For some, Thanksgiving weekend is all about the holiday traditions of home, family and food. For others, though, the weekend centers on another holiday — one that is more focused on competition, big crowds and, most importantly, retail.

Black Friday, the day that traditionally ushers in the Christmas shopping season, gets its name from slightly outdated accountant jargon; on the fruitful day, retailers typically make a return from their financial losses of the prior season — “in the red” — and begin earning profits — “in the black.”

But the day is not only profitable for retailers. To draw customers in on Black Friday, stores are known to hold generous sales, often offering eye-catching bargains like 50 percent, 70 percent or even 90 percent off of store merchandise.

To accommodate the huge crowds of shoppers these offers bring in, stores notoriously extend their hours the day of — or sometimes the multiple days surrounding — Black Friday. Four or 5 a.m. is a typical opening hour for larger stores, such as Best Buy and Macy’s, that take part in the Black Friday mania. Some stores, such as Toys R Us, have even begun opening at midnight after Thursday’s Thanksgiving meal.

Junior Julia Stimeck, a former employee of L.L.Bean, said that when stores try too hard to attract customers, they can end up using marketing tactics that do not result in significantly increased sales.

“When I worked at L.L.Bean, they decided that they needed to stay open for 24 hours every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she said. “The intention was clear — they wanted to attract customers shopping for the holidays. But they didn’t really think about the fact that, other than on Black Friday, people are not willing to shop in the middle of the night. Why would anyone come shop at L.L.Bean at four in the morning on a weeknight? In the end, they probably spent more money hiring staff for night shifts than they earned by keeping the store open.”

Even with increased shopping hours throughout the entire holiday season, people still line up outside of stores at all hours of the night before Black Friday, eager to be among the first to dig through the best deals of the year. While some shoppers choose to pitch a tent and camp out in line, others simply brave the cold.

According to senior Ari Dukas, Black Friday shoppers may have to combat another phenomenon before they even reach the parking lot: late night traffic.

“A friend of mine woke up early to go wait [in] a line outside of a department store. She said that at 2 a.m. the traffic was already awful because of all the people trying to get to stores ahead of time,” Dukas said.

Once the stores open, those courageous enough to step foot in a department store must sometimes endure swarms of pushy people more concerned with grabbing the items they want than with their own, or anyone else’s, safety.

For Dukas, the reputation of overly aggressive shoppers is reason enough to avoid Black Friday shopping altogether.

“I’m not intense enough for Black Friday,” Dukas said.

Indeed, Black Friday occasionally gets more out of hand than a little pushing and shoving. Last year, a Wal-Mart employee was trampled and killed by Black Friday shoppers who stampeded through the store’s glass doors minutes before opening time. This year, policemen were called to break up brawls between competing customers in two Wal-Marts in California.

According to Stimeck, working to control the stampede of forceful shoppers can be more stressful than being a part of the crowd.

“Employees are given absurd work hours around the holidays, especially when your store is open 24 hours for about a week straight.” Stimeck said. “And clothing constantly ends up on the floors, on the wrong racks, all over the place. Customers can also be really nasty.”

This year, however, some Black Friday shoppers found that venturing into stores on Friday was not as intimidating as they had expected.

“I went [shopping] in the afternoon and was surprised by the fact that it was not absolutely packed,” junior David Johnson said.

Junior Lia Tucker had a similar experience.

“I just stopped off at Ann Taylor the day after Black Friday to take advantage of whatever sales were continuing, and I couldn’t believe how empty it was. There were about 10 people in the entire store,” she said.

Some students suspected that due to a struggling economy, people simply could not afford to shop for gifts, even with Black Friday discounts. Others guessed that retailers could no longer afford to offer sales as enticing as those they had offered in the past.

“The sales were sub-par. Too many ‘buy one, get one half off’ kind of sales instead of actual percentage discounts,” Johnson said. “Then again, I haven’t much enjoyed Black Friday for the past few years, either.”

