Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  The title in itself makes it very special.  We as a country have sooooooooo much to be thankful for.  Hopefully, the last Thursday in November causes us to reflect on and appreciate all of the blessings in our lives.

But Turkey Day is probably earns the silver medal on my holiday list (besides the  Michael Phelps of holidays that comes on Dec. 25) for several other reasons.

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One of the great joys of life is eating.  Is there another holiday that can even come close to this…

The turkey.  The potatoes.  The stuffing.  The gravy to tie it all together.  H-E-A-V-E-N!!!

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A second great joy of life is sleeping.  That first great joy mentioned above leads to this second great joy.

A third great joy of life is watching the NFL on TV.  If only we didn’t get stuck with the Lions every year, maybe there would be radio stations playing 24 hours of Thanksgiving songs!

All those perks of this holiday are common traditions to most families across our country. Beyond those joys, there are a couple other reasons that TGD is special to me.  Here’s my timeline.  Cue the Kenny Rogers’ “Through the Years” background music…

Thursday, November 26, 1970:  a young and beautiful Joanie Aljancic enjoys her Thanksgiving dinner so much, she looks like she is expecting a child.

Friday, November 27, 1970:  Joanie Aljancic is expecting a child.  Any moment.  She calls her husband, who is coaching at a high school basketball practice, to take her to the hospital.  Andy quickly heads to Timken Mercy Hospital, but his bride is nowhere in sight.  He calls home to see what’s taking her so long.  Whoops, Andy was supposed to pick her up.  Andy makes the 20-minute ride home to pick up his bride.  All this driving has made him hungry, so on the way back to the hospital, he makes a quick stop at McDonald’s to pick up lunch while Joanie tries to hold back nature in the back seat.  Eventually, they complete their journey to the hospital, and a couple hours later, little Andrew makes his debut.  He soon picks up the nickname, ‘Mac’.  Thank goodness Andy wasn’t hungry for one of these…

or you might be currently reading the blog, Sports Words with Wendy.

November 28, 1974:  Joanie and Andy come home four days after the birth of the third child, Jon.  Little Mac, who just celebrated his 4th birthday, declares baby brother as his birthday present.  Jon-Jon is a nice present for a 4-year old, but not as sweet as Mac’s favorite present that year:

Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down!

Thanksgiving morning, 1996ish:  As the Turkey Day birthday brothers entered their 20s, they decide to start the tradition of Thanksgiving morning basketball with baby brother Mike and friends.  This tradition has continued to this day.   Here a few observations from these battles over the years.

1.  Younger players move much faster than older players

2.  I am one of the oldest players, so it is of the utmost importance that I find an old guy on the other team to guard.

3.  You are at your athletic physical peak at about age 22.  College guys have plenty of room in their weekly schedule for hoops, weight lifting, and other sports.

4.  When you join the real world and get a full-time job, two things decrease dramatically:

A.  FUN.  It’s much harder to be a joy boy when you are working all day.  And when you are working all day, you don’t get home until late, so you don’t have near as much time for all that fun stuff you did before.  And for that little free time that you have, you are either…

i.  too tired to use that free time for fun,

or

ii.  too married to use that free time for fun.

Wait, let me restate point ii (I hope I am following proper outline form):

ii.  extremely fortunate to have found your beautiful, wonderful soul mate to share the rest of your life with.  Thus, you want to devote free moment by her side.  Talking about your day over dinner.  Watching TV shows like Party of Five together.  Politely discussing differences together to work toward a common solution.  That’s alot more fun than playing hoops with the single guys.

I love you, Beth, my beautiful and wonderful bride!

…back to the outline.  To review, full time job decreases A.  Fun, and thus…

B.  Your hoop skills.  Since you were a kid, you played sports at least 2 hours a day, whether it was a game, a practice, or just hanging with friends.  When you get a job, you are lucky to play 2 hours a week.  So the muscle memory you developed over the last 15 years soon develops a case of amnesia.  You get two steps slower.  Your shot comes up short.  Your automatic go-to move looks like a train wreck.

5.   Through the years of Turkey Day basketball, I have seen just about every college graduate age about 5 years once they enter the rat race.  That young man faces a fork in the road.  The easy path is to work, lay on the  couch, avoid working out, and thus choose…

But the competitive juices that flow in many athletes drive them to revive their athletic abilities. And sure enough, the lungs, the legs, the shot, and the moves return.  Or at least somewhat return.

