Giving Thanks

     While Thanksgiving is an occasion celebrated in North America, I thought it would be nice to do a thanksgiving special.  After all, our family already had our turkey this week.  This time, I list down some of the more popular sports figures and what they have to be thankful for, or at least what they should be thankful for.

Michelle Wie (Golf) - Thankful for her first LPGA win.  Maybe after this, detractors will finally ease up on her.  Despite showing plenty of promise and talent, nobody has eased up on the pressure for this young golfer to win a title.  Maybe this time, she can compete under less scrutiny.

Steve Nash (NBA) - Thankful for Coach Alvin Gentry.  The Suns have looked like the Suns of old, scoring over 100 points every game and Nash averaging over 9 assists a game.  Currently, the Suns have the NBA's best record.

Rico Maierhoffer (PBA) - Thankful for Smart Gilas Philippine National Team.  With Gilas hoarding this present batch of young basketball players, Rico has more than a good chance of winning Rookie of the Year Honors.

John Cena (WWE) - Thankful for young WWE fans.  While most older and die hard wrestling fans have tired of Cena and his antics, young fans aged around 8 to 12, have been solidly behind Cena.  This has kept Cena one of the WWE's more popular stars.

Dana White (UFC) - Thankful for old hands.  With an unprecedented epidemic of injuries to the UFC's top stars, president Dana White had to dig deep to find main event-worthy performers.  He was fortunate (or talented?) to find old hands like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz to give him consecutive heart-thumping main event matches in sold out arenas.   

Boxing (in General) - Thankful for Manny Pacquiao.  The old sport usually referred to as the, "Sweet Science" was slowly losing its popularity with casual and mainstream sports fans due to spoiled fighters often too pampered to provide any exciting fights.  Enter Pacman, a literal human dynamo, who has captivated the world, not only boxing fans.  With his attacking brand of boxing, mainstream media who have often neglected boxing like Time Magazine, New York Times and Jimmy Kimmel show have all taken notice.

Stephen Jackson (NBA) - Thankful for inefficient General Managers.  Despite his constant disruptive behavior, expensive contract and erratic play, Jackson still found a team (a GM) foolhardy enough to take him  on to make him a franchise player.  Bobcats Managing Partner Michael Jordan has continued to add on to his litany of questionable moves by trading away Raja Bell's expiring contract to take on Stephen Jackson's terribly expensive one.

     As for me, I am thankful for my students, both in my culinary class and my varsity bowling team.  They have so far given me their best efforts and I am glad that they are seeing the benefits of their efforts.  Hopefully they keep working.

photos courtesy of sports illustrated and mmaroot.com