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EL PASO COUNTY – New details are emerging in the Thanksgiving Day murder in Security allegedly involving a father and his son.

Aylais Oliver, 76, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of his son, 49-year-old Keith Oliver. Keith Oliver was killed around 3:00 PM Thanksgiving Day at a home at 4030 Oberding Drive in Security.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by NEWSCHANNEL 13, Aylais Oliver told an El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy he harmed his son. The affidavit describes a daylong argument between father and son over chores that ended in the death of his son.

According to the affidavit, Aylais’ wife, Marjorie, asked his son Keith to leave. The son did not leave and that’s when Aylais allegedly went upstairs to retrieve his gun. The affidavit goes on to describe Aylais confronting his son in the garage of the family home and having an argument that lasted “5 words” before allegedly shooting his son once.

During the argument, according to the affidavit, something along the lines of “stand up like a man” was heard from the victim prior to him being shot.

The affidavit goes onto describe Aylais sitting down on a step before being asked by his wife to lay the gun down.

Upon arrival, a deputy with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office contacted Aylais and noticed the man was breathing heavily. when asked if he was alright, Alyais responded, “that he had harmed his son,” according to the affidavit.

Alyais served in the military and worked at a steel mill for several years to support his family. according to the arrest affidavit, he was paying the rent and car payments for his twin sons.

November 29: Thanksgiving massacre: Paul Merhige’s search continues. a Florida man who allegedly shot dead four people, including his sisters, in the coastal town of Jupiter may be held soon after sleuths issues an arrest warrant.

The US Marshals are out on the road to spot the 35-year-old Paul Michael Merhige.

The man, who left the scene of crime after Thanksgiving Day shooting, faces four counts of first-degree murder. Besides, charges will also be slapped on him for attempting first-degree murder. The accused Merhige used a blue 2007 Toyota Camry with Florida license plate number W42 7JT to escape from the spot.

This was announced by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

Those who were at the receiving end of his shooting assault, include Merhige’s 6-year-old cousin, Makayla Sitton; his 33-year-old twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight; and 76-year-old Raymond Joseph, police said.

Shockingly, one of the victims — Knight — was pregnant.

A police spokeswoman told local reporters that the two others — Patrick Knight and Clifford Gebara — were wounded.

Further investigation by the cops in the case has thrown some disturbing facts like Merhige “had ongoing resentment” for some of his relatives, said Sally Collins-Ortiz, a spokeswoman for Jupiter police.

Presidential Thanksgiving messages are a routine bit of executive prose that most attentive citizens happily ignore in this moment of national gratitude. But the sky-is-falling mood that now pervades Obama commentary couldnt let this 435-word document pass without a few sniffs of disapproval.

The Gawker Web site called it an uninspiring first effort from our most literary president and expressed hope that he would spend a little more time on it next year. Politico damned it with faint analysis it was basic and brief and tread lightly to avoid controversy.

Mostly, the message reiterated familiar Obama themes of diversity, community and service. the opening line referred to Thanksgiving as a harvest celebration between European settlers and indigenous communities, and Obama called attention to the contributions of Native Americans, who helped the early colonists survive their first harsh winter and continue to strengthen our Nation.

The holiday was also a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our communities and our Nation throughout the year.

Maybe theyll surprise me, but Im willing to bet that a right-wing talk jock near you will soon be declaring the indigenous communities reference as un-American, and the call to service as yet another shout-out to socialism. Well also hear that the document never uses the word prayer, and that its one nod to God is in a quotation from George Washington (unless you count its mention of houses of worship, and the year of Our Lord in the date).

Yes, Im afraid things have gotten so vexed for Obama that Thanksgiving itself has become thankless. As it happens, that proclamation is revealing, but not necessarily in the ways his critics are likely to suggest.

You wonder if Obama will use this brief respite for reflection to ponder how, in a year, he has been transformed from a man once seen as capable of parting raging seas to the object of a terrible hatred on the right and mild disappointment among his allies. His opponents are on the march, his friends are grumpy.

