It’s Thanksgiving Day, the holiday most associated with football.

However, it’s become a lost concept in New Hampshire, which this year has only one game, Manchester West vs. Mamorial at Gill Stadium.

Nashua lost its Wednesday night/Thursday morning game when COVID hit in 2020, and has never returned. The reasons range from a dip in popularity to the fact the NHIAA changed the Division I playoff format, adding an extra week with the finals being played this coming Saturday. If Nashua North or South were to be in the finals, the game would have had to have been cancelled. Also, on the flip side, the Titans did not make the playoffs, and would have had way too much time off in between their final regular season game and a potential Turkey Bowl.

We think the mistake was made 20 years ago after The Split when Bishop Guertin was in essence frozen out of the game. You get three schools involved, take the two with the best records, and they play. But of course it’s the same as North vs. South: All three teams play each other in the regular season and could see each other in the playoffs, as South-BG did this year. So we can see it. That was the beauty of the old Nashua-BG game: the two teams were in different divisons, at different levels, etc. It made more sense. But a sign that this just isn’t something that could surivive is the fact BG never tried to find another holiday opponent, etc., even though someone would always come up with a rumor or two.

To be fair, the Thanksgiving high school concept has lost its luster in Massachusetts as well, but not nearly to the same extent. The Boston Globe ran a story onTuesday that basically said the crowds have gone down so it’s not the cash cow athletic departments had previously enjoyed. Of course, part of that is due also – as in this state – to a playoff change. Those games in the Bay State used to determine a spot in the playoffs for many teams, but now those playoffs are already underway. However, there are still a gazillion games either Wednesday night or today, and they’ll be played in rain and mud, etc., which the kids love. And Fenway has a slew of games, doubleheaders played Tuesday and slated for Wednesday night. So it’s still a big deal.

Just not here. To be fully transparent, we do miss it, but also don’t miss it. When the Nashua Turkey Bowl was moved to Wednesday night, it was nice to have Thursday completely off. At first it seemed to bring in a crowd, but there was one pre-COVID year when an early snow had Stellos frozen solid, the stands full of ice and snow. Hardly anyone was there.

Someone some day may try to revive it or revamp it, but we don’t think anytime soon. And next year, don’t be surprised if Nashua South is playing in the Division I title game anyway.

So if you want football today, either head to Manchester or do what we’re doing, settling for Bears at Lions, Giants at Cowboys (ugh) or, the best of the day, Dolphins at Packers. And be thankful for an entertaining and fabulous local fall sports season that has just concluded with two football championships, two soccer, one field hockey, and two (division and state) cross coutnry. Great stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

(Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or you can follow him on X (formerly twitter) @Telegraph_TomK.)