Bay Area coaches provide much to be thankful for

Urp!

I have now eaten the equivalent of Cleveland.

Thanksgiving in my family covers the width and breadth of every eating preference known to man. We have carnivores, omnivores, vegans, pescatarians, vegetarians, and humanivores (three dogs who prefer licking human flesh). It thus becomes necessary to make one of every dish in the Joy of Cooking. Getting a taste of everything at our gatherings requires more laps around the table than the Indianapolis 500.

At the end of the meal we all dive into a pool filled with gravy. OK, so it's a family tradition.

So, needless to say, in my family there is time to reflect. Both on which of the twelve stuffings we preferred and who in our world are we thankful for.

To that end, I will leave out the obvious: Family, friends, and loved ones, and reflect on the people in this area who appear in rags like this one and who make the job of us lowly sports hacks easier than it should be.

Just look around at the coaches we have here in the Bay Area and think about the unfortunate souls in Ann Arbor, Tuscaloosa, Boston, and

Baton Rouge where you have to deal with the likes of Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, Brian Kelly and

Kim Mulkey (you get a twofer at LSU). I assure you, you'd rather deal with old Uncle Max who once again did a nose dive in the mashed potatoes this year after reciting word-forword Churchill's speech on the beaches of Dunkirk.

Just think about what we have here in our parts.

It starts with Kyle Shanahan. I must admit that my history of conversation with the 49ers head man consisted of “Say hello to your dad for me.” That said, he seems like a perfectly affable fellow who looks you in the eye while answering a question and doesn't think of the media as something that exterminators should simply eliminate. Don't know him, but I like him.

They broke the mold with Steve Kerr. If Steve were a salesman, I'd buy whatever he was selling — he's just that sincere. I've known Steve Kerr since he came to Arizona as a skinny kid who could shoot the lights out. Then he played in the NBA and won five championships with two different teams. Largely because he was still a skinny kid who could shoot the lights out. And, oh by the way, all he's got left is one thumb, because he added four championship rings as the coach of your Golden State Warriors.