Sports stuff for which I am truly thankful

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I have decided to show my kinder and softer side. For once.
So, I put together a short list of sports stuff for which I am legit thankful.Here we go:

I’m thankful that David Ortiz survived the shooting in the Dominican Republic earlier this year. I can’t even begin to imagine a world without Big Papi.

I’m thankful for the kids who still sacrifice and give it their all to play high school sports in our state. The numbers are down but local sports and teams are such a part of the fabric of our communities around here. Would be a shame if that changed.

I’m thankful for Roger Clemens renting a car and driving from New Jersey to Bangor back in March after his flight was cancelled. This was at midnight right before our Sports Chowdah hot stove event. We had around 650 people including myself who would have been bummed if he had decided to just turn around and fly home.

I’m thankful that the Red Sox are not just handing Mookie Betts 300 million dollars or so for the next 10 years. Those mega contracts are dumb and often bad business. Did I mention the Yankees just released Jacoby Ellsbury? Another young gun who had one truly big year. That was a waste of 7 years and 150 million dollars.

I’m thankful for Blue tooth in my SUV so I can stream Boston sports talk radio. Not sure what I’d listen to otherwise.

I’m thankful we have great minor league sports like the Sea Dogs and Red Claws close by.

I’m thankful we have so many strong small college programs for men and women in our state. USM baseball and Bowdoin womens basketball are national powers. And there are so many more good programs.

I’m thankful for the student section at UMaine hockey games. This kids are as good as ever and I love it when they sing Bon Jovi’s Living On a Prayer pregame.

I’m thankful for WABI TV 5, Pete Warener and the team at the Bangor Daily News and Maine Internet Radio for their partnerships with us here at the Sports Chowdah.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
And be thankful…

Jeff@sportschowdah.com

Jeff Solari

About Jeff Solari

Jeff Solari is the president and founder of the Sports Chowdah, Maine’s only free, weekly sports e mail newsletter. Recently, the Mount Desert Island native was the co-host of "The Drive" on 92.9 FM in Bangor.