Cover story, continued ...
anyway, eventually giving Chicago that year’s championship. The All-Americans were not happy. In other moments, Bills running back O.J. Simpson set a rushing record by going 273 yards, but his team lost to — yes — the Lions. In 1993, a unconventionally snowy surface in Texas led to a bizarre field goal gaffe that cost the Cowboys the game. In 2012, Jet’s quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into the backside of his own offensive lineman so hard that he fumbled the football, which the Patriots recovered and ran for a touchdown. The play, now known as the “Butt Fumble,” has millions of views on YouTube. Will you be watching this year when the Lions take on the Vikings, the Cowboys face the Chargers, and the Redskins play the Giants, all for various trophies and treats? If Mom has something to say about it, tell her what we’ve told you: It’s a Thanksgiving tradition!
ceremoniously devouring a turkey leg on national television. FOX bestows the Galloping Gobbler, an inedible plaque that used to be a kitschy statuette of a turkey in a football helmet doing the Heisman Trophy pose. They discontinued that after an unimpressed Emmitt Smith tossed it in the trash.
that they had 20 straight winning seasons after their inaugural Thanksgiving game? You decide. Throughout history, other teams played regularly on Thanksgiving, including the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals (now in Arizona), Frankford Yellow Jackets, Pottsville Maroons, Buffalo All-Americans, Canton Bulldogs, and the New York Giants. Now, every team except a couple of jungle cats — the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers — have played on Thanksgiving, but the Lions and the Cowboys are the only teams that play every single year. Thanksgiving? Go around the table and say what you’re thankful for? Does grandma make a pumpkin pie that knocks you out? Thanksgiving football has also adopted its own set of traditions. Each game has its own prize. On CBS, the Turkey Leg Award features the winning team’s most valuable players IT’S TRADITION! What does your family do every
Other traditions include:
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Throwback jerseys
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Blackberry cobbler for the winners of the third game
• The Lions losing (their overall record is 36-38-2, but they’ve lost as many as nine in a row before) STUFFEDWITH ICONIC MOMENTS On Thanksgiving Day in 1921, the Chicago Staleys (later renamed the Bears) lost to the Buffalo All-Americans and demanded a rematch. Buffalo agreed, but only if the game was an off-the-record exhibition. The Staleys indeed avenged themselves, and the league decided to count the win
Sweat the Years Away THE LIFE-GIVING BENEFITS OF SAUNAS
feeling good and warming you up weren’t enough, a healthy mind is a great reason to sauna. And while the simplicity of the traditional sauna is part of what makes it great, some facilities have added a modern twist: infrared rays. Infrared saunas, already hot in NewYork City and Los Angeles, are starting to pop up everywhere. If you have trouble dealing with the heat of a typical sauna (average sauna temperatures are kept around 212 degrees F), this latest trend is for you. The average temperature of an infrared sauna is 150 degrees F, making it a more tolerable experience. One NewYork studio touts infrared’s ability to stimulate collagen production, an added anti-aging benefit. Need another bonus? Infrared saunas are said to release up to 20 percent more toxins from the body than traditional saunas. Whichever type of sauna you decide to visit, the potential health benefits speak for themselves. If you don’t get to escape to Miami or Cancun this winter (and even if you do), it’s a relaxing way to warmup and ease winter ailments. Treat your body and yourself to a sauna experience!
Colder weather is hard on our bodies for many reasons. The air dries and cracks our skin, freezing temperatures cause old injuries to flare up and joints to ache, and the conditions make it just plain hard to exercise. What’s a fair-weather bird to do? Head to the sauna! Sauna use has been popular in Finland for thousands of years, and there are compelling reasons why. Not only are there many bodily benefits, but science is telling us it may also protect the mind. We’ve known for a long time that saunas can help with blood circulation, stress relief, and cardiovascular health. Traditional saunas use heat to get your blood flowing and promote circulation, and the sweating that goes on during a sauna experience is said to rid your body of toxins. It’s a rejuvenating ritual that releases stress along with endorphins. Now, the health journal Age and Ageing has found evidence linking sauna use to a lowered risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Men aged 42–60 who participated in frequent sauna bathing sessions were found to have lowered rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s. If
2 • www.omtapt.com
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