Lions live up to Dad’s expectation

Turkey, stuffing and watching the Detroit Lions lose.

Those always were the Thanksgiving traditions in the Leftovers household.

Our dad, who grew up a Lions fans but had his passion for the team beat out of him by endless years of futility, would bust out a favorite saying right around the third quarter of the one Lions game of the season he religiously watched.

"(The Lions) always find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," he would say.

Inevitably, he would prove prophetic as the Lions found new ways to lose every year.

It was impossible not to think of those words Thursday watching Detroit coach Jim Schwartz throw the illegal challenge flag that made a horrendous call by the officials not reviewable, giving the Houston Texans a free touchdown in what ended up being a 34-31 overtime loss by the Lions. Or when Schwartz settled for a third-down field goal in overtime instead of trying to gain a few extra yards for 42-year-old kicker Jason Hanson on an overtime attempt that drifted far enough right to hit the upright.

Sure enough, the phone call came from back East after the game: "Did you see how they did it this year?"

Sure, the Lions are a disaster. Especially on Thanksgiving, when they have lost nine straight. But the whispers that again began circulating the Internet, as they do every year at this time, that the Lions shouldn't get to play every Thanksgiving are nonsense.

The tradition of NFL on Thanksgiving started in Detroit, and there is no need to take that away from the town just because the team is a joke.

Besides, Dad has only so many go-to phrases. Don't take this one away.

■ OUT OF OPTIONS - Former Michigan star Chad Henne's breakout performance might have made the injury to Jacksonville quarterback Blaine Gabbert a blessing in disguise.

Gabbert left Sunday's game with the Jaguars trailing 7-0 and watched from the sideline as Henne turned around the previously woeful Jacksonville offense in a 43-37 overtime loss to the Texans.

Henne now is the starter, and Gabbert is on the injured reserve list.

That's only because the NFL doesn't have a "Wow, we made a horrible mistake in last year's draft, and now we need to find a way to rid ourselves of the abomination that is Blaine Gabbert" list.

■ SAY UNCLE - The Minnesota Twins had the Homer Hanky. The Pittsburgh Steelers made the Terrible Towel famous.

Now the Cleveland Browns have their answer.

The White Flag? Seriously?

Deadspin.com passes on word from @clevelandfrowns, the Twitter feed of the pessimistic fan website of the same name, that fans attending Sunday's Cleveland game against Pittsburgh will receive an inflatable white flag to wave during the game.

While it seems an unfortunate color choice for a flag that the home crowd will wave, it is fitting for the rivalry.

Cleveland has dropped 21 of 23 games to Pittsburgh.

So let the fans signify their surrender and wave their white flags. The color will be a nice contrast to the black cloud that typically hangs over that miserable city.

COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL