Thanksgiving tradition takes year off with cancellation of Big Bone game
For 27 consecutive years, Kevin Collins has had an 11 a.m. appointment on Thanksgiving Day.
Collins is never responsible for brining a turkey, peeling potatoes or putting a green bean casserole in the oven, but this year, he’s free to do all of it.
His standing appointment, the annual Big Bone game between Lincoln and San Jose, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s sad and kind of weird, it’s just the way the times are right now,” the longtime Lincoln head coach said Thursday. “It’s a reflection on how everything has had to change.”
The 2020 Big Bone game was expected to be the 78th Thanksgiving Day meeting between the rival programs, and while the players change each year, the traditions remain the same. Collins wakes up at 6 a.m. to commute in from Hollister, buy breakfast for his players and celebrate a senior class that’s taking the field for the last time.
Collins’ Lincoln Lions have won 22 consecutive Big Bone games and despite the fact his team hasn’t even practiced in
small cohorts since the summer due to COVID-19 restrictions, members of Collins’ coaching staff were preparing to make it 23 in a row.
“My coaches, we keep texting each other as if we really do have a game,” Collins said. “It’s like, ‘ Hey, I’ll see you at the Big Bone breakfast.’ One of my guys actually texted me and said, ‘ Hey where is everybody, I’m at the restaurant and nobody is here.’ We always do the breakfast the day before.”
The Big Bone breakfast is as much of an event as the game itself.
It’s where coaches and players meet for one last meal together, and where seniors stand up to tell their teammates what they’re thankful for. Hours later, Collins gathers his team for a final practice, which includes a detour to the school theater.
It’s in the theater where seniors stand up individually again, but this time, their teammates honor them with words of gratitude.
On the field Collins separates the seniors — he thinks 25 would have played this year— and lets them walk the field and think about their journey through the program. As juniors and sophomores wait on the other side, Collins addresses his eldest players.
“I’ll tell them, ‘ You’ll always be a Lincoln Lion, but this is the last time you’re going to walk the field as a guy that’s going to play in a game the next day.’” Collins said. “The seniors go on one end and then I’ll tell them something about their class that I’m always going to remember, what their class has meant to me and to our program.”
After practice, Collins takes a call from San Jose State special teams coordinator and close friend Fred Guidici. Despite the cancelation, Collins and Guidici honored their tradition.
“He calls me every year the night before the game and he called me last night and said, “I’m calling you for the Big Bone, good luck tomorrow.’ ” Collins said. “We pretend like it’s still going on.”
Collins is a late arrival to Thanksgiving dinner each year as he always spends an hour or two after each Big Bone game reminiscing w ith his coaching staff. He’ll collect gear from his players, ensure everyone is headed home safely and then join his family.
With COVID-19 cases climbing around the Bay Area, Collins stayed home with his wife and children and enjoyed a different kind of Thanksgiving. The smell of the locker room was replaced by the scent of a turkey, which isn’t the upgrade it sounds like.