6.  Even for those guys that bounce back from the heavy anchor of the workplace, Father Time has yet to lose a battle. Thus, the combination of fatherhood, fatigue, and the forties begins THE FADE.  As an athlete, THE FADE can be long and gradual, like a beautiful sunset…

if you work really hard at keeping in shape.

If you don’t work at it, THE FADE not a sunset.  Its a light switch.  And with a quick flip, it looks like this…

Personally, I have worked to prolong the fade.  I work out in the basement, and you may even see me periodically jogging (a better description would be ‘not walking’) down the street.  So for Thanksgiving morning hoops, I am alright getting up and down the court.  But getting the ball in the hoop is another story.  That whole muscle memory thing catches up to me when it comes to my hoop skills.   I settle into my role of making good passes, setting some picks, and hopefully scrounging up a bucket or two before we call it a day.

7.  Athletically, being older is an advantage…when you are growing up.  A 10-year old playing a 13-year old is like me playing Lebron.  Unfortunately, that advantage margin gradually decreases until you get to that ‘get a job’ stage of your life mentioned above.  At that point, the tables are turned, and you become the older, slower guy.  And you always will be the older, slower guy.   The 25-year-old guy is faster than the 30-year-old guy.  40 is faster than 45.  When I am 80, I am gonna have to use my patented ‘double hand check’ move just to slow down that shifty, baby-faced 75-year old whippersnapper!

8.  I turned 44 on Thanksgiving Day this year.  One thing that I have learned about playing sports in your 40’s is that the #1 goal is not to get hurt.  I have seen too many Brett Farve and Kobe Bryant wannabees walking around with a back brace.  Or maybe sporting one of those plastic walking boots after tearing their Achilles heel.

So how do you avoid injuries?  Avoid quick change of direction moves.  Don’t jump too high (don’t want to roll an ankle).  And most importantly, never shift past 3rd gear.  40-year old muscles like smooth rides.  Think more ‘Sunday afternoon drive’ on cruise control and less “Fast and the Furious” hot-rodding through the streets of L.A.

I am happy to say that I once again survived another Thanksgiving morning of basketball.  The only complaint I can file is that when I woke up Friday morning, my body reminded me about some muscles that I hadn’t put to use in a while.  My stiff walking that morning could easily get me a zombie role on the Walking Dead.

Normally, that wouldn’t phase me much.  Nothing that a hot shower, a Tylenol, and a day of lying around eating left-overs couldn’t solve.

There was only one problem.  I had to get to a Turkey Bowl football game in about an hour.

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2

Follow the author on twitter:  @macaljancic

You can also e-mail him:  macaljancic@yahoo.com

I have been very fortunate to be in my 21^st year as a math teacher, including the last 19 years teaching 8^th graders at Louisville Middle School.  Teaching, like every profession, has its plusses and minuses.  One definite perk of my career is the chance to make an impact in the lives of my students.  I sometimes forget this golden opportunity when I get caught up in grading papers and finding different strategies to teaching geometric proofs.  But in between covering the Pythagorean Theorem, the Quadratic Formula, and ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’, I try to sprinkle in some different things that make a positive influence on my kids beyond the world of mathematics.

And just to clarify for those of you that haven’t sat in an 8^th grade math class since phones looked like this…

That ‘Aunt Sally’ thing has nothing to do with her poor manners.  It is an acronym for the order of operations.

One thing I do to influence my students’ perspective on life happens on my favorite day of the school year:  the Friday after Veteran’s Day, which is when our school holds its annual “Veterans in the Classroom” day.  13 autumns ago, I decided to try to put on a day where students could spend the day listening and learning from past and present military personnel.   Our first year, we were fortunate to have seven men speak in four 8^th grade classrooms for the day.  The first year went well, so the next fall, I scoured the  phone book (remember those things?) to call various military organizations in search of more speakers to fill more rooms.  Year two got a little bigger.  After that, I started using our students to recruit friends and relatives to speak, and the event really took off.   This year, we were blessed to have almost 60 military personnel fill 17 classrooms for the entire day with their stories and experiences.  Many of our 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders got to also experience things like learning to stand at attention and salute, the process of skydiving, tasting some delicious MRE’s  (‘Meals Ready to Eat’), and suiting up in Vietnam uniforms and equipment.

The success of the day is reflected the words and attitudes of the students.  It’s amazing how much more appreciative students are of the amazing freedoms, privileges, and opportunities that our country provides due to the courage and sacrifice of those whom have served in our armed forces for the last two centuries.  Most students have had a friend or relative that has served in the military, but few know much, if anything, about what that person did.  The words that our guest speakers share give our teens a much clearer picture of life in the military, and thus, a better idea of what dad or grandpa might have experienced.  Hopefully, this day has been a starting point to conversations at home.

