Nearly a decade ago, I took my first and only trip to the center of the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Miss., and I lived to tell about it.

It wasn't fun.

The place is called The Grove, where tailgaters join others before Mississippi football games to hear a concert from The Pride of the South Marching Band. With various versions of "Dixie " blaring, Confederate flags waving and "yahoos" echoing through the willow oaks, the whole thing ranks among the most appalling things I've seen as a sports journalist who happens to be darker than a KKK hood.

As a man who lives and works in Green Bay, Wis., Aaron Rodgers knows. He's not blind or deaf. He sees the highlights, browses the web, listens to the talking heads. Like each and every one of his green-and-gold-clad neighbors, Rodgers is aware that the 2009 NFL season has been a turbulence-free cloud surf for Brett Favre and the Vikings and a brutal, muddy slog for his own Packers. You could actually argue that nobody knows this better than Rodgers, since no one else in town has (presumably) been sacked 43 times this year.

But since this is a day on which we're supposed to appreciate all the good things we have in life and take a little break from dwelling on the bad, I hereby invite the good people of Green Bay to fry up some Thanksgiving cheese curds, sit back and watch their man Rodgers dismantle the Detroit Lions. And as you watch, take a second to think to yourselves, "Hey, we could have it a lot worse."

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Just because something is corny, doesn't mean it can't be done. Saying what you are thankful for on Thanksgiving is an American tradition. Sure, it may be a bit played out -- and some would even say lame -- to write a column about things we're thankful for in a given sport. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna spit in the face of all the great Americans before me who began the tradition and kept it alive for all these years. So, let's do it, baseball-style.

The six teams that will play on Thanksgiving are a combined 10-1 this season when their quarterbacks pass for at least 300 yards. Historically, that's unusual: In the past, 300-yard passing games have not corresponded to winning. That, however, is no longer the case.

ORLANDO -- Even when he struggles -- and he struggled badly Wednesday night -- Dwyane Wade will find a way to win games for the Miami Heat.

It's what the great ones do.

Wade rarely shoots this poorly -- six of 22 from the field -- but he still had the Orlando Magic defense on a string, reacting to his every move, opening the door again for his sometimes-forgotten, oft-maligned teammates.

"He just did it with his intelligence at the end,'' said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra. "He's been in this situation so many times before.''

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After walking away from the Grizzlies and being rejected by the Knicks, Allen Iverson had nowhere to turn -- so, for the time being, he's decided to walk away from the game, announcing his plans to retire in a statement attributed to him on Stephen A. Smith's personal blog.

The statement expressed gratitude to his sponsors, fans and family for their support and inspiration -- as well as resentment for the lack of interest NBA teams have shown toward signing him as a starter.

"I would like to announce my plans to retire from the National Basketball Association. I always thought that when I left the game, it would be because I couldn't help my team the way that I was accustomed to. However, that is not the case. I still have tremendous love for the game, the desire to play, and a whole lot left in my tank. I feel strongly that I can still compete at the highest level."

With the Chicago Bears struggling through a season which began with such lofty expectations, many names are bound to be connected to the Bears. Most notably, people will start speculating about head coaches, defensive coordinators (to take pressure off Lovie Smith) and offensive coordinators who could replace the maligned Ron Turner.

A name that would make sense is Mike Martz -- who was head coach when Smith was the defensive coordinator in St. Louis for three seasons earlier this decade. Martz presently works as an analyst for the NFL Network, but -- according to the Chicago Sun-Times -- he would welcome being hired as the Bears' offensive coordinator.

(Update, Nov. 26: In a somewhat unlikely development, injured Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will start Thursday, according to a report on MLive.com.)

The Lions would love nothing more than to trot their new franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford, out for a national-television audience on Thanksgiving Day. But it looks like everyone will have to settle for Daunte Culpepper.

Stafford, who injured his left (non-throwing) shoulder one play prior to tossing a game-winning TD to beat Cleveland last Sunday, was listed as doubtful by the Lions for Thursday's game against Green Bay.

Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz did not sound optimistic about Stafford's playing status following the team's Tuesday practice, and apparently, nothing changed over 24 hours.

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Were it not for a small bit of friendly advice, the most excitable voice in college basketball might right now be the most excitable voice among masters candidates.

College basketball fans -- not to mention professors with sensitive ear drums -- have Scott Perry to thank for that.

"You know, [I] was getting ready to quit and go into coaching at the University of Detroit and go back to school, get my masters and coach basketball," says Gus Johnson, now one of college basketball's most recognizable voices and a March Madness mainstay. "Thank God Scott Perry [then director of player personnel with the Detroit Pistons] talked me out of it."

Gus Johnson, the announcer your cup of coffee would tune into if it felt a little sluggish in the morning, sitting quietly in a classroom? Maybe the day Tony Stewart teaches driver's ed.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- School's out. In so many ways.

It is a wet and raw and gray Thanksgiving eve day. Classes ended Tuesday for the holiday weekend. The Notre Dame campus is quiet except for the shuffling back and forth by various football players between the Gug and the athletic trainers' offices inside the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center (the J.A.C.C.).

Tailback Armando Allen, his right arm in a soft cast and a sling, is one of many players who can be seen (but not spoken to) walking at what can only be described as a leisurely pace. Allen's sling-and-cast get-up, by the way, appears less cumbersome than the one Charlie Jr. was sporting at Tuesday's practice following the surgery he underwent Monday for a broken finger.

Darth Visor, to answer your question, was nowhere to be seen.