If you happened to be listening to Chris Russell on The Team 980 Wednesday, you heard Chris' rant about not wanting the Commanders to play on Thanksgiving once again – and if not, here's a snippet:
"Part of this is the Commanders want to play in Thanksgiving Day for the exposure, and I've always resisted that, because I know their intentions are about making money," Russell said. "They played three straight Thanksgivings from 2016-18, and then again in 2020."
Well, we found out through JP Finlay's schedule leaks that indeed, Commanders at Cowboys is happening at 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day – the fifth time since 2012 Washington has visited Dallas on Turkey Day, and sixth DC football Thanksgiving overall in that 12-year span – and the Rooster…well, he just had to crow, and not in a good way, about that leak, so he joined BMitch & Finlay for this:
"It's been SO long since we've seen this matchup and had it ruin our Thanksgiving Day!" Russell ranted. "All the way since 2020! Oh, and 2018 and 2016 and 2012…enough! Find a new opponent! Get creative! All these magicians in the NFL scheduling office, and we get stuck every year with this team playing the Cowboys! Enough! I don't need to see this game on Thanksgiving; I don't need the angst, and the 10-hour work day, and all my colleagues who have to be away from their families and can't even have Thanksgiving! It sucks, it's stupid, and it's horrible – and I know the Commanders want to be in this game for marketing reasons, and that bothers me, because their business affects all of our eyes. I get one holiday a year with my kids, and it's ruined every other year."
The guys then got into an argument about choosing their professions and the pitfalls that sometimes come along with it…and that brought in THE BOSS, WTEM and WJFK Brand Manager Chris Kinard, in to have a laugh with Brian and JP at Rooster's expense.
"I think we need him to work a double!" CK laughed. "We're doing a show now during the games, so I'd like him to host the pregame show, that show, and the postgame show that day…and Christmas Eve!"
"This is ridiculous – who needs to see the Commanders that many times!" Russell screamed, to which CK then added on: "We're now going to make you write a 3,000-word summary of the game too!"
All joking aside, Russell is "about a negative five" on the 1-10 scale of excitement for that Thanksgiving game, because he understands it's harder on those like JP who have to travel, but that didn't stop the guys from continuing to have a lark at his expense.
Oh, and here's another lark: the Commanders have another Thursday night game in Week 6, when the Bears are coming to town for an Amazon Prime special…and Russell hates that, too.
"I hope that game is a little bit better than Week 6 at the Bears last year when that game absolutely stunk," Russell said. "I guess maybe because it's home, that's better? I don't know why the NFL is fascinated in showing us the Commanders and the Bears on Thursday night in back-to-back years."
Two Top 10 markets with legacy franchises was JP's explanation, although with the game on Amazon Prime now, how much does that matter given there's no TV ratings for FOX 9 or NBC 4 to prop up?
Hey, at least Rooster was able to cite his favorite pastime, Twitter, for agreeing with him that a lot of people aren't feeling the mid-afternoon slot on Turkey Day…thankfully, that Tryptophan coma won't let them change the channel!
Follow BMitch & Finlay on Twitter: @BMitchliveNBCS, @JPFinlayNBCS, and @BMitchandFinlay
Follow Chris Russell on Twitter: @Russellmania621
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