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Thanksgiving



With all due respect to the Pilgrims, to the traditional sentiments of harvest time, and to expressions of gratitude, both cosmic and local, Thanksgiving Day for some of us constitutes chiefly the center of the football season -- its culmination for high schools, and a good time for the college games that serve as the natural lead-in to the wonders of the bowl-game season. Have you ever noticed, after all, how much a turkey looks like a football?

My personal thoughts in this regard this year turn to my alma mater, Marist College, home of the Red Foxes.

They creamed  the Valparaiso Crusaders on October 30 with the impressive score of 44 to 7, and with stand-out performances from safety Zach Adler (a sophomore) and Michael Rios (a senior). [Well, it was the day before Halloween, so it was kind of a holiday game.]  Adler comes from Walden, NY and Rios from Miami, Florida.  Of course, the natural rivalry for a team that calls itself the Crusaders would be one calling itself the Jihadists. Somehow I don't see that game in my personal crystal ball any season soon.

Adler was named PFL Defensive Player of the week by College Sports Madness after that game, in which he intercepted two Crusaders passes and was credited with nine tackles.

But Marist isn't even playing on Thanksgiving Day this year, or even this weekend, so why continue on about them?

The University of Connecticut Huskies are playing this weekend -- Saturday, November 24, they'll play Cincinnati. This will be a home game, and you'll be able to watch it on television, on ABC. Meanwhile I'm happy to report that UConn wide receiver Nick Williams, a senior, is a finalist for the Pop warner National College FootballAward.  The other finalists? Sean Renfree of Duke, Mike James of Miami, and Patrick Omameh of Michigan.

Still, what about Thanksgiving Day itself. Today! What's my rooting interest going to be?

LSU will battle the Arkansas Razorbacks today. I'll be pulling for the Razorbacks. They have the guts to name themselves after a truly ugly critter, [see above] and that should mean something, dag nabbit.

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