Thanksgiving Halftime Entertainment: Detroit Lions Fans Booing Nickelback? (Update)

Update (11/22): Nickleback has responded to the halftime show controversy with a video on Funny or Die. Watch it here.

Update (11/15): The United Way just confirmed that Nickelback will definitely be performing at the half-time show of the Lions-Packers game. "Nickelback will take the stage for the 2011 United Way Thanksgiving Halftime Show during the first game of the NFL's tripleheader when the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, November 24, at 12:30 pm ET. The game and halftime show will be broadcast live on Fox."

Original Story: Whether or not you're a true football fan, in America, it's a time-honored tradition to have the game on in the background while the cooking and eating of the roast beast gets underway.

Unfortunately, while the Lions are traditionally one of the worst teams in the league, they're also always one of the teams playing on Turkey Day.

This year, though, they're actually really pretty good, with a decent quarterback in Matthew Stafford, a defensive monster Ndamukong Suh and a stud receiver in Calvin Johnson.

Yet the beleagured team is still managing to make one serious turkey move - sticking with Nickelback as their half-time entertainment of this year's pivotal matchup with the seemingly unbeatable Green Bay Packers.

It's not like half-time entertainment of regular season games tend to ever get so much scrutiny, but Detroit fans, in an encouraging move that implies that they might actually be showing some actual pride in their team and their city once again, have gathered up tens of thousands of signatures in an online petition to remove the bland Canadian alt-rock band from the halftime festivities.

What started as something funny aimed at stamping out generally crappy music has turned into a statement on patriotism and pride in the Detroit music scene.

Detroit, after all, is the home of Motown, the birthplace of techno, and stomping grounds for popular and innovative acts like the White Stripes and Eminem. And then there's Kid Rock, who at least knows how to party.

So it's understandable if Detroit fans want their day in the spotlight focused on what Detroit brings to the table and not what some bland, out-of-date Canadian alt-rock act sounds like as they make a last-gasp attempt at maintaining relevance.

As the online petition to remove Nickelback says:

"This game is nationally televised, do we really want the rest of the US to associate Detroit with Nickelback? Detroit is home to so many great musicians and they chose Nickelback?!?!?! Does anyone even like Nickelback? Is this some sort of ploy to get people to leave their seats during halftime to spend money on alcoholic beverages and concessions? This is completely unfair to those of us who purchased tickets to the game. At least the people watching at home can mute their TVs. The Lions ought to think about their fans before choosing such an awful band to play at halftime."

Why not take a look at a guy like Detroit native Mayer Hawthorne, a high-energy retro-soul act that's bringing back Motown with hits like "Maybe So, Maybe No," or just throw a few fourties of cheap beer down Kid Rock's gullet, wrap him up real tight in the American flag and at least feign a little patriotism on such a great American holiday? If all else fails, why not just run some of the great Detroit-centric auto ads like this one and this one.

Alas, it's not to be. The Lions organization has confirmed Nickelback, and the band's grating lead singer Chad Kroeger has released a statement saying they're "honored" for the opportunity.

"We always love playing in Detroit, our fans there have been tremendously supportive of us through the years and we can’t wait to come back and celebrate an exciting day for the Lions and the city of Detroit.”

So instead of a reasonable act that we can all ignore while we munch on our pre-feast cheeseball, we get to listen to a stadium full of Detroit fans booing over some grating Canadian alterna-crap. Not very seasonably appropriate is it?

Plus, I gotta say I agree with MTV News scribe James Montgomery, who says in a hilarious letter written to the Detroit Lions organization on the matter:

"It would seem that Nickelback are locked in for halftime, so you might as well get behind them. In doing so, you'd manage to avoid what is very quickly becoming an avalanche of bad publicity. It may not be fair to Lions fans, but then again, neither was the 2008 season."

For the first time in my life, I might actually root for the Packers. (Ed. note: Can't do it, Nickelback or no.)

Watch Mayer Hawthorne campaign to replace Nickelback on Thanksgiving: