Thursday, November 20, 2008
My friend Tank loves Kansas game days.
She loves them so much that I think she cried last Saturday. She’s a senior. It was her last one.
For some reason, that story came to me as I was walking on campus on Wednesday. I’m not sure why. Maybe I just like the notion that sports can bring that kind of emotion out of people. I saw more emotion on Tuesday night when Kansas dropped its 2008 championship banner. We worry so much about the big things in life that sometimes we don’t enjoy the little things.
We’re seven days away from Thanksgiving. So I thought I’d write the Morning Brew’s first Thanksgiving column. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. And we’re off.
I’m thankful for Sherron Collins on a fast break. Todd Reesing trying to make something out of nothing. Joakim Soria standing on the mound in the ninth with a one run lead. And Tony Gonzalez over the middle. I’m thankful for Stephen Curry’s joy, Roger Federer’s humility and Rafael Nadal’s intensity. I’m thankful for Zack Greinke’s quirky remarks and the hit Darrell Stuckey put on that poor Missouri receiver.
I’m thankful for pickup basketball games with people who know how to pass and cut and warm spring days spent on the tennis court. I’m thankful for five-irons that stick seven feet from the flagstick.
I’m thankful for my last four years in Lawrence. I’m thankful for 14th and Ohio, long winding runs through campus, wings and mac ’n’ cheese at Phi Psi and Friday lunches at the Wheel (followed by a game of darts). I’m thankful for the Friday night bar band and football gamedays with good weather and good company. I’m thankful for professors with energy and the faces in The Kansan newsroom.
I’m thankful for my hometown — the biggest small town in the world. I’m thankful for Royals buck nights and Plaza Christmas lights, driving down Ward Parkway on a sunny day, and the Shawnee Mission South fight song.
I’m thankful for movies with Kansas Citian Paul Rudd and sports columns by Kansas City’s Joe Posnanski. I’m thankful for Arthur Bryant’s and 18th and Vine. I’m thankful for the smell of the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium and the view from the top of the Mamba.
I’m thankful for cold pumpkin pie, homemade banana bread and hot Jose Peppers’ espinaca. I’m thankful for packed Chipotle burritos with double meat and waffles with peanut butter spread on the top. I’m thankful for sushi at Yokohama and the beer at Free State. I’m thankful for Rock Chalk Lattes in the morning and Wheel pizza at night.
I’m thankful I have one semester of college left.
I’m thankful for dollar night and ’80s music at the Wheel. I’m thankful for Tuesday nights with nothing to do. I’m thankful for the KAK and Shipwrecked.
I’m thankful for my mom, dad, two big sisters and one big brother.
We’re almost done. Now for the big finish.
I’m thankful for the way the light reflects off the windows of Strong Hall when the sun sets, movies with Tom Hanks, songs I can’t get out of my head, Allen Fieldhouse, text messages that are waiting for me when I wake up, the dollar bills at Jefferson’s, iced cappuccinos from Quik Trip, Bill Self’s Oklahoma twang, YouTube, the look on Russell Robinson’s face after the Memphis game, sleeping in and apples. I really like apples.
— - Edited by Brenna Hawley
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