Giving thanks where thanks are due
If we can eat Thanksgiving leftovers through the weekend, why can’t we also keep giving thanks? Therefore, I offer my “giblets-‘n’-beaks with whipped cream” leftovers list of things I am thankful for:
For the grammar police, who will bust me for the previous sentence, which should have ended “... for which I am thankful.” Without these people, I could not do.
For Klay Thompson . He stopped during a Manhattan stroll for a man-on-the-street interview with a TV news crew, on the subject of dangerous scaffolding. Thompson said later he did it because he wants to “be an active citizen in the community.” From now on: Citizen Klay.
That somebody is out there conducting ad hoc safety inspections of scaffolding. Or as Citizen Klay calls scaffolding, “Pipes.”
For the Warriors’ mighty switch, which they (usually) flip when it’s time to get busy. “That switch is pretty powerful,” head coach Steve Kerr said. It’s also, at times (see: OKC) unfindable, which makes The Switch the most fascinating gadget in sports.
That the NFL didn’t give the Raiders the option of playing their home games in foreign countries. They’d be playing Sunday in Afghanistan or Portugal.
That there is a solution to the NFL insanity of forcing playoffcontending teams to play “home” games in Mexico City and London: Designate this season’s 10 worst teams as next season’s Globetrotters: filling the slots for the four London games and the one Mexico City game.
That LiAngelo Ball was only shoplifting. That’s a crime, sure, but I’d rather my kid get caught shoplifting from a rival country than colluding with one.
That if there is a hot-air balloon race in Oakland, A’s management and ownership will fill all the balloons, with hot air to spare. Team exec Billy Beane says the A’s are grooming kids to play in the new ballpark, then ships out Ryon Healy . If he can play first base and third base, he can play left field. That flapping noise you heard was 25 home runs flying to Seattle.
That we’ve settled the scientific debate over which form of altitude adjustment is better: arriving a week early for a milehigh football game, or arriving the day before. By the second half in Mexico City, the Raiders were wearing scuba tanks.
That the Raiders are so supportive of Marshawn Lynch’s national-anthem sit-downs that they provide him with an honor guard. Some Raiders’ assistants surround Lynch, either to shield him from view or to be ready to sing backup, in the event Beast Mode breaks into a Smokey Robinson song.
That Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield might have handed the Heisman to Stanford’s Bryce Love. Mayfield probably lost crucial Heisman votes with his crotch-grabbing gesture at Kansas. He might wish he had applied that firm grip to the Heisman Trophy.
That two more Russian cheaters were stripped of medals from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics for testing dirty, bringing the total to six. The six disgraced Russians have lawyers looking into the possibility of being pardoned by the president of a foreign country.
That the Warriors are at least considering sponsoring a WNBA team. Sadly, the Dubs say they’re too busy right now making plans for their move to the arena they’re building in San Francisco. Alas, once they move, the Warriors still will be busy, making the adjustment. Come on, Joe Lacob, the clock is ticking. You’re a strong supporter of women’s hoops, hire a few sharp people to get that WNBA dream rolling.
That the Warriors might find their future center a few miles away. St. Mary’s 6-foot-11 senior
center Jock Landale, an Aussie import, is said to be savvy and crafty. Sounds like a combo of Andrew Bogut and David West.
That losing football coaches like to say, “This one’s on me.” Because sooner or later, I’ll run into one of those guys in a cocktail lounge.
That Colin Kaepernick, despite claims by his detractors, is all talk and no rock. On Friday, Kaepernick was on The Rock, Alcatraz, celebrating the Native American occupation of that island. For a man who doesn’t do anything in the community, Kaepernick sure does a lot in the community.
That the Broncos didn’t sign Kaepernick last offseason. They’re a much more effective and entertaining crew with Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler or Paxton Lynch.
That the president has found a way to speed up the game of golf, so now he can turn his attention to speeding up football.
That Tiger Woods found somebody he could beat.
That Linda Del Rio lives in a country where she is free (for now) to register a peaceful objection to a president’s statements.
That the Raiders’ defense now can take wings. Safety Reggie Nelson said of John Pagano, the promoted defensive coordinator, “We shouldn’t skip a beat, ’cause he’s been in that (defensive) room all year.” However, if there’s ever been a beat that begged to be skipped, it’s the one the Raiders have been tapping out this season.
That Stanford women’s basketball guard DiJonai Carrington somehow escaped from the pages of a Danielle Steele romance-suspense novel.