Thanksgiving is meant to serve as a time of reflection, remembering those moments in life that make you smile, cry, angry or motivated. It takes a sense of maturation to be able to reflect and appreciate, and as we get older, we look forward to doing so with our loved ones as we prepare for the Wild Bird Sacrifice on the last Thursday of November.
Today on TSFJ, the contributors came together and listed a few things that made them smile. Some things reference specific people, others, a special moment. Still others, chose to reflect on their personal feelings. Most of all, it comes from the heart, and that's what Thanksgiving is all about.
Have a happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend, be sure to enjoy the 11 things we're most thankful for in 2013, and save me a piece of that canned cranberry sauce if you can. Thanks!
A Penn State of Mind
I'm thankful for the TSFJ email chains, which routinely make me laugh my ass off and definitely give me reprieve on those shitty days. I'm thankful for Sam Hinkie finally doing what the previous Philadelphia 76ers GMs never had the guts to do. I'm thankful for Bill O'Brien and Allen Robinson and Christian Hackenberg. And I'm very thankful for the potential scenario in which the annoying-ass Ohio State Buckeyes go undefeated for two straight seasons and still get shut out of the national title game. -- @revpaulrevere
The 2014 World Cup
Don't ask me what I'm doing in June. I have plans. Neymar and Brazil host the world's best footballers in the greatest sporting event known to man. What separates this World Cup is the level of talent and the diversity of contenders that are traveling to Brazil. Messi and Argentina. Ronaldo and Portugal. Falcao and Colombia. Yaya Toure and the Ivory Coast. Then there's Spain looking to continue its unprecedented run of success. The summer can't get here soon enough.
Besides...do you remember this? It's six months away. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! -- @noclassfriday
The Moment
I'm thankful for the goosebumps, the blowouts and the overtimes. The passing touchdowns and the interceptions. The dunks and the fade away corner 3-pointers. The quick wrist shots and the defensive zone face-offs. The home runs and the 0-2 sliders. I'm thankful for TSFJ and the CAPS LOCK BUTTON, Chip Kelly and Nick Foles the god. I'm thankful to be a fan of the loveliness that is sports. I'm thankful for the flag football game I play Turkey Day morning and knowing that once Thursday ends, the games go on like it never happened. Time moves on, my friends. The games, the sports, the wins, the losses and everything associated - never stop. -- @mtrible
Putting The Team On Your Back
If I mentioned the name "Demetry James" to you, you'd probably have no idea in hades who I was referring to. But if I said, "put the team on your back doe" your face might bubble with a smile and reminisce to a time when Marshawn Lynch broke 183 tackles in a single run or when Greg Jennings in Madden 2010 ran 99 yards for a touchdown. Oh and EFF YOU GUMBY! -- @edthesportsfan
Olympic Hockey
A distant second to the World Cup when it comes to international team sport competitions. But boy is Olympic hockey fun to watch. Had the United States won the gold medal in 2010, we'd be talking about Zach Parise's goal in the dying seconds in the same breath as Landon Donovan's. -- @noclassfriday
The No. 2 Ranked FSU Seminoles
Thankful for FSU being 11-0. I had to wait 14 years for this to happen. No matter the opponent, I watch every minute of every game because as a fan, I have to cherish these moments. I might never see this kind of dominance again. -- @RealGoesRight
Goodreads
I am thankful for Goodreads.
See, back in January, the book readers' social network issued the 2013 Reading Challenge to its members. You were asked to set a goal on the number of books you would read in the calendar year and your progress would be tracked. As most of you purveyors of TSFJ know, we read a lot of books here and it's not unusual to catch me on the local subway trains to and from work to squeeze a few pages in before coming above ground.
The challenge has been accomplished thanks to reading a plethora of sports books. There were some tomes for review such as Winners and Losers, Earl the Pearl and currently, The Last Cowboy: The Life of Tom Landry. There were strong personal curiosities about boxers Floyd Patterson and Ray Mancini, baseball legends like Satchel Paige, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. Finally, there was the intellectual pursuit from David Epstein's The Sports Gene, the relatively unknown story of football on Robben Island and the enlightening route laid to a tortured Knicks fan by Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings.
It's been a fantastic year for a bookworm like me and thanks to his recent interviews and book excerpts, there's only one way I can finish this challenge. By reading about the time a desolate former champ beat the crap out his philandering promoter in a Rolls Royce. -- @asportsscribe
CBC Hockey Night In Canada Opening Montages
Highlights of my favorite sport set to music from my favorite bands? Never change, CBC. Never change. -- @noclassfriday
A National Pastime Still Holding Strong
I’m thankful for the insignificant significance of the old pastime. How the debates over the game always change, but never get too far from the point.
I’m thankful for the hatred of the Yankees for being “evil” and the Cardinals for being “wholesome”, regardless of what either really means.
I’m appreciative of the chance of figuring how Miguel Cabrera’s once in a generation skill makes him more valuable than Mike Trout….all while knowing that the Angel prodigy is like nothing I’ve seen before.
I’m thankful to be in the midst of being able to tell my kids I saw Kershaw, Posey, Verlander and Jeter, the same way my Dad tells me about Koufax, Bench, Carlton and Hank.
But most of all, I’m thankful that no matter how many winters come, they’re just the post-game of the fall and the pre-game for the spring to come. -- @cheapseatfan
The 2010 San Francisco Giants
I'm thankful for the 2010 Giants, Buster Posey's sheer amazingness, the ghost of Tim Lincecum's fastball, Matt Cain's willingness to throw gems despite negative run support and Juan Uribe's ubiquitous "this one is definitely going yard" back swing from that whole. fucking. postseason. My dad waited 50 years and I waited 23 years to see the Giants win a World Series. One of the three best moments of my life. It was years ago, but it was also yesterday. -- @imsohideouss
Russell Westbrook Being Back
The phrase "you never know what you've got until it's gone," has never meant as much as it does to this Oklahoma City Thunder fan. Thank you basketball gods for allowing Russell "I wish his middle name was Geronimo" Westbrook to return to full strength, because we surely missed the hell outta that guy. -- @edthesportsfan
Paulina Gretzky
Not only does the Great One's daughter provide plenty of eye candy via her instagram account, but she also legitimized golf this summer when she married Dustin Johnson. If DJ never wins a major, and I think that he will, at least he has a trophy wife to go home to. -- @noclassfriday