Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving time. So sure, I’m thankful for family and friends and blah, blah, blah. I get real sentimental about that kind of stuff, obviously. Just ask my wife, who was apparently less-than thrilled when I decided to put in a 14-hour workday here on County Road 623 earlier this month, going home and climbing straight into bed afterward so I could get back by 6 a.m. the next day…all of this, on our 10th wedding anniversary.What do you expect? I’m a sports guy, people, and a hopeless homer at that, so here’s what I’m really thankful for going into this holiday season.
I’m thankful for Colt McCoy (season-ending high-ankle sprain diagnosis pending) and Peyton Hillis, two legitimate offensive threats the Browns picked up virtually risk-free – McCoy as a third-round draft pick, Hillis in a trade with Denver for Brady Quinn – that have returned excitement to the playing field by the lakefront after too many years of Phil Dawson field-goals filling up all the team’s highlight reels.
I’m thankful for Byron Scott, a great NBA coach with an exciting offensive system, who has brought team basketball back to the Q after years of one-on-five hoops that produced the exact same number of championships the franchise had before the Chosen One’s arrival. Sure, Scott probably only came to Cleveland to have an opportunity to coach LeBron, but with LeBron gone he now has a coachable group of guys to work with. LeBron says he’s not having any fun in Miami. I’m having a lot of fun watching the Cavaliers.
I’m thankful for the Kansas City Royals, without whom, the Indians would have been all alone in the cellar of the AL Central the past two seasons. I’m also thankful the Tribe has lost over 90 games two seasons in a row as I hope that every dismal season brings the Dolan family closer to the realization they have no business owning a major league franchise. With billionaires having replaced millionaires as the most successful big league owners, and gazillionaires surely coming soon, the Dolans have to come to the realization pretty soon that they’re fighting a losing battle and trying to eat steak on a hamburger budget. I’m okay with it if the owners of the professional teams I root for eat at costlier dining establishments than I do, but during the years I spent in the northeast part of the state, Larry and Paul both showed up at the same restaurants where I was dining, on more than one occasion. I knew that wasn’t a good sign.
I’m thankful for the Iowa Hawkeyes, who handed Michigan State a 37-6 thrashing on Oct. 30 and handed the Buckeyes their 10th win of the season, 20-17 on Nov. 20, putting Ohio State in the driver’s seat to claim at least a share of its sixth-straight Big Ten Conference championship. I’m also thankful for Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions, unable to recruit a future star-quarterback from their own backyard, thus dropping leading-Heisman Trophy candidate Terrelle Pryor into the hands of Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes like a really nice gift from a neighbor.
I’m thankful for Thad Matta, who has restored the Ohio State men’s basketball program to prominence since arriving in Columbus in 2004 all the way from his hometown of Hoopeston, Illinois (just the kind of town name you want your hoops coach to come from) where he once starred for the East Lynn Cornjerkers. The Bucks are off to a 3-0 start and ranked third in the country this young season, having spanked the hated Florida Gators by 18 points down in Gainesville back on Nov. 16, and without another real test looming on the horizon until they face Florida State on Nov. 30.
And I’m thankful for the new role I’ve been able to play covering sports in and around Holmes County over the past several months. I have been treated to some of the best high school sports competition around and been able to enjoy the exploits of some extremely talented student athletes.
I have made some wonderful new friends and been welcomed to the community like a member of the family – by most of you, anyway.
So to my real family and my new extended family in Holmes County, Happy Thanksgiving! I will do my best to turn off my computer, get away from the office and enjoy the holiday. Just make sure the game’s on TV.