The Sports Informant

Thanksgiving will be different this year. Yes, I will eat way too much and fall asleep watching bad football. Yes, I will do everything with a sense of laziness and apathy, knowing for at least one weekend during the year, I don’t HAVE to be somewhere and do something. But 2008 is different than other Thanksgivings. This year, I’m not just celebrating the holiday, I’m experiencing it.

I’ve flown to Washington State to visit family and for the first time, I’m arriving as a father. While I’ll also be experiencing several other firsts as a father this year, Thanksgiving is a big one, and there are several reasons why:

1. Baby’s first plane ride. While I was excited at the thought of holding our daughter on my lap during our flight to Washington, my wife was not. Every bump put a ghostly pale look to her face, takeoff and landing had her consistently worried and having to sit in one place the whole time had the potential to create a screaming child. In the end, however, our daughter was awesome, slept most of the time, felt no negative effects and received a planeful of compliments. In fact, the kid two seats in front of us screamed the whole flight. My wife and I looked at each other and smiled.

2. A family first. As my parents’ first grandchild, our daughter has been the apple of more than just our eyes. Unfortunately, living two states away has made it difficult for the majority of my family to see our kid. We’ve had a few visits from her grandparents, uncles and aunts, but the Thanksgiving trip will have two of her uncles holding her for the first time, all of my aunts and uncles and even my grandmother getting to see her for the first time, and to top it all off, my father, a grandpa for the first time, will get to hold my daughter. This makes the holiday more than just turkey and football. When people talk about spending time with family, they have no idea. Don’t take it for granted, I get three days to have our daughter meet and get to know some of the people I care the most about in life. I will treasure this week like no other.

3. Gonzaga basketball. OK, back to sports. While I remember spending the Thanksgiving holiday watching Gonzaga (my alma mater) basketball, whether in person or on local TV, never before have I done so with the confidence that we’re the best team on the floor. The underdog since I can remember, this season has Gonzaga ranked in the top 10 in the country. Going into the Old Spice Classic in Florida this week, the Bulldogs are ninth in the AP Poll and one of the favorite to win a tournament loaded with teams like Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Tennessee and Georgetown. Ranked teams in the field boasted a 19-1 record through games as of Sunday.

The test will be a major one, and win or lose, it’ll be a great three days of basketball. Should Gonzaga play well, I could potentially watch them Thursday, Friday and Saturday, all the way to the tournament’s championship. Last year, I watched about four games all season long, the only times they were nationally televised. This week, I could almost match that. It’s a dream come true… assuming they win. Fingers crossed.

4. Notre Dame vs. USC. I’m expecting a blowout, and not in favor of the Irish. While I’ll be donning green and gold in the year’s biggest rivarly (for ND fans), the Irish are 30-point underdogs, and should be soundly pounded in Los Angeles. But what if they’re not?

What if, in a magical week for me, Notre Dame pulls off the upset and ruins USC’s entire season? The Irish are capable, with a quarterback and two receivers who will eventually play in the NFL, and I’d expect USC to take Notre Dame lightly. With ND coach Charlie Weis’ job close to being on the line, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Irish’s best performance of the year, especially after losing for the first time ever to an eight-loss team last week. It’s because there’s no way in hell that Notre Dame should win that they actually might. And if that happens, this will be the greatest Thanksgiving ever.