If your home was anything like mine this past Thanksgiving, it's hard to say what put you to sleep quicker Thursday ... the tryptophans or the rather wretched mess of football served up on the networks' platter.

Since I worked Wednesday evening on the Thursday paper, I missed the Titans' big win over the woeful Lions ... but who would have guessed the Seahawks would barely make a peep against the Cowboys ... and the Cardinals would suddenly realize they're the Cardinals, not the leaders of the NFC West, when they played the Eagles Thursday night for the NFL Network-inclined ... or Texas A&M would forget they're in a rivalry game with Texas and not even try to make it close.

Good grief, it was even enough to make one actually believe all the hype about the appearance of the Jonas Brothers during the Cowboys' game, even though they appear to be just another boy band playing bubble gum rock.

Sometimes you wonder if the networks give us such forgettable game knowing we're a captive audience?

Are there solutions? Of course.

One is not, however, taking away the Lions' spot on the Thanksgiving Day menu. We love tradition here in this little corner of the paper, not to mention cyberspace, and the Lions were the first pro team to play a turkey day game. Yes, they're terrible now, but remember, talent is cyclical. What goes around, comes around.

Instead, why not bring back that old favorite from a generation or two ago: The Thanksgiving Day high school game, which disappeared most places in California when California Interscholastic Federation sections started holding playoffs.

There's still a couple of holdouts, thank goodness.

The 12-school San Francisco City Section plays its title game on Thanksgiving Day at old Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park, which has been downsized to accommodate high school-sized crowds from the days it hosted the 49ers, as well as St. Mary's, Santa Clara and the University of San Francisco when they fielded teams that were a presence on the national scene, long before it was possible for everyone to make a bowl.

Just 50 or so miles to the south, in the Central Coast Section, San Jose and Lincoln high schools continue to play for the "Big Bone" as they have since the late 1940s, in front of large crowds at San Jose City College's stadium, much like Hanford and Lemoore's annual joust for the Milk Can.

Generally, neither school is in playoff contention, making things easier on the CCS's seeding committee, but when one is, it has opted out of the playoffs to keep the Big Bone tradition alive.

No argument against the current playoff system, though - it's a great showcase for the players as well as generating revenue for all the things the Central Section does for athletes in all sanctioned sports throughout the year.

But as we move closer to winter, what would be wrong with, say, a 1 p.m. kickoff on Thanksgiving Day, allowing plenty of time for a Thanksgiving feast afterward. This would also allow for a full three days of long weekend-type activities. In our case locally, it would allow for full enjoyment of the game as well as the Christmas parade through downtown.

And who knows ... we may even get better games on TV as a result.

l College of the Sequoias kicker extraordinare Cody Shaw, a Hanford West graduate, has been invited to play the Triumphant Sports Bowl, in a California vs. USA all-star football game set for Dec. 13 in Chandler, Ariz.

Richard de Give is The Sentinel's sports editor. Reach him at 583-2430 or at rdegive@HanfordSentinel.com. Richard's Fearful Football Forecast runs weekly at www.hanfordsentinel.com/blogs.

(Nov. 30, 2008)