Obama might fairly repair to the comforting thought that he inherited an unparalleled combination of disasters in the economy and foreign policy, and created such a surge of hope that he was expected, unrealistically, to have put everything right by now.

He will eventually get to claim a great victory on health care.

He helped the country avoid financial catastrophe. And isnt he doing pretty well in the polls, given the afflictions of unemployment and other forms of economic carnage? this line of thinking animates the White House. Obamas aides say it reflects a side of him that many have found attractive: a cool, detached confidence in the long-term that refuses to be disturbed by passing controversies and criticisms.

Yet there is a lesson for the president in the rote quality of his Thanksgiving proclamation that is significant only because it reveals Obamas underlying problem: what the document lacked was any sense of fighting spirit, any larger purpose, any gauntlet thrown down before his foes.

Contrast it to a Thanksgiving message Franklin D. Roosevelt offered in 1934 that was unapologetic in declaring his political goals. Our sense of social justice has deepened, Roosevelt insisted. We have been given vision to make new provisions for human welfare and happiness, and in a spirit of mutual helpfulness we have cooperated to translate vision into reality. … We can truly say, what profiteth it a nation if it gain the whole world and lose its own soul.

A year later, Roosevelt was at it again. We can be grateful, he wrote, that selfish purpose of personal gain, at our neighbors loss, less strongly asserts itself.

Roosevelt was no less pragmatic than Obama. He, too, was attacked demagogically as a socialist, and was equally loathed by his adversaries.

Yet Roosevelt was a happy warrior, a phrase he used about Al Smith that actually described FDR himself. He relished taking the fight to his enemies, once boasting: I welcome their hatred.

Obama will have more to be grateful for next Thanksgiving if he accepts that his foes intend to fight him for the next three years.

He needs to discover the joy that FDR took in fighting back, even in official documents that normally pass unnoticed.

E.J. Dionne Jr. is a columnist for the Washington Post. E-mail him atejdionne@washpost.com.

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JUPITER, Fla. — Authorities in Florida were searching Saturday for a man police said opened fire on his family after Thanksgiving dinner and killed four people, including his pregnant sister and a 6-year-old cousin who was sleeping in her bed.

There had been “ongoing resentment” in the family, but investigators weren’t sure what specifically prompted the shooting, officials said. Police were looking for Paul Michael Merhige, 35, of Miami. he was believed to be driving a royal blue 2007 Toyota Camry with a rear spoiler and Florida license plate.

Merhige is also accused of gunning down his pregnant sister’s twin and his 79-year-old aunt.

“What led to this incident, we’re not quite sure,” said Jupiter Police Sgt. Scott Pascarella. “It did not appear there was any altercation prior to this shooting.”

Pascarella said Merhige left briefly before returning to the home where 17 relatives had gathered in Jupiter, a small beach town about 90 miles north of Miami. the town is known as a home to celebrities including Michael Jordan and Burt Reynolds.

Pascarella said police first received a 911 call from a neighbor, then another from someone inside the home. the residence, in a well-kept new subdivision with brick-paved driveways, is owned by local TV videojournalist Jim Sitton and his wife. the home was surrounded Friday by yellow crime scene tape and police crime unit vans.

Sitton’s daughter Makayla had gone to bed before the rampage, police said.

“God packed a lot of sweetness into that little body,” Sitton said. “She’s just our life. I don’t know how we are ever going to recover.”

Sitton told local media that his daughter was supposed to perform in a holiday production of “The Nutcracker.” the Florida Classical Ballet Theatre had two shows Friday.

“Makayla was part of our family, and as one of the youngest dancers, she was to be one of Mother Ginger’s Children,” artistic director Colleen Smith said. “She was a beautiful, dear girl. She was a beam.”

The other victims were Merhige’s twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, and an aunt, Raymonde Joseph. Merhige’s brother-in-law Patrick Knight was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. another man, Clifford Gebara, 52, was grazed by a bullet.

