UT/TCU moved to day after Thanksgiving

[outhereincali]

Kind of sad but it was inevitable. We tried to keep it going alternating TCU & TT but it just wasn't the same as it was when it was a&m. TCU had their best team in 50 years a couple of years ago but the the stadium was only half full and not that many people watched. Last year's game was exciting but it was still the same.

But I'm angry with the NFL with their arrogance and greed. I don't know if people remember the late Art Modell, he used to own the original Cleveland Browns, and the Ravens. He was the NFL's go to guy when it came to television. He had an unspoken agreement with Walter Byers who used to be the head of the NCAA. The NFL never scheduled Saturday games until December or until college fb's regular season was over. Mostly they didn't go head to head on tv. And even as more and more bowl games were added the NFL went out of the way not to go head to head against college fb. The NFL knew college fb didn't have a chance if they went had to head on tv.

But it's a different world now. Five years ago NBC and the NFL decided to broadcast in prime time on Thanksgiving night. On network television. And it was the beginning of the end for college fb and Thanksgiving Day. The last few games on NBC out drew the two college games combined. The NFL is the most popular sport in the country and is not even close. The ten most watched tv events are all SB's.

And I'm angry because Thanksgiving and fb started with the college game. Only the Detroit Lions come close to playing as many Thanksgiving games as the University of Texas. Even the cow college has played more games than Detroit. Hey somebody had to be our red headed stepchild. But those days are gone probably forever. And a&m/LSU are going to have to face the music.

But TCU is going to be in the preseason top three in the Big XII and probably in the top 20. And I'm certain now that if a qb finally develops at Texas well have a good team this year. If this happens there will be a much bigger crowd and the game could be in a great tv time slot.

But I'm still bitter.

 

[clob94]

Listen hoss, once texas is back on track, back to winning 10-11-12 games a year, Thanksgiving will go right back to being a texas tradition. The reason the NFL has grabbed a larger share over the past 5 years is because, well, we've sucked donkey shlong. If texas is 11-0 going into a Thanksgiving day game, we could be playing the Hamburg youth league hockey team and 20 million people will watch.

Winning cures all. There's a reason that from 2000-2009 we were consistently in the most watched, highest rated and largest revenue making programs on God's green earth. Aggy can stand to the side and say "Oh sure, think what you think." But everyone knows, when Texas starts 7-0, the national attention has already shifted. A 7-0 Texas will scare even the NFL with regard to a T giving game. We should concentrate on getting back to who we "ARE" not who we "were" and I think that will take care of this NFL intrusion.

 

[Longyac]

Sorry clob I disagree. The draw to the Thanksgiving night game will never be what it was now that there are NFL games that night. Too many people are NFL fans who watch college football.

 

[FlourBluffHorn]

Some people won't be satisfied till they kill off all the Traditions at UT...all these young and middle aged Gents at Belmont! What next?, get rid of Bevo! Fools and their money!


Hook'em

 

[HornosaurusRex]

I think it's better for the players (especially those from out of state) to be able to spend time with their families on this holiday, especially since it's not played against our traditional opponent, with the competition from the NFL, and with a half empty stadium.

Just my 2c.

Hook 'em

 

[outhereincali]

Listen hoss, once texas is back on track, back to winning 10-11-12 games a year, Thanksgiving will go right back to being a texas tradition. The reason the NFL has grabbed a larger share over the past 5 years is because, well, we've sucked donkey shlong. If texas is 11-0 going into a Thanksgiving day game, we could be playing the Hamburg youth league hockey team and 20 million people will watch.

Winning cures all. There's a reason that from 2000-2009 we were consistently in the most watched, highest rated and largest revenue making programs on God's green earth. Aggy can stand to the side and say "Oh sure, think what you think." But everyone knows, when Texas starts 7-0, the national attention has already shifted. A 7-0 Texas will scare even the NFL with regard to a T giving game. We should concentrate on getting back to who we "ARE" not who we "were" and I think that will take care of this NFL intrusion.

