Syosset friends: Same place, same people for Thanksgiving football game

Every Thanksgiving morning for more than 40 years, through rain, snow and, this year, frigid temperatures, a group of friends who attended the same high school has gathered in the same Syosset park  to play football.

There are no emails or Facebook messages, not even phone calls, to remind the 14 alumni of what they call the Turkey Bowl.

“On Thanksgiving morning, you have a cup of coffee and you put on your clothes, and when you get to the field, you just know everyone’s going to be there,” said John Busi, 59, of Huntington, who like most of the group played on the Syosset High School Braves varsity football team decades ago.

Players disagree on exactly what year the game started. Some say it was in 1973, when they were still in high school. Others say it was in 1976, a few months after most had graduated. Alumni who attended Harry B. Thompson Middle School say the roots are in games they inaugurated in 1970.

The annual game pits graduates of Thompson against graduates of the rival South Woods Middle School. Over the years, family and friends of alumni have joined the game or cheered from the sidelines.

In the early years, the game was 90 minutes of intense, uninterrupted tackle football without pads or other protection.

“You’d come off the field bruised and banged up, and you’d really want to win that game,” Busi recalled.

More recently, with aging bodies and family obligations, players have replaced tackles with “rough touches.”  

And the intense competitiveness has mellowed. This year, South Woods was leading four touchdowns to zero at halftime so players agreed to start an entirely new game, which Thompson won three touchdowns to two.

Few seemed to care that a family member’s goldendoodle kept running on the field to jump on players’ legs and occasionally nudge the football with her nose.

Participants darted on and off the field to catch up on marriages, illnesses, vacations and jobs. Some of the players have remained close. For others, the Thanksgiving reunion is their only chance to get together.

“The kind of friendships we have is that you see someone and you pick up right where you left off from last year,” said Ron Kaiser, 59, of Dix Hills.

The children and family of alumni have become friends, and the game has become their Thanksgiving tradition as well.

“We began coming here as soon as we could walk,” said Blake Nelson, 26, of Huntington. “It’s cool to see our dads maintain such a strong tradition.”

As the original players near retirement age, health and other issues affect the game. One player stayed on the sidelines last year because he was recovering from a kidney transplant. Another couldn’t make it this year because he recently moved to Florida. Only 10 of the 14 played on Thursday, fewer than in past years.

“It will be a sad day when we get to the field and someone isn’t there because they’re not with us anymore,” Busi said.