Carla Merhige was a real estate agent in Miami.

“She was a wonderful agent,” said Joanna Sherman, a manager at Coldwell Banker Residential real estate. “She was very active in the community and in charities. She was just a genuine, beautiful individual. She always had a smile for everybody.”

Neighbors in the Palm Beach County community were shocked as police processed the home.

“Our kids walk the streets by themselves,” said Nicole Kemp, 67, who did not know any of the victims. “I thought it was the safest place to live. I guess it doesn’t matter, if there’s a maniac here.”

Associated Press writers Suzette Laboy and Tamara Lush in Miami contributed to this report.

By Mike Garafolo/The Star-LedgerNovember 27, 2009, 11:56AM

Doug Pensinger/GettyThe Giants had their fans blue in the face following Thursday night’s blowout loss in Denver.

DENVER — The Giants are running the wrong plays on the ground.

There, I said it. I’ve been hearing rumblings of that for a while now. all season, in fact. but I was reluctant to give them that out. It’s about blocking it up and running hard. That’s what gets you big yardage.

But after watching this team Thursday night and looking over the game again Friday morning, I’m convinced a major problem is they’re trying to go too wide and not straight ahead. Running backs coach Jerald Ingram said a lot of issues for Brandon Jacobs early in the season were the play calls to the outside that had him stopping and starting. well, they’re still making those calls and they don’t have Derrick Ward around to run them. plus, this offensive line would like to start knocking people off the ball more often instead of these finesse runs.

The worst one, to me, was after a 13-yard completion on their second offensive play of the second half. It was their longest play of the game at that point and it had come off an interception by Terrell Thomas that finally had them feeling good. so what did they do? they ran Jacobs wide on a stretch play with a lead blocker that went for a loss of 2 yards. Three plays later, Jacobs lost 3 yards on a run wide to the left side.

Starting with their next game against the Cowboys, the Giants need to start being more physical and straight ahead in the running game. they need to get after their opposing fronts. Now. And start being more effective in the running game. Now. to set up their passing game. Now.

And I’m not the only one who feels that way. Trust me.

GAME BALLS
Broncos WR Brandon Marshall. a couple of fingertip one-handed catches and suddenly it’s time to hug the rookie running back and slap hands with the coach. Brandon, you’re a terrific player — when your head is screwed on right.

Denver RB Knowshon Moreno. We’ve had a chance to see Eagles RB LeSean McCoy and Cards RB Beanie Wells this year and both of those guys have been impressive. but Moreno’s in another world compared to those guys. Elusive but powerful and terrific vision. That spin move on DT Rocky Bernard and DE Mathias Kiwanuka was one of the best moves by a back I’ve seen in a while. (Though that doesn’t excuse the missed tackles.)

Broncos LB D.J. Williams. no weaknesses in his game. More thoughts on him sprinkled throughout down low.

S Brian Dawkins. he was an absolute game changer last night. he was terrific in run support and all over the field. Safe to say the Eagles appear to have cut the cord on him a little too soon. having said that, see the bottom section for another thought on Dawkins.

Broncos fans. That stadium was rocking last night. The press box was shaking. Very impressive, especially since their team was on a four-game losing streak. I didn’t get the sense those fans were doubting their team.

Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. some guys are better suited as coordinators, not head coaches. Thursday night, the Broncos’ defensive scheme and execution were both superb. Denver just looked to be on step ahead of the Giants. One of my favorite calls was when they brought heavy pressure on a third down late in the first quarter but dropped two LBs out into coverage (I said LBs, not DEs folks) to take away the quick throws they knew Manning would make with the pressure coming. Williams darted right for WR Mario Manningham to undercut the slant on the right side and that’s exactly what Manning was looking to complete. great call, great play.

Denver K Matt Prater. Five touchbacks and kicks returned to the 16 and the 20. When an opposing offense is struggling and then has to deal with field position like that, a kicker really makes his coach happy.

