It’s time once again for that annual tradition of trying to squeeze in 6-10 hours of football around friends, family, dinner, and all those other distractions.

Another tradition is the Detroit Lions stumbling into this game with a horrible record, and the only real drama of the game being whether they can cover a ridiculously high spread. This week people are starting to come out and complain about the Lions getting this game every year, despite most times being an awful team to watch. Of course the fact that they were having trouble getting anyone to show up at the stadium to watch the game exacerbated the rhetoric.

Why is it that this year has become known for people coming out and complaining about things that have been around forever? The Lions have been historically bad, yet now their yearly Thanksgiving game is a mockery. West coast teams travel to the East coast all the time. Yet now, this travel has an adverse effect on the players’ ability to compete. Is this the year of the whiner? Is there just not enough going on out there in the NFL this year for people to talk about? Is this the price that we have to pay because Tom Brady went down in the first week of the season?

Sports writers have apparently just gotten lazy since last year, when they could turn in a "Patriots are undefeated" or "Spygate" story and call it a week. How can anyone tell me that in a season where the Giants are 10-1 as defending champs, the Titans just lost their first game, Brett Favre has turned around the Jets, the Dolphins have a legitimate shot at the playoffs, the Colts have gone from looking lost to being in the drivers seat for a wild card spot, the ridiculous NFC South keeps winning, and hundreds of other stories are happening that I haven't even mentioned, that the best we can talk about is jet lag?

People wonder why traditional media outlets are doing so poorly and blogs are increasingly becoming the first stop for people to get sports news. This is why. Sports reporting has gotten lazy in the mainstream media. Luckily we have other places to go to now instead of that monopoly in Bristol. And for that I am truly thankful.

The Picks

Tennessee at Detroit (+11)
Seattle at Dallas (-12.5)
Arizona (+3) at Philadelphia

Last week: 8-7-1
Season: 90-81-5