"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" ---- 11-19-05

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I'd share some random thoughts--just a few things one columnist is very thankful for:

* I'm thankful that I saw running backs like Walter Payton and Barry Sanders in their primes--guys who'd score TD's and actually conduct themselves like they'd been in the end zone before..........
* I'm thankful for the "mute" button on my TV remote--which comes in SO handy when ESPN's Suzy Kolber gives her screeching sideline reports..........
* I'm grateful that I grew up in an era when pick-up basketball games, stickball games, and backyard football games were all part of our DAILY existence--giving the majority of us a TRUE sense of loyalty, discipline, and friendship; today's kid cannot relate..........
* I'm thankful that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders--AND their routines-- never seem to get old..........
* I'm thankful for Andre Agassi--who proved to many over the years that image ISN'T everything; I wish Anna Kournikova could have followed suit..........
* I'm thankful I saw baseball players like Pete Rose and George Brett make it a POINT to get their uniforms dirty..........
* I'm grateful for having seen the innovative/magnificent Pete Maravich play the game of basketball--and for being able to have watched him on live TV that memorable night in 1977 when he put up 68 points vs. the Knicks and defensive whiz Walt Frazier; I haven't seen a performance like that since..........
* I'm thankful that Deion Sanders is back on the playing field--and NOT in the broadcast studio..........
* I'm thankful that the Super Bowl--with all its fakeness, hype, pomp and circumstance, and marketing blitzes--takes place only once a year..........
* I'm grateful for having watched a talented young Wayne Gretzky play hockey in the Hartford Civic Center during the 1980s; regardless of his age, it was STILL like watching a grown man play vs. boys..........
* I'm grateful that O.J. Simpson doesn't have a twin brother..........
* I'm grateful to all those friends of mine during my youth who shared the small, innocent joy of shagging fly balls for HOURS DAILY on a dusty field during those sweltering days of our summer vacation; I'm also thankful (and proud) to be able to say the following: If those of us in question could relive those same summer days all over again, NONE of us would change a thing..........
* I'm thankful for the aforementioned "mute" button once again--especially when former NASCAR drivers attempt to provide insight on telecasts..........
* I'm thankful for having been able to attend N.Y. Yankees games NIGHTLY during the ’80s while I was attending Fordham--back in the days when doing so was AFFORDABLE..........
* I'm thankful for those youth baseball leagues out there that truly understand the danger of aluminum bats--and are subsequently taking appropriate action..........
* I'm thankful that I'm NOT an Atlanta Hawks season ticket-holder..........
* I'm thankful for the Ivy League--where young men compete gamely each and every week STRICTLY for the love of the game..........
* I'm thankful that I'm NOT managing Manny Ramirez..........
* I'm thankful that I'm NOT coaching Terrell Owens..........
* I'm grateful for the Wiffle Ball company--whose simple products provided my friends and me COUNTLESS hours of entertainment and fun so many years ago...........
* I'm thankful for never having acquired splinters in my backside (none I'm aware of) after having sat on the bench seats at the Yale Bowl for so many years..........
* I'm thankful that guys like Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro WEREN'T in their primes when I was growing up--perhaps saving me a lifetime supply of disappointment at a time when I considered athletes role models..........
* I'm thankful that artificial turf is becoming extinct..........
* I'm thankful I have any hair left after having watched Alan Embree pitch in Boston.........
* I'm thankful that Tonya Harding is NOT my girlfriend........
* I'm grateful for the efforts/mindset of a man like the late Pat Tillman--a football player whose definition of "heroism" and "bravery" differed so greatly from his fellow athletes'..........
* I'm thankful I saw Joe Namath throw the football--and also "guarantee it"..........
* I'm thankful that "writer's block" only happens to me once per week..........
* I'm thankful that I haven't bought into the new "poker craze" infiltrating some TV sports networks; I guess a man can only have so many vices, right?..........
* I'm grateful for having seen characters such as Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky, and Luis Tiant pitch in the big leagues--all of whom added a HELLUVA lot of fun to the games in which they appeared..........
* I'm thankful when I see a defensive player sack the QB and walk back to the huddle in a selfless manner; then again, I haven't seen that in YEARS..........
* I'm thankful for having the opportunity to share my thoughts about sports on a weekly basis with a very kind, knowledgeable and extremely loyal audience..........

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Bob Lazzari

Reprinted by permission of the Valley Times.