GASSERS
Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. You asked for it, you got it. my biggest beef? what I wrote up top about the running game.

Coach Tom Coughlin. The “road warriors” are now on a three-game losing streak away from home. oh, and after a loss like that, Tom, nobody wants to hear how good your team meetings were. Nobody.

Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan. The defense gave up points on four of the Broncos’ first five drives. Dating back to the Falcons’ scoring on all four drives in the second half, that made eight of nine drives that ended in points for the opponent. other issues remain the same: DEs dropping into coverage, no personality, swagger or confidence and guessing wrong.

QB Eli Manning. I knew it was a bad sign when, on the first play of the game, Manning rolled right and threw for WR Hakeem Nicks on the short out, completely overlooking WR Steve Smith wide open on the deeper out. a few minutes later Mike Mayock broke down the play on NFL.com and made the point that, when you roll out and you’re not under pressure, you have to read from “high to low” and Manning definitely did not do it on that play. I also realized it was a bad sign when Manning threw behind Smith and nearly got picked off and then panicked and threw off his back foot on third down when he wasn’t under pressure in the least bit.

S C.C. Brown. I can’t be entirely positive about this because I don’t have the coverage call, but based on what I saw, it looked like the Giants were playing man coverage on a trips formation to the left side on the Broncos’ last TD. That means Brown, who was inside, should have taken the first player to emerge inside. That didn’t happen, as he instead rode with TE Tony Scheffler to the outside, leaving WR Brandon Stokley wide open over the middle. (And to boot, he got called for holding Scheffler.) Earlier, Brown also made the one mistake you can’t make on an NFL field: he hesitated. It was on a fourth-and-5 in the second quarter when he had RB Correll Buckhalter should he release out of the backfield. When Buckhalter stayed in to block, that freed up Brown to blitz. he started to come but stopped and then started again. Too late. Broncos QB Kyle Orton had already thrown the ball to Scheffler for a gain of 21. if he had just darted into the backfield, he would have had pressure or maybe a sack that could have given the ball back to the Giants instead of allowing Denver to go up 6-0.

RB DJ Ware. That fumble was a killer because the Giants might have been getting something going there.

CB Corey Webster. just like this whole team, I thought he had snapped out of it last week. but like this whole team, he regressed again. He’s got to bounce back because the Giants will need him to play well against Dallas.

LB Michael Boley. he couldn’t get off a block.

Anybody who missed a tackle. Kiwanuka, Bernard, Chase Blackburn, Barry Cofield, Thomas, et al. I pinned the blame on Sheridan, but frankly, those guys and more were in position to make stops in the backfield and didn’t do it.

SECOND-GUESSES
Matt Millen on the NFL Network broadcast: “I think this is the best receiving corps the Giants have had for as long as I can remember.” Matt, buddy, I feel where you’re going with this, but do me a favor and don’t, okay? not on a night when the opposing team has a guy making a pair of silly one-handed catches. I mean, this Giants receiving corps is very good, but how many times this year have we seen them make a play when there doesn’t appear to be one there? these guys do a good job of getting open, but this corps is just not creating enough plays. I’ve refrained from harping on this because I didn’t want to play the same note over and over, but it’s time to point out again how much they need a big, athletic body out there. Jerry Reese, you’ve talked about all the teams that have won without a Plaxico Burress-type presence and I agree it’s often not necessary. but take a look at your quarterback and how erratic he can be at times. he needs a guy that can help him when he’s not perfect, when he’s struggling and when he’s facing a veteran secondary like the Broncos’. he needs a guy who can go up and get a ball, providing Manning a bigger window. The Giants don’t have that in their receiving corps right now.

It’s bad enough DL Chris Canty has to get used to playing in a 4-3 after being a 3-4 DE with the Cowboys. but he also has to get used to dropping into coverage? That’s one guy that really shouldn’t be doing that.

