​Turkey Bowl Memories: A Challenge and Opportunity for All

The Turkey Bowl, the annual Xavier-Fordham Prep Thanksgiving Day football game, stands proudly as one of the most storied rivalries in New York City football history. Various iterations of the series have been featured in widespread news outlets, ranging from the Wall Street Journal to ESPN. The Turkey Bowl is a long-standing tradition that evokes fond memories in the hearts of all alumni, their parents, and all friends of Xavier.

Recently, the Monday Morning Quarterback, a subsidiary site of Sports Illustrated magazine, issued a challenge perhaps best suited to those well-acquainted with the Turkey Bowl: to write, in 200 words or less, about a Thanksgiving Day high school football, why it is loved, and what makes it great. Here is a complete description:

"New idea 2: We at The MMQB love Thanksgiving football. In particular, we love high school football on Thanksgiving. And we want to publicize the best Thanksgiving Day high school games in the country. So I want you to nominate a great Thanksgiving Day football rivalry that you know of. In 200 words, tell me what makes it great. Send along a photo or two if you can. And during Thanksgiving Week, we’ll run the best mini-essays on the games that you love. Rules: Games much be played on Thanksgiving. They must be current rivalries; in other words, they must be played this year. If we use your essay, you’ll win a The MMQB T-shirt. (Hey, it’s the only prize I have. Sorry.) Make this a great contest. Let’s have games represented from sea to shining sea. Alaska! What do you have for us? Hawaii? Bring it! Send you nominations to talkback@themmqb.com."

We’re sure that many of you have great memories and ideas as to how to best convey the essence of the Turkey Bowl, and can also put together a great piece, so please send your nominations to talkback@themmqb.com as soon as you can - I know we will - to make sure that they will be seen in time. It would be great to see a lot of Xavier submissions!

If you write a piece, please send us a copy at LavinS@xavierhs.org. In the future, we'll to try to publish some of our favorites!

Thanks, and good luck!