jordan Love throw into double coverage.

Speaking of jokes. The New York Giants (2-9) and Tommy DeVito take on the Dallas Cowboys (4-7) and Cooper Rush on Thanksgiving Day. Talk about giving the fans the bird.

In Philly, they are now calling it Thanks4giving. As in, Thanks4giving us Saquon Barkley, you Dumbass Giants!

Saquon killing it for the Eagles while no longer playing for the Giants. That’s like ending up at Martha Stewart’s house for Thanksgiving when you were headed out to the Golden Corral.

Credit via Wikipedia.org

That’s cold what the Giants did to quarterback Daniel Jones – but at least they let him go around the start of the shopping season.

Besides, Daniel Jones provides us all with a valuable dinner table lesson during the Thanksgiving season – learn to back up.

But it’s not like the typical Thanksgiving faux pas of forgetting the dressing. In Jones’ case, he was simply asked not to.

I don’t see Jets fans laughing though. For all that talk about attending a parade at the beginning of the season – have fun at Macy’s.

Credit via Newsweek

What do the Colorado Buffaloes defense and Thanksgiving have in common? The Buffs have problems stuffing the run – and my wife’s stuffing gives me the runs.

The Colorado Buffaloes basketball team fared much better. After losing to Michigan State in the opener of the Maui Invitational, the Buffs rebounded by upsetting the two-time defending champion UConn Huskies 73-72. The Buffs shot 51% from the field, 56% from 3pt-range, and only turned the ball over 11 times. Everyone tells you not to travel over the holidays – guess they listened.

The last game on Thursday night is the Miami Dolphins versus the Green Bay Packers. A night game on Thanksgiving is ridiculous. I’ll be so full that I won’t be able to change the channel, and so drunk that Tua and I will both be seeing double.

Credit via Wikipedia.org

Speaking of the Dolphins. Did you see where Tyreek Hill had his charges dropped when two Miami-Dade police officers were cited with a “Failure to Appear” in testifying against him. I’m glad for him, but what about Tyreek’s “Failure to Appear” when it comes to points for my Fantasy Squad? How’s that coming along?

And hopefully, I have a few leftovers remaining for when the Denver Broncos (7-5) host the Cleveland Browns (3-8) on Sunday. I’m out of bad Thanksgiving jokes, but if the Broncos could somehow get to nine wins – the rest would be gravy.

Images via devilslakejournal, Netflix, newsweek, wikipedia

Alan Tapley The Athletic Supporter

Alan Tapley is an educator, author, and blogger who has lived just outside of Boulder for the last twenty years.  His published work includes two novels, two children’s books, a series of cartoons in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and multiple sports related articles. His love for family and the state of Colorado is only matched by one thing, his passion for sports.  The first baseball game he ever attended was at Wrigley Field, before there were lights.  At the final Bronco game at the old Mile High, he allegedly cut out a piece of his seat in the South stands.  But regardless of being here for the Avalanche’s last Stanley Cup, the Rockies only World Series appearance, and all the Broncos’ Super Bowl Victories, his wife never fails to remind him that he wasn’t at the University of Colorado in 1990, like she was.  The year the Buffs football team won the National Championship