Here’s a rule I’ve always thought to be weird: when Webster gets called for a personal foul on the flea flicker to Marshall for helmet-to-helmet contact, the Broncos are forced to decline the penalty for illegal contact on S Michael Johnson. but if Marshall catches the pass, the personal foul gets tacked on. well, shouldn’t the personal foul then get tacked on to the illegal contact call? Especially since the official said the blow to the head occurred “after the play.” Always thought that one was weird.

The DEs are coming way too wide on their pass rushes. I know that’s DE Osi Umenyiora’s thing, but it’s not just him and it’s happening consistently.

ODDS AND (TIGHT) ENDS
Now, a lot of you folks here know I grew up in Philly and was an Eagles fan until I got into this business and had my fandom stripped away (while covering the Eagles, I might add) by the need to be objective and other things. so while people around the league were calling Dawkins a dirty player, I suppose I didn’t see it so much. You know how it is — love him when he’s on your team, hate him when he’s playing for somebody else. but last night, I finally saw Dawkins the cheap-shot artist. On an incompletion to Smith in the third quarter, Dawkins comes behind and hits Smith in the back. That’s cool. Legal hit there. but then, as Smith is falling to the ground with Dawkins on top of him, Dawkins takes his fists and slams them into Smith’s back. Absolutely, positively uncalled for. Even if he wasn’t sure whether Smith had the ball or not, that’s a disgusting play.

Anybody see one of the officials smiling at Dawkins’ celebration after his fumble recovery? It’s visible on the replay after Moreno’s TD. Don’t know what to make of that, so I’ll let you guys have at it.

I mentioned how Brown hesitated on the blitz. Want to see what happens when you don’t hesitate? Watch Williams’ sack in the second quarter. he had the same RB-to-blitz responsibility and he played it beautifully. he made a read and went with it. And even though Ware snuck out into the flat, it didn’t matter because Williams was already on top of Manning. That’s the confidence and swagger that’s missing from the Giants’ defense right now.

Broncos TE Daniel Graham got flagged for holding twice. The way he blocks, with his hands on the outside, he could get flagged on every play.

What a tremendous catch by Manningham on the toe-tapper in the third quarter. Wow. Manningham was favoring his left shoulder on the way to the locker room. He’s had a shoulder issue all season long. We’ll see if there’s anything new to report when Coughlin addresses reporters on a conference call Friday afternoon.

In addition to the play calling, another issue with the Giants’ running game is the second-level blocking. Do yourself a favor (if you have the game DVRed or taped) and go back and watch Ware’s 13-yard run in the third quarter. Watch the block by RG Chris Snee on Williams and notice how that one block makes the entire play happen. That’s one of the big things the Giants need to get this running game going.

They really like Christmas here in Denver. Everything’s lit up and there’s Christmas music everywhere. It’s like they blew right past Thanksgiving.

Having ripped this team and its performance to shreds, allow me to say two things: 1. while Coughlin refused to use the short week and the scheduling as an excuse, there’s no doubt in my mind this team was affected. 2. I wrote what’s known as an “early” for the early editions of the paper that went to press before the game ended. That story was about how, no matter what happened in Denver, the games against the Cowboys and Eagles had to be won. so while Thursday’s game stung, don’t forget that if the Giants beat the Cowboys, they’re only a half-game out of first place with four to play. take a deep breath. The games that matter most have not been played yet.

And finally, I know Thursday night didn’t end well, but I hope all of Giants nation and everyone out there had a terrific Thanksgiving and will do their best to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Jenny Vrentas will take you home the rest of Friday, as I make my flight back home. I should have a story up here Saturday night, but I do plan on having a pseudo-Thanksgiving with the fam Friday night and all day Saturday, so I might not be able to get back to your comments and e-mails as much as I’d like. but please do keep the (intelligent) conversation going down below.

Thanksgiving Day in the US is normally a time for forgiving and forgetting and Obama, shining beacon of forgiveness that he is, has pardoned Turkey!

This news spread round the world like wildfire and Istanbul reacted swiftly to the news.

