Giving Thanks

Tomorrow, as you know, is Thanksgiving.

What are you thankful for? Really, truly thankful for?

Maybe this is a good time to stop and think about it. And then go tell anyone and everyone you're thankful for so they know it too.

TigerBlog loves Thanksgiving. He's written about it before.

Like last year.

And 2014.

And 2013.

And 2012.

And 2011.

And 2010.

And 2009.

He can sum it all up basically with this, which he copies and pastes each year:

As holidays go, you can't do much better than Thanksgiving. It's got it all, really: a huge meal (with turkey, no less), football, family, history (dates back to 1621), start of a four-day weekend for most people, leftovers. It's even a secular holiday, so every American can dive right in, regardless of religion.
 
The Lions and the Cowboys, obviously, always play at home on Thanksgiving, and the NFL has now added a third game (maybe a little too much). Beyond watching football, how many out there have played their own Thanksgiving football games, all of which, by the way, are named "the Turkey Bowl?"

The holiday may lag behind Christmas in terms of great Hollywood movies, and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is no match for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Still, there are some great moments in movies and TV shows around Thanksgiving.

Rocky and Adrian had their first date on Thanksgiving – "To you it's Thanksgiving; to me it's Thursday," Rocky said romantically – as did Meadow and Jackie Jr. on "The Sopranos" (it didn't quite work out as well as it did for Rocky and Adrian). "Everybody Loves Raymond" had two pretty good Thanksgiving episodes, the one where Marie makes a low-fat dinner and the one where Debra makes fish instead of turkey. As an aside, TigerBlog's Aunt Regina once made Cornish game hens instead of turkey, so he knows how they all felt. And of course, there was the Thanksgiving episode of "Cheers," which has the big food fight at the end.

The Woody Allen movie "Hannah and Her Sisters" starts and ends on two different Thanksgivings. "Miracle on 34th Street" is a Christmas movie, but it does start with the Thanksgiving parade in New York City.

And of course, there is the best of all Thanksgiving movies: "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." It'll make you laugh a lot and cry a little, and it ends on Thanksgiving.

As TigerBlog reads back over that, he can't believe he left out "Scent of a Woman" for all these years. Al Pacino drags Chris O'Donnell to New York City from his posh prep school for Thanksgiving break, and they have quite an adventure to say the least, including having the blind Army Colonel (Pacino) drive a Ferrari guided by the petrified student (O'Donnell). Before that, Pacino dances the tango with Gabrielle Anwar, and before that, he and O"Donnell go to Pacino's brother's house for a rather awkward Thanksgiving dinner.

TB will have to add that one to the list next year. It's a great movie, and Pacino won an Oscar for his performance.

If you want a little pre-Thanksgiving Princeton basketball, the men play at Lafayette tonight.

There won't be any events on Thanksgiving Day itself. There are nine events between Friday and Sunday, all involving the men's and women's basketball teams (home doubleheader Friday, with the women against Rutgers at 2 and the men against Rowan at 5), the men's (at Bemidji State in Minnesota) and women's (at Boston University) hockey teams and the wrestling team (at Madison Square Garden).

TigerBlog once found himself at a Princeton men's basketball game against Ohio the Friday after Thanksgiving. That game was played in, of all places, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Oh, and it's a pretty good Thanksgiving in the Surace house. Princeton's head football coach was named the unanimous Ivy League Coach of the Year, and 18 of his players earned All-Ivy honors, including six first-team picks: John Lovett, Mitchell Sweigart, James Gales, Dorian Williams, Kurt Holuba and Luke Catarius.

That's four from the D and two from the "O" side of the ball, though Lovett makes the impact of several all by himself. When the "O" Player of the Year Award is announced, TigerBlog will be stunned if it's not Lovett, who should also be in the All-America conversation.

Meanwhile, as Thanksgiving arrives, it continues what is usually the quickest time of the year, from Halloween to New Year's. In a blink it'll be Christmas and then New Year's and then 2017.

For now, though, enjoy the holiday.

Enjoy the turkey. And stuffing. And potatoes. And of course the green bean casserole.

That's TB's favorite.

Have a great Thanksgiving.