Clob, I disagree. If the swearing in of a new POTUS went head to head against the NFL they'd probably lose.

 

[madcow12]

Good...best news of the day. I hate a TG game.

 

[ryan_sublett]

I think the real issue is there is no real rival anymore. That week is rivalry week (was UT and Aggy) Ohio State Michigan etc. thst is missing with Texas now. If your going to play on thanksgiving you need thst marquee game.

 

[txn_in_wa]

I have to agree with some. 1. It was a rivalry game first of all with the aggies. That made it attractive. And it sucked that they discontinued the game in 1994 until whenever in 2000 to keep it going. 2. A TCU/TTU game was not that attractive other than it was Texas and we have sucked it up the last few years. As a Longhorn faithful, I have always made time to watch the game on Thanksgiving day, but again as a faithful, I will watch it on Friday as well. Don't care. The NFL has taken over Thanksgiving, and I really don't watch it, but I will watch my Longhorns.

 

[ryan_sublett]

I think Texas and TCU could be a rivalry if TCU remains good and Texas becomes a national power again. Right now though it's just not there.

 

[Metcalf #2]

As much as I hate to say it, we miss those window lickers. Thanksgiving is just not the same without Texas vs Texas a&m.

 

[BringBackRoyal]

I think it's better for the players (especially those from out of state) to be able to spend time with their families on this holiday, especially since it's not played against our traditional opponent, with the competition from the NFL, and with a half empty stadium.

Just my 2c.

Hook 'em

Same. I've got no attachment to playing on Thanksgiving if we're not playing aggy.

 

[oldhorn2]

I have been a die hard Cowboy fan ever since they were formed in 1961 or so. Over the last 20 years Jerra has managed to drain every ounce of give a shit out of me. I haven't watched any pro football for about 5 years, thanksgiving or not. Aggy and Thanksgiving went well together and it is not the same without them, but having said that, I will watch Texas playing whoever and when ever they play.

 

[outhereincali]

And it wasn't just UT/a&m. One of the greatest games of all time was a NB/OK game. GA/GT used to play on Thanksgiving every now and then had some great games. And I too will watch the Horns no matter what day. But whether it's tv or not college fb and Thanksgiving are gone for good.

 

[CaptainZigZag]

Some people won't be satisfied till they kill off all the Traditions at UT...all these young and middle aged Gents at Belmont! What next?, get rid of Bevo! Fools and their money!


Hook'em

What in Gods holy name is this babble about?

 

[Metcalf #2]

^^^thanks for the Mountain Dew in the nose. Lol

 

[txn_in_wa]

Some people won't be satisfied till they kill off all the Traditions at UT...all these young and middle aged Gents at Belmont! What next?, get rid of Bevo! Fools and their money!


Hook'em

Seriously? WTF?

 

[txn_in_wa]

I think it's better for the players (especially those from out of state) to be able to spend time with their families on this holiday, especially since it's not played against our traditional opponent, with the competition from the NFL, and with a half empty stadium.

Just my 2c.

Hook 'em

They won't be spending their time with family on Thanksgiving Day even if the game is on Friday. Do you really think that?

 

[FlourBluffHorn]

What in Gods holy name is this babble about?

Your too young to understand Zag! It's way far above your level! The key word here for today is your smart mouth...

Hook'em

 

[FlourBluffHorn]

Seriously? WTF?

You must be Zag's dummy siting on his knee! Evidently, both of you aren't savvy to UT's Traditions in the past that's been left behind..People in high places sometimes change stuff and ruin Traditions that's meant a lot in the past to other people...the Bowl games schedules are all messed up, and the playoff games schedules are also, people in Belmont wanted to change things and move on to the future, last AD would not plat the Ags anymore and this one won't rule it out, have you ever seen a Texas Bonfire? on Town Lake?
or the Ags band throwing crap at the Longhorn Band in College Station as they marched to be seated? or the Ags chasing a Longhorn fan across their field with hands on their swords
or the riots in Dallas before the OU game downtown..where Dallas PD couldn't control it?

