Evidently, there was mincemeat on the menu for the Colts Thanksgiving Day… because that’s what they made out of the Lions with Peyton Manning’s six touchdowns. Knowing Peyton as long as I have (I covered him for ESPN when he was still in college at Tennessee), it’s hard for me to appreciate the mastery of a future Hall of Famer… but his performance was truly spectacular, and already the second time in his career Peyton’s passed for six scores. Unbelievable!

Gotta love a Thanksgiving, though, where I can be in Detroit in the afternoon, and then sitting in the comforts of my cousins’ home in New Jersey by 6:45, feasting on turkey and watching the end of the Dallas game. CBS was thoughtful enough to charter a plane back east for us, so we could spend a little time with our families. As much as I enjoy being a part of Thanksgiving’s football tradition, there’s just no substitute for being with the people you love… and I was truly thankful to spend whatever time I could with them on this day, even if it was just for a few hours.

Now, not that I want to put a damper on the holiday spirit, but I’d like to address a couple of unfortunate incidents that took place in my business recently that, sadly, I feel may be a direct reflection of America’s transgression in morality.

First, the Nicollette Sheridan/Terrell Owens Monday Night locker room farce. By happenstance, it was my turn two weeks ago to do the CBS radio tour, where I spent a couple of hours bouncing around different stations across the country. Of course, being a woman, it was the hot button topic. Did I think it was ridiculous? Uh, yeah. Did I think it was inappropriate? Probably. But was I shocked? Not at all, and here’s why: unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard the age-old advertising adage, "sex sells". And really, that theory applies to all things sport. That’s why cheerleaders have been wearing skimpy get-ups on the sidelines long before Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction"… that’s why you have scantily clad women mud wrestling in beer commercials…that’s why you have the WNBA trying to glam up its stars, even though they just want to be players, not Tyra Banks or Heidi Klum clones.

Sex sells. You know it, I know it, and as much as the NFL has been pooh-poohing it, I suspect, they, too, may have an inkling. The sad part about it is that professional athletes, in and of themselves, are well worth the price of admission or the minimal effort it takes to point your clicker at the tube. They are the best at their craft… they provide entertainment for kids and adults alike… in times of great tragedy, as in the post- 9/11 days, sport is even powerful enough to bring a nation together and provide comfort in the familiarity of America’s great pastimes. If there were no cheerleaders, no Coors Twins, no "Desperate Housewives" cross-promotional parodies, I’d bet any amount of money that men (and women) would still watch football. But for some reason, it’s just not enough. And sex won’t stop selling any time soon. Even if Paul McCartney is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show this year.

That being said, the shameful display we witnessed by professional athletes in last Friday night’s Pacers-Pistons fiasco was inexcusable, as was the unorthodox showing of fan participation. And EVERYONE is to blame here. On one hand, if you’ve ever competed passionately in anything (including your high school debate team), you know how powerful adrenaline can be-- it can make lions out of lambs. At times, even though athletes realize they’re role models and constantly scrutinized under the public microscope, adrenaline can be a hard thing to control. If someone, unprovoked, threw a drink on you while you were lying on the scorer’s table, I challenge anyone with any semblance of pride to refute how difficult it would be to contain yourself.

No, Ron Artest should NOT have charged some clown in the stands… he, unquestionably, should have let a cop (where was all the security, btw?) handcuff the imbecile and toss him out of the arena. But fans have absolutely no business throwing beer or popcorn or chairs or ANYTHING at players who do no harm, specifically, to them. I mean, think about it… how would you feel if you just got into a screaming match with your boss and you were sitting in your cubicle trying to compose yourself, when the guy next to you threw a stapler at your head because you were making too much noise? (Yes, I realize, the guy next to you didn’t pay $80 or more for a ticket to sit next to you, but you catch my drift). And as for the guy lurking on the court? No, of course he shouldn’t have gotten decked… that was a bit extreme… but dude, just because you have a Pistons jersey on doesn’t mean you’re a player. The only time fans should be on the court is when they’re celebrating a huge victory, and even then, those stampedes can prove dicey.

You know, it’s times like these when I’m starting to think we’ve lost our scruples. We throw ethics and principals out the window. Instead of trying to quell the madness, we further instigate bad behavior. We express ourselves through physical aggression. We try to exploit our carnal nature.

I know things weren’t perfect when my parents were growing up in the 50’s… but comparatively speaking, those days seemed so much more innocent and respectful. I’ve always thought it would be kinda cool to spend a Friday night at a sock-hop or a soda shop sipping a malt with my beau.

Instead, I get to watch desperate housewives do locker room strip teases…and players who want time off to promote rap cd’s charge fans like bulls in Pamplona.

Sometimes, you just gotta wonder… what in the world is going on?