Then Along Came David

Once upon a time, Thanksgiving was challenging. Aunt Sandy and Uncle Dan would come with my three cousins, Katherine, Sarah, and Patty. The three of us boys loved football. The three of them didn't. Uncle Dan liked football, but he didn't like us.

It was football vs. family. Not a choice anyone should have to make, especially on the greatest of holidays.

Then along came David.

Six years ago, David took a liking to Katherine. Soon after that, they started dating. And soon after that, he started showing up at Thanksgiving. (They're now married.) David loved football, just like we did. And he was a Lions fan, one of the two NFL teams that play every Thanksgiving.

Suddenly, it wasn't football vs. family anymore. David wanted to watch with the boys. Katherine wanted to be with David. Sarah and Patty wanted to be with Katherine. Everyone wanted to be with the veggie dip.

And so we all sat together in the family room. The girls braided each other's hair, and the boys watched football until their eyes hurt. And Uncle Dan was happy, because he liked football, and he liked David, too.

We lived happily ever after.


Thanksgiving Weekend Picks

Illinois (+21) @ Cincinnati (Fri, 12:00 ET). I like Ron Zook in the spoiler role here. He might not win, but he'll cover the number.

Alabama (-10) @ Auburn (Fri, 2:30 ET). These are the lines Bama's been covering all year (and I've mostly been on the wrong end of).

Pittsburgh (-1) @ West Virginia (Fri, 7:00 ET). Two straight picks for the two worst Dolphins' coaches ever? I'm not happy about it, but I don't think the Backyard Brawl will be much of a fight.

Boise State (-12) vs. Nevada (Fri, 10:00 ET). I'll take the team trying to score BCS style points to cover a big spread.

Florida State (+25) @ Florida (Sat, 3:30 ET). Tebow's last home game, blah blah blah. This is still Florida State, not Florida International. 25 points is too much.

Georgia Tech (-7) vs. Georgia (Sat, 8:00 ET). This doesn't mean I'm not sad about UGA VII, though. He was a good dawg.

UCLA (+13) @ USC (Sat, 10:00 ET). Why fight it? USC now 2-8 ATS...

Last Week: 4-1
Record to Date: 24-24-3