Thanks be

It's the day before the Day of Turkeycide, also the Day of Piecide, also the Day of Wait, What The Hell Is In This Jell-O Mold? It's a day when we pause to give thanks for all that we have, and for making it through another year on the high side of the dirt.

And so, here -- before we bow our heads in gratitude, even for that weird casserole Aunt Myrtle always brings -- are a few Blobbish things for which to be thankful:

* It's only Thanksgiving and college basketball is already insane.

Or maybe you thought Evansville beating Kentucky in Rupp Arena and Stephen F. Austin shocking Duke in Cameron Indoor was, you know, just business as usual.

Twice in two weeks now we've seen upsets we don't usually see until the first weekend of March Madness, and, man, it is glorious. Especially Duke losing at home to Stephen F. Austin last night, because, well, it's Duke, and also because the Blue Devils were a 27-and-a-half-point favorite.

That makes this the biggest upset in the last 15 years.

Great job, Dukesters!

* The NFL season is three-fourths over.

Rejoice, Lions fans, Bears fans, Bengals fans, Dolphins fans, Washington Football Club fans, Falcons fans, Broncos fans. Your suffering is almost over.

* It's only Thanksgiving and we can already say for sure that the Golden State Warriors will not be in the NBA Finals for the first time in eleventy-hundred years.

OK, so, probably will not. Maybe. Perhaps.

After all, it's still early in the NBA's season, which lasts as long as it would take Captain Kirk and his crew to reach Vulcan on impulse power. But the Warriors are 3-15 right now, dead last in the Western Conference, and they don't have Kevin Durant anymore, and they won't have Klay Thompson this season. So it's basically Steph and Draymond against the world.

The really bad news?

Steph and Draymond are both sidelined with injuries right now. And Steph's injury is a broken hand that is expected to keep him on the shelf for three months.

This means it's a brave new world out there, full of Clippers and Lakers and Nuggets and Bucks and even, oh my god, Suns -- who, if the season ended today, would be in the playoffs.

Fun times.

* It's only Thanksgiving and no one is debating whether Alabama or Clemson is the best team in college football.

This is because they're debating whether Ohio State or LSU is the best team in college football.

Which, you know, is refreshing.

Also, it's only 10 days until the Army-Navy game -- the rivalry that historically defines what the sport should always be, but so seldom is now that it's become the NFL with better fight songs.

And last but not least ...

* It's only Thanksgiving, which means it's still five months until my cruddy Pittsburgh Pirates commence losing again.

"Noooo! Not that again!" you're saying.

Oh, please. Here. Have some more of Aunt Myrtle's casserole.