Detroit

For as long as most of us can remember, the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions have played games on Thanksgiving Day. But why?

Let’s start with the Lions. They have played every Thanksgiving since 1934, with the exception of 1939-44, despite the fact they haven’t been a good team most of those years. The Lions played their first season in Detroit in 1934 (before that, they were the Portsmouth Spartans). They struggled their first year in Detroit, as most sports fans there loved baseball’s Detroit Tigers and didn’t come out in droves to watch the Lions. So Lions owner George A. Richards had an idea: Why not play on Thanksgiving?

Richards also owned radio station WJR, which was one of the biggest stations in the country at that time. Richards had a lot of clout in the broadcasting world, and convinced NBC to air the game nationwide. The NFL champion Chicago Bears came to town, and the Lions sold out the 26,000-seat University of Detroit field for the first time. Richards kept the tradition going the next two years, and the NFL kept scheduling them on Thanksgiving when they resumed playing on that date after World War II ended. Richards sold the team in 1940 and died in 1951, but the tradition he started continues today when the Lions play the Green Bay Packers.

The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966. They came into the league in 1960 and, as hard as it is to believe now, struggled to draw fans because they were pretty bad those first few years. General manager Tex Schramm basically begged the NFL to schedule them for a Thanksgiving game in 1966, thinking it might get them a popularity boost in Dallas and also nationwide since the game would be televised.

It worked. A Dallas-record 80,259 tickets were sold as the Cowboys defeated the Cleveland Browns 26-14. Some Cowboys fans point to that game as the beginning of Dallas becoming “America’s team.” They have missed playing on Thanksgiving only in 1975 and 1977, when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle opted for the St. Louis Cardinals instead.

The games with the Cardinals proved to be losers in the ratings, so Rozelle asked the Cowboys if they would play again in 1978.

“It was a dud in St. Louis,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1998. “Pete asked if we’d take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.’ ”

Dallas takes on the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.

Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night to end a three-game losing streak.

DeBrincat has 18 goals and 33 points in 20 games against the Ducks.

Moritz Seider and Dylan Larkin each had a goal and an assist, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored his second career goal. Michael Rasmussen also scored after being a healthy scratch for Detroit’s 5-1 loss to Chicago on Sunday.

Jonatan Berggren, Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond added two assists apiece.

Seider and DeBrincat scored on power plays, reviving a Detroit unit that had gone one for 20 during its previous five games.

John Gibson and Cam Talbot combined for 25 saves for Detroit. Gibson departed after two periods because of an undisclosed injury.

Cutter Gauthier, Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks, and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves. Leo Carlsson’ss 11-game points streak ended. The Ducks have lost two straight after a seven-game winning streak.

Detroit took a 3-2 lead in the second period after a scoreless first.

The Red Wings broke the deadlock at 5:57 of the period after the Ducks’ Mason McTavish was whistled for his third penalty of the game. Seider scored on a shot from the point but the Ducks tied it less than two minutes later on Gauthier’s team-high 12th goal.

Rasmussen and Kreider traded goals before Sandin-Pellikka scored from the point for his second career goal.

DeBrincat gave the Red Wings a 4-2 lead 50 seconds into the third period when he tipped in Seider’s shot during a power play. Larkin scored on a two-on-none breakaway to answer Granlund’s goal. DeBrincat added an empty-netter.

The teams split their two-game season series.

DETROIT — Two men who had acquired high-powered weapons and practiced at gun ranges were scouting LGBTQ+ bars in suburban Detroit for a possible attack, authorities said Monday in filing terrorism-related charges against the pair.

Momed Ali, Majed Mahmoud and co-conspirators were inspired by Islamic State extremism, according to a 72-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court. Investigators say a minor, identified only as Person 1, was deeply involved in the discussions.

“Our American heroes prevented a terror attack,” U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said on X.

The men, described as too young to drink alcohol, had looked at LGBTQ+ bars in Ferndale as a possible attack, according to the complaint.

FBI agents had surveilled the men for weeks, even using a camera on a pole outside a Dearborn house, according to the court filing. Investigators also got access to encrypted chats and other conversations.

FBI Director Kash Patel had announced arrests Friday, but no details were released at the time while agents searched a home in Dearborn and a storage unit in nearby Inkster.

The FBI said the men repeatedly referred to “pumpkins” in their conversations, a reference to a Halloween attack.

Ali and Mahmoud were charged with receiving and transferring guns and ammunition for terrorism. Mahmoud had recently bought more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition that could be used for AR-15-style rifles, and they practiced at gun ranges, the government alleged.

They will appear in court Monday for their initial appearance. Mahmoud’s lawyer, William Swor, declined to comment. Messages seeking comment from Ali’s lawyer, Amir Makled, were not immediately answered.

Over the weekend, Makled seemed to wave off the allegations, saying they were the result of “hysteria” and “fear-mongering.”

It’s the second case since May involving alleged plots in the Detroit area on behalf of the Islamic State. The FBI said it arrested a man who had spent months planning an attack against a U.S. Army site in Warren. Ammar Said has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody.

White writes for the Associated Press.

Nov. 3 (UPI) — Two men face federal charges for allegedly plotting a terror attack in Michigan over Halloween weekend, according to a criminal complaint unsealed.

On Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel stated the bureau “thwarted a potential terrorist attack.” Patel added that FBI agents arrested “multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend.”

Five suspects were arrested, two of whom — Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud — were charged with multiple felonies in a 73-page criminal complaint in Michigan’s eastern federal judicial district.

Ali and Mahmoud were charged with receiving, transferring, attempting and conspiring to transfer firearms and ammunition.

In addition, the two suspects were charged with knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a federal terror crime.

The two allegedly purchased three AR-15-style rifles in August and September along with thousands of ammunition rounds and other firearm accessories, according to court documents.

Suspects referred to an attack by “brothers” in private WhatsApp messages on behalf of an Islamic extremist terror group.

FBI officials said the two “traveled together to scout potential target locations in Ferndale, Michigan” that included a number of known LGBTQ+ bars and clubs.

On Saturday, Ali was described as a 20-year-old U.S. citizen “with a lawful interest in recreational firearms.”

“There is no evidence whatsoever of a planned terror or ‘mass casualty’ plot,” said attorney Amir Makled, who represents Ali.

Two of the five arrested were released from custody.

Meanwhile, Ali and Mahmoud were due in court Monday.