You probably never seen the Tortillas flying at the Texas Tech game..all gone now....


Hook'em

 

[HornosaurusRex]

They won't be spending their time with family on Thanksgiving Day even if the game is on Friday. Do you really think that?

I wasn't aware of Thanksgiving logistics and did think that.

"We will practice in the morning," Jones said. "So we'll have a team breakfast mid-morning then do our typical Thursday. In terms of a rhythm and a routine, that won't be interrupted. That won't change. We'll get done a little bit earlier, so our players can get together. I have some family coming in from out of town. We'll have some players over to our house and a lot of our players are going to our teammates' houses. Some may venture home if they're within a proximity that we allow, but really like to keep them here." [the other UT concerning practice on Thanksgiving for Saturday game]

Hook 'em

 

[misterTeasyEmalcomXf'inAkicksome]

A few things on this:

• First, acting like this is a shocking break with a longstanding tradition is... odd. People who have watched UT football for a while should know that the game has fluctuated as far as which day it is played. I don't have the time or desire to dig through the year-by-year dates and match them with a calendar, but I know for a fact that the first Texas vs A&M game that I attended, in which Ricky Williams won the Hesiman, was the day AFTER Thanksgiving. I ate dinner back home with my family and then packed up in the car with two of my best high school friends (who ironically were going to TCU and wanted to go somewhere to see a "real" college football game), and drove down late that night for the game the following day. I'm relatively certain that wasn't the only time it was held on Friday, not Thursday.

• Second, while the opponent changing definitely played a role in this, I think the thing that made the change-of-date inevitable was actually when UT decided to host a game on Thanksgiving EVERY year. I'm sure there were some hard core fans on both sides (A&M and Texas) who managed to attend the game every year, but this worked perfectly as a family tradition when Texas hosted every other year (and I would either host Thanksgiving at my place in Austin, or we'd do some sort of tailgate Thanksgiving) and on the off years I could do other family traditions and watch the game on TV. I'd imagine that I'm not the only one who had to decide between attending every year or pissing off family when we started hosting every year. It was sad to see more empty space in the stands in recent Turkey Day games, but man... I get it. I'm sure this hit everyone... students, fans, alumni, etc. And you don't want to have the focus of being one of the only games on the day, and then have almost half your stadium crowd unsure or unable to make it.

• Third, this applies doubly to the opponent's fans. I mean, part of the reason Texas decided to host the game every year instead of every other year was an oversight by the people who made the decision. The other part of the reason is... Tech campus is used to being dead on Thanksgiving. Lubbock isn't a quick drive for almost anyone. Their stadium might have been even emptier than ours, and the logistics of having dorms open, all the staff on sight and all that... it's no little task. And TCU might be a little more easy to access, but a lot of their students are actually from further away including more out of state students. The factors involving dorms, game day staff, etc., all apply to them too.

• Fourth, the timing was bad. Texas was trying to start this "altered tradition" at a point when they weren't at their best. Tech would have been a more interesting opponent for it if it had begun around 2008 since there would have been something to feed the rivalry. TCU and Texas haven't had much of a tradition for a while anyway. If you were going to make this work, after getting rid of something with the history that Texas vs A&M had, you were going to have to one-up it.

• Which leads me to the best idea that got tossed around (but clearly never came to fruition for multiple reasons): Notre Dame. It would have been impossible, I think, to play ND every year year on Thanksgiving no matter what. BUT... if DeLoss had been able to work something out, using his connections with Swarbrick, the best case would have been to get ND to agree to replace Stanford with Texas as the alternating game with their rivalry against USC. Basically, ND has a deal worked out so they always get to play their last game of the season away from cold Indiana, either at Stanford or USC. The other team (who isn't hosting the Irish in a given year) plays a game at Notre Dame sometime around mid-season. It's not impossible to imagine how a game in LA, alternating with a game in Austin, could be appealing for media attention, for recruiting, for (usually) better weather, etc. But Dodds was the guy who seemed to have a connection there. He set up the 4 game series with ND and always seemed to have something in mind when it comes to Texas and Notre Dame. Patterson, of course, had already pissed off ND when he was at Arizona State, and while he was running things ND dropped 2 games of our series. Texas vs Notre Dame would be a great Thanksgiving day game... but even then, I'm not sure I'd push for hosting a game that day on the "off years" and I'm not sure there's someone who'd be good for hosting that game now that we're not doing it with the aggies.

