The SoapBoxers

Has Thanksgiving Become Black Thursday?

Nov 23

kosmoAssorted Black Thursday, Football 1 Comment

I first saw the term Black Thursday in the comic strip Retail.  The strip makes a serious point, though.  Is Thanksgiving just a year or two away from become a complete afterthought?  Will people begin completely ignoring tradition and just head the stores at 5 AM on Thanksgiving instead of eating turkey and watching football?  Battling other shoppers for the the best deal on a flat screen TV at Wal-Mart seems to reduce the rest and relaxation aspect of a holiday.

I avoid the Black Friday craziness.  Sure, you may save a few bucks, but what’s the cost of standing in line and getting shoved around.  I hate crowds (not a phobia, just a dislike) and really don’t like to wait in line for more than about 10 minutes.  Waiting hours in line in the freezing cold for a store to open?  No thanks.  I’ll stay inside where it’s nice and warm.

And for the people shoving others to the ground and trampling them (this happens every year) – what the hell are you people thinking?  Would you behave like this on a random shopping day in June?  If it’s not appropriate behavior then, it’s not appropriate behavior on Black Friday (or Black Thursday) either.  Behave like civilized people.

Need to get some shopping done but wary of the crowds?  Amazon has everything 🙂

Sports stuff

Another reason I’ll be staying home today is that there are two interesting football games on TV.  Nebraska vs. Iowa (my wife’s team) followed by West Virginia vs. Iowa State (my team).  A win by my Cyclones would get us to 7-5 on the year.  We lost one of our best defensive players (Jake Knott) earlier in the year, and he could possible be back for a bowl game.  This would allow him to finish his career on a high note (although he was conference defensive player on the week in his last game – playing with any injury sustained the week prior) and put on a show for any NFL teams that may be watching.

Everyone’s talking about the Lions losing a game because their coach challenged a touchdown by the Texans.  By rule, all scoring plays are reviewed, and challenging the play is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and negates the review.  The officials made the right call according to the rule book.  Strange rule, though.  I can see having the 15 yard penalty, but negating the review seems odd.

The Patriots scored 21 points in less than a minute in their game.  That’s hard to do – especially since there were no onside kicks involved.  The Patriots scored, then quickly caused a fumbled and returned it for a touchdown, then the kick returner fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Patriots scored on the play.  Strange.