Issue #230: Happy Thanksgiving!

By Derrick Ernst

November 27, 2025

Spur of the Moment

So I bet some of you are curious about how our past weekend adventure came to be. I’ll try being brief. My wife and I woke up on Saturday and were tuning into College Gameday when my wife said it has always been a dream of hers to see the Vikings play in Lambeau. Neither of us have ever been and deep down it has always been a bucket list item of mine too. I immediately went to the ticketing apps on my phone and realized that tickets weren’t as outrageous as I was expecting, especially given it was the Border Battle. With tickets secured, next was a hotel. We landed on one in Appleton (about 30 minutes outside of Green Bay) and we were almost all set. After a quick call to the in-laws and having them say yes to watching the dog, our plans were all set.

It’s about a five hour drive to Green Bay from the Twin Cities and while it’s almost all highway, it’s a bit daunting driving on unfamiliar roads in the dark. I’m not sure which of you may know this, but Wisconsin is like the deer vehicle accident capital of the world. You’re good for seeing at least one dead deer on the side of the road every ten mile stretch. With the sun setting as early as it does now, most of our travels to and from GB were only made possible by headlights.

After arriving in Appleton, nothing sounded better than a burger and cheese curds. We found a hole-in-the-wall spot and it delivered. We checked in early for the night because the alarm came early the next day. We wanted to make it to the stadium as early as possible to make the most of our time and we were able to do just that arriving around 8am. Little did we know the pregaming would be miles more entertaining than the game itself. A few thoughts:

• If you have a vehicle and are looking to park near the stadium, look no further than the yards of the many houses surrounding it. This is what my wife and I did and it couldn’t have worked out better.

• Packer fans are some of the nicest fans in the NFL. Despite wearing purple gear, we were offered food and drinks wondering through the tailgating lots. Being a Vikings fan, I was always under the impression growing up that we were to hate Packer fans. Turns out the two fan bases are quite amicable. Who knew?

• There’s a ton to do outside the stadium during pregame. The TitleTown area is a great place to hang out to pass the time. Outside of restaurants, there was a full fledged ice skating rink and turfed football field to play on, fire pits to stay warm, a stage with music, shuffle boards, bocce ball courts, and what looked to be a hill for sledding (although there wasn’t any snow).

The overall atmosphere feels like football. The town lives for it and that couldn’t be more apparent. With all these new stadiums being built, there’s something to be said about them being a distraction and negative force that distances their fanbases away from the history that underpins the team and makes the game of football (and really any sport) great. Not with Lambeau though. Whether it’s the metal bleaches, winter elements, smell of brats cooking on the grill, or the pieces of wear and tear present throughout the stadium, there’s something really special about Lambeau Field. Truthfully, all these elements made the horrid play of the Vikings sting a lot less and made the drive home one where we were coming off the high that was an impromptu experience for a lifetime.

A couple photos from the weekend:

Legs & Wings

The funny thing about Thanksgiving is that it’s primarily revolved around food and the center of most family’s spread is the turkey. Yet, I think I may know more people who dislike turkey and enjoy it, my wife being one of them! A very hot take, the younger generations will completely evolve what is consumed on Thanksgiving. I told this to my wife the other day and she didn’t disagree. Everyone loves making leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches. How come we just don’t have those the day of? This will be one trend that dissolves the traditional Thanksgiving. You heard it here first.

Since today is all about food, I did want to dive a little into the history of the Thanksgiving Day turkey leg tradition. First off, I thought the tradition of awarding a turkey leg to the MVP(s) of the night game was something that started a decade or so ago. Turns out it began in 1989! Here are some other fun facts:

• It was started by John Madden

• The first recipient of a turkey leg was Reggie White

• There was a hiatus of passing out turkey legs in the 2000’s when Madden stopped broadcasting Thanksgiving games, however, it was picked up again shortly thereafter

• While it’s not official, Emmitt Smith has won three turkey legs, the most all time

• The cooking of the turkey leg(s) used to be done by local businesses, but have now shifted to in-stadium caterers

• The “Frankenstein” turkey was “six-legged” and awarded to Emmitt Smith and his entire offensive line in 1992. The owner of Harvey’s Barbecue Pit, Joe Fieseler was the mastermind behind it all having attached the extra legs by way of wooden skewers. You can kind of see the six legs, but you get the point:

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

What’s better than a turkey leg? A chicken wing and apparently a Texans staff member was passing out buffalo wings to players after they upset the Bills last Thursday night. Someone get that guy/gal a raise!

Someone’s Gotta Be the One to Say It

Keep an eye on Tayson Hill. I know. I know. Those of you who are fantasy purists hate that I’m even mentioning his name, but someone has to do it. He has 17 carries over the last two games. Not bad for a TE. His snap share currently sits at a season best and since week ten, NO has rushed the ball tied for 4th most in the league. They don’t have anything to play for at this point so we could see them lean into the obscure more than usual. Hey, there are worse roster stashes!