As North America braces itself for an NFL Thanksgiving Day marathon, NBA fans could be lonely this Christmas

On Thanksgiving Day, an annual tribute to gluttony, American preferences for side dishes run the gamut from sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to creamed spinach and candied yams.

For many Americans, there is but one essential accessory to turkey, the main culinary fare: a television set locked into football.

We sports types prefer to flavour almost any holiday with game-watching, and no special day of rest and relaxation is more closely associated with a particular professional sport than Thanksgiving.

We offer thanks for family and friends, for health and peace - and to the Detroit Lionsand Dallas Cowboys for being part of our turkey feast since almost forever.

During these breaks from life's grind, some cultures hit the pause button on their sports seasons. No work, so no play, goes the thinking.

In the US, they merely rejig the schedule, shifting events around to accommodate people on days with little on their plates, other than holiday food. NFL viewership on Turkey Day exceeds a typical Sunday by about 10 per cent.

The league is bound by history. These special games on the fourth Thursday of November date back a century, to an era when television was a figment of inventors' imaginations.

What, you do not recall the fierce rivalry between the Canton Bulldogs and the Akron Pros?

The Detroit Lions were first awarded the holiday home date in 1934. Other than a stretch in the early 1940s, when the nation was more focused on a world war, they have been a T-Day staple, as certain as your visiting cousins fighting over the last helping of cranberry sauce.