Turkey’s President sent an urgent message to the States asking “what the fuck have we done now, murdered Kurds, tried to enter the ECC, sent more of our countrymen to Germany to annoy the NSPD, extreme right?”

The whole thing exploded into a diplomatic crisis with Turkey asking the US why have they been pardoned!

Obviously on Thanksgiving Day in the US nobody works including Obama so a special envoy was sent disturbing Obama and his family enjoying their “Turkey” dinner.

“What the f**k is it now” Obama screamed down the corridors of the White House, “a man can’t even eat his Turkey on Thanksgiving day in peace!”

After being informed about the crisis with the Turks, he realised what the problem was, Obama had pardoned a real TURKEY and the TURKEY is now living the rest of his life in Disneyland.

Obama promptly informed the Turkish President about the slight misunderstanding and wished him a happy Thanksgiving Day, told him to keep his filthy Turkish hands off of the Kurds and don’t upset my Deutsche friends!

Make Jaggedone’s day – rate this story with the stars, they’re just down there!

Sky Bet have produced a range of NFL special markets ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day triple header, live on Sky Sports 3.

Betting is available on which of the six teams in action will score most points and the bookmaker make Green Bay the 15/8 favourites ahead of the Dallas Cowboys.

With Detroit set to be without ace receiver Calvin Johnson and record-breaking rookie Matthew Stafford due to injuries, a repeat of last week’s high-scoring performance against Cleveland looks unlikely and they are 8/1 to be highest-scoring team on Thanksgiving.

Their hero last week Brandon Pettigrew, who scored a dramatic last-second touchdown in the to earn Detriot victory 38-37 over the Browns, is a 16/1 shot to score the first touchdown or 8/1 to score the first touchdown for the Lions.

The clash is followed by Oakland’s trip to Dallas Cowboys, who have struggled to find any sort of consistency this term. The Cowboys also snatched a last-ditch win last week over Washington Redskins last week so the Raiders could spring a shock and are 9/1 to win by between 1 and 6 points.

In the final match of the treble, NY Giants’ Brandon Jacobs is 9/1 to score a hat-trick of touchdowns at unfancied Denver.

Odds are also available on how many touchdowns will be scored over the three games, with 13 or fewer favourite at 6/4.

Sky Bet are also offering extra value with five enhanced trebles, in which you can back the three favourites – Dallas, Green Bay and New York Giants at 8/11. It’s 10/1 for Green Bay, NY Giants and Oakland all to win or 150/1 for shocks across the board with the three underdogs, Denver, Detroit and Oakland coming out on top.

You can also bet on a number of enhanced scoring multiples including Donald Driver (Green Bay), Miles Austin (Dallas) and Steve Smith (NY Giants) all to score a touchdown at 6/1.

Click on the link for all Thanksgiving specials or to see all NFL betting.

Week 12 – Thanksgiving Day Specials Anytime TD Scorers Enhanced Multiples: Driver, D (GB) , Austin, M (DAL) , Smith, S (NYG) 6/1

DETROIT — the Green Bay Packers are hoping to bolster their postseason chances with a win at Detroit on Thanksgiving.

Recent history suggests the Lions will be accommodating hosts.

Detroit has lost five straight games on the holiday by an average of 23.4 points since beating the Packers in 2003, and its worst game this season was at Green Bay.

The Lions (2-8), though, are enjoying a positive buzz they haven’t had since starting 6-2 two years ago. they rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Cleveland last Sunday for the franchise’s biggest comeback victory since 1957.

“Our locker room is on a high right now,” Detroit center Dominic Raiola said. “We’re motivated to keep it that way after we were embarrassed at Green Bay. We have something to prove to the Packers, and everybody else watching us on national TV. the last time we were on national TV, last Thanksgiving, we got embarrassed by Tennessee.

“We’ve got to put our foot down and start winning this game. Since I’ve been here, we’ve only beat Green Bay. the Lions used to not lose on Thanksgiving.”

The Lions slump on Thanksgiving — losing seven of eight — has been bad enough to put them one game under .500 in their annual showcase.

