We do spend a lot of time lamenting these days. There is, of course, much to lament, even if in this space we contain such concerns to the precinct of sports in our city. Thursday will mark 4,308 days since one of our teams in the four major sports won a championship, after all. That was the Giants.
And that’s a reasonable number compared to the others:
(For the masochists among us, that would be — Yankees: 5,132 days; Devils: 7,472 days; Rangers: 10,754 days; Knicks: 18,459 days; Mets: 13,541 days; Islanders: 14,800 days; Nets: 17,360 days; Jets: 20,038 days.)
Ah, but who’s counting?
See, here’s the thing: There is no national holiday called Lamentgiving. That’s for the other 364. There’s plenty of time to complain about the Mets, scream about the Giants, fret about the Knicks, rail about the Jets, shout about the Yankees. We get caught up in that sometimes.
Especially around here. Around here, we pay an awfully pretty penny — with inflation, that’s more of a nice-looking nickel or a handsome half-dollar — to care about sports between tickets, parking, beers, cable, streaming services and pay-per-views, and you could argue there’s not a lot of bang for that buck.
It’s OK if we aren’t usually in the mood to be grateful.
OK to say, as a New York sports fan, “Thanks for nothing.” And mean it literally.
You know what? I’m still thankful. Maybe it’s the time of year. Maybe I’m growing soft in my old age. I wake up this Thanksgiving morning, and I find that I really do have much to be thankful for, as someone who spends a lot of time pondering and enjoying (and complaining about, and ripping) New York sports.
— I am thankful that Buck Showalter got two bonus years in New York, even if the second one careened off the tracks, because I’ve learned more baseball from him than any of the five next people from whom I’ve learned baseball.
— I am thankful to watch Aaron Judge take 600 swings every year, with more than is humanly probable sending baseballs out into far reaches of ballparks, and I am thankful we have many more years to come of that.
— I am thankful for Jalen Brunson, who brought joy back to Madison Square Garden.
— I am thankful for the Rangers, who honestly, genuinely look like a team worthy of snapping a drought that will inch close to 11,000 days before maybe, just maybe, getting to reset to zero come June.
— I am thankful for every one of the kids who grew up rooting for our sports teams who now regularly call their games on radio or television, and I will ask them collectively to take a step forward and take a bow: Mike Breen, Brendan Burke, Ed Cohen, Gary Cohen, Ian Eagle, Michael Kay, Bob Papa, Keith Raad, Rickie Ricardo, Howie Rose, Ryan Ruocco, Justin Shackil, John Sterling and Bob Wischusen.
— I am thankful that St. John’s matters again.
— I am thankful that the Bonnies are giving me something to look forward to every couple of nights during the long winter to come.
— I am thankful for the amazing roster of colleagues I get to work with every day here at The Post, all of whom are intent, every day, to make this, for each other, the best job in the world.
— I am thankful that Jacque Vaughn, a genuinely good man, has the Nets playing fun basketball again.
— I am thankful for hot summer nights at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium, and cold winter nights at UBS and Barclays and the Garden.
— I am thankful for Keith Hernandez, for David Cone, for Clyde Frazier, for Sarah Kustok, for Carl Banks, for Greg Buttle.
— I am thankful to watch Saquon Barkley tote the football on Sunday afternoons, regardless of what the scoreboard says.
— I am thankful to watch the Williams brothers, Quinnen and Quincy, tackle quarterbacks, running backs and receivers — also in defiance of the scoreboard.
— I am eternally thankful that my father, Mick the Pro, made me a sports fan, and that he lived long enough to see my column picture in this newspaper.
— One more time — and for all time — I am thankful to the team at Kessler Rehab, and will remain thankful for every step I am allowed to take thanks to their remarkable care.
— And one more time — and for all time — I am thankful for you, dear reader. Have an extra drumstick today, and put it on my tab. Happy Thanksgiving.
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