I think the only real way I could see a situation where HOSTING a game every year on Thanksgiving MIGHT work is if you come up with some way to start a tradition where you host a marquee OOC on that date every year, and even then... I think pushing fans, staff, etc., to commit to being there every year on Thanksgiving day no matter what... is a lot tougher than someone who works in Belmont might expect, since of course they are planning to be there.

 

[misterTeasyEmalcomXf'inAkicksome]

I'll throw in a followup question: How many people on here attended all 4 Thanksgiving Day games (in person) since it became an annual home game instead of a semi-annual home game? That is, how many people on this board attended 2012 vs TCU, 2013 vs Tech, 2014 vs TCU, and 2015 vs Tech?

 

[bubba2023]

When I was growing up and had sports consciousness the game was on Friday after Thanksgiving. At least the ones I remember were.

 

[outhereincali]

Ftr, from 1911 to 1973 every TX/a&m game was played on Thanksgiving. And while from 1996 to 2007 was played the day after Thanksgiving, the last 4 were back on Thanksgiving. There are over 80 games played on Thanksgiving between the two.

But I also mentioned other great college games played on Thanksgiving by other schools. Once again the greater point is that college fb and Thanksgiving are over not just UT, but for everyone. And we can thank the NFL for taking over everything on Tday.

 

[FlourBluffHorn]

I bet that you asked the Team if they wanted to play Ags on Thanksgiving in CS or Austin on Natl TV or go home and eat turkey, what the answer would be, when we gonna suit up Coach?

All that jumping and yelling with your Aggie in laws, trying to eat turkey was the best fun...especially after the last time we played them and won in the last seconds...

The players all fired up!


Hook'em

 

[misterTeasyEmalcomXf'inAkicksome]

I bet that you asked the Team if they wanted to play Ags on Thanksgiving in CS or Austin on Natl TV or go home and eat turkey, what the answer would be, when we gonna suit up Coach?

All that jumping and yelling with your Aggie in laws, trying to eat turkey was the best fun...especially after the last time we played them and won in the last seconds...

The players all fired up!


Hook'em

Yeah, if you could come up with a home/home series that could work for Thanksgiving Day again, I'd feel more strongly about keeping it on Thanksgiving, but neither Tech nor TCU are prepared to do that and hosting it that day every year is really tough on the staff and home crowd who are trying to cover their own family obligations too. If, for now, they alternate between Thursday and Friday, that might even make it a little better...? I just hate seeing the stands emptier for that game than we're used to and, while part of it is definitely that Texas hasn't had the best seasons recently, I feel pretty confident in saying that having one year where Thanksgiving is based around the home game followed by a year where you could go do whatever your folks do and watch it on TV... made the decision to attend a lot easier.

 

[Oilfield]

I think it's better for the players (especially those from out of state) to be able to spend time with their families on this holiday, especially since it's not played against our traditional opponent, with the competition from the NFL, and with a half empty stadium.

Just my 2c.

Hook 'em

I get what you are saying, but I think playing on Thanksgiving Day was better from a family perspective than T+1. Now Thanksgiving Day will be pregame, spent with the team in a hotel somewhere. At least with us playing on Thanksgiving, the players got 2 full days with family before reporting back for team stuff.

 

[CaptainZigZag]

I bet that you asked the Team if they wanted to play Ags on Thanksgiving in CS or Austin on Natl TV or go home and eat turkey, what the answer would be, when we gonna suit up Coach?

All that jumping and yelling with your Aggie in laws, trying to eat turkey was the best fun...especially after the last time we played them and won in the last seconds...

The players all fired up!


Hook'em

Sure whatever you say