Detroit won four straight and nine of 12 on Thanksgiving before ex-general manager Matt Millen arrived in 2001 and turned a lackluster franchise into a laughingstock.

First-year coach Jim Schwartz has tried to stress the importance of Detroit’s traditional game to his players.

“It’s not just everybody watching, it’s everybody with relatives meeting up with families,” Schwartz said. “They’re all just sitting around the living room waiting for the turkey and the apple pie and they’re going to turn the game on.

“There’s some urgency to it from the standpoint that you’re on national television and there’s a pride thing.”

Detroit’s chances to win — or at least be entertaining — will be directly tied to the health of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.

Stafford (shoulder) and Johnson (hand/knee) were both hurt in Sunday’s win over the Browns and were unable to practice two days later in Detroit’s only full practice of the week. Stafford was listed as doubtful and Johnson questionable.

The last time the Lions didn’t have Stafford and Johnson on the field, it wasn’t pretty for them. Green Bay took advantage with a 26-0 win last month.

“We played probably our worst game of the year,” Schwartz said.

Green Bay (6-4) won’t have any sympathy for the banged-up Lions because it lost cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman to season-ending knee injuries in last week’s win over San Francisco.

Tramon Williams is expected to fill in for Harris and rookie Brad Jones, a seventh-round pick, is slated to play in Kampman’s place.

The Packers got some good news Wednesday when center Scott Wells practiced a day after a knee injury held him out of workouts.

Receiver Greg Jennings said the offense might have to do more than usual to make up for the depleted defense.

“Losing those guys definitely hurt,” Jennings said. “But as an offensive guy, you kind of take it on yourself to make sure we do our job even more, put more points on the board, take more stress off the defense.”

Against Detroit, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Brady Quinn threw four touchdown passes, surpassing the career total he had in three seasons, against a team that ranks 31st overall and last against the pass.

“I think you can make a mistake when you look at a team just in their last game,” said Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy, 7-0 against the Lions. “They’re going to make adjustments and they’ll have a good plan for us on Thursday.”

Aaron Rodgers has almost 1,000 yards passing, eight touchdowns and one interception in his last three games against the Lions.

Rodgers insisted it’s not difficult to take Detroit seriously because of what the Packers have at stake.

“It’s an important time for us,” he said. “We know what December holds, four straight outdoor cold games. We’re going to enjoy this indoor game and hopefully get to 7-4.”

Thanksgiving dinner costs decrease >>Print View

by Joan Ogwumike

Staff Reporter

Publication Date: 11/24/2009

As consumers are looking for bargains during this year’s holiday season, recent studies show that dinner should be cheaper for most people this Thanksgiving.

Based on a statewide survey made by the Indiana Farm Bureau, “this year’s dinner for 10 is $43.93, down $1.64, or 3.6 percent, from last year’s average of $45.47. The average cost is $3.27, or 6.9 percent, lower than 2007’s average of $47.63.”

These numbers are compared with the cost of dinner during 2007’s Thanksgiving and the prices this year. While there has been an increase of prices since 1990, yearly averages show that a decline began in 2007, and 2009 sets itself apart.

From a national perspective, the American Farm Bureau Federation has also conducted an informal price survey that averaged the costs of traditional Thanksgiving items based on the consumer price index. The items were: “turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10″ with the average cost of these items coming to “$42.91, a $1.70 price decrease from last year’s average of $44.61.”

Corinne Alexander, associate professor of agricultural economics said, “The CPI is always a year over year comparison.”

She added the reasons costs are down.

“Part of the reason, all of the ingredient costs are off their records,” she said. “Also, the recession has had two effects: It reduced demand for U.S. exports, which means there’s more supply here, and the recession has reduced consumer demand for food, so people are buying less or switching to off-brands. All of that puts downward pressure on prices.

“Another factor is lower energy costs for grocery stores and manufacturers, and those costs are being passed on to consumers as well,” Alexander said.