Influencing students, though, is not the only reason I coordinate this event each year (with invaluable help from fellow staff members).  The other reason is to show my own appreciation to those men and women who come and speak.   Many of our speakers have come up to me to express their deep appreciation for the opportunity to share with our kids.  I have received letters of thanks as well.  I tell them that I put this day on as my own way to make a small repayment to them for the enormous debt I owe them for their service to our country.

I wrote in one of my first blogs about my  grandfather’s service in World War II.  He was a great example to me of ‘The Greatest Generation’ and their mentality of hard work, sacrifice, character, and selflessness.  He inspired me to become a student of World War II, pouring through books and watching various documentaries and movies.

Our special day at school has allowed me to build friendships with other men of this era through the past 13 years.   I can remember one year where Pat Engelberg, at age 94, leading a class of 14-year olds in calisthenics.  Carl Carmichael was another one of our speakers.  He would always bring an enormous red Nazi Flag that he brought home as a souvenir after fighting in Europe.  Each year, Carl would send me a lengthy hand-written note of appreciation.  He even gave me a picture of him from his military days!  He has not been able to make it the last few years, but he sent me a letter again this fall to apologize.  I was able to have a great conversation with him on the phone, and he was as generous as usual.  And like always, he called me by my given name, Andrew.

A long time speaker at our school was Ted Adamski, a paratrooper from the 82^nd Airborne that jumped on D-Day.  He would come dressed in full military uniform complete with medals along with his own glowing blow tie!  Ted loved to tell one of his 8^th grade escapades where the girl sitting in front of him accidentally splashed him when her long hair brushed the ink well from his desk.  I had to have him explain what an inkwell was to our texting generation.  Anyhow, Ted’s impulsive response was to grab the scissors out of his desk and give the young lady a haircut!  That didn’t go over very well with the principal!

Unfortunately, Ted’s deteriorating health didn’t allow him to join us this year.  But we were still very fortunate to have three World War II veterans speak to our students this year.  William Allen, who fought in Europe, proudly wore his Cleveland Browns jacket.  He could still remember when Otto Graham was quarterback.   Cal Calderone, a 94-year old Pearl Harbor survivor who eventually worked as a code breaker, has been a new addition for the last two years.   He is as spry, sharp, and active as a 74 year old.   His amazing story  as a musician who should have been entombed in the U.S.S. Arizona recently ran in the Canton Repository.

But one speaker has touched my heart more than anyone else.  I met the Reverend James Mason at church over a decade ago.  He was a former pastor in Canton, and his son, Dwight is my pastor at NewPointe Community Church.   I invited Jim to speak at our school, and each year he would come, extremely flattered and appreciative that I would invite him.  Jim is one of the most loving, encouraging, and generous men I have ever met.  He always writes me a letter to accept my invitation, and sends me a lengthy letter of appreciation after his visit.  In his letters, as well as our conversations, he greatly compliments me and encourages me as a teacher and father.  He always dotes over my three children—they love talking about him on our drives home after church.  At school, Jim is always very careful about allowing the other speakers to talk.  He even would raise his hand at times to get permission to speak!  But that embodies the serving attitude of Jim—he always is trying to lift up those around him.

Mr. Mason’s disposition and attitude of servitude is evident in the family around him.  I have been able to work with several of his grandchildren in our church youth group, and two others were students of mine at Louisville.  You can see his influence every single one of them, as they all display compassion and respect to those around them.

Jim’s military experiences were amazing.  He was on base in Honolulu during the Pearl Harbor invasion—he talks of seeing the red sun emblem on the Japanese planes flying overhead.  After our country entered the war, he decided to try to become a paratrooper, and got selected for the 101^st Airborne.  The amazing mini=series, ‘Band of Brothers’, follows the E-Company of the 101^st Airborne.  Jim belonged to the I-Company.   He remembers standing right in front of Winston Churchill giving a speech to a group of troops.  That speech was a pep talk for the upcoming D-Day invasion.  In the early hours of June 6^th, 1944, Jim dropped down from the night time skies that were illuminated by German anti-aircraft fire onto French soil.

Jim’s health took a turn for the worse this past July, and it looked like he only had a few days, or maybe weeks, to live.  I went to visit him, and amazingly, he spent the next hour mentoring and encouraging me!  He told me his hope was to make it to our day at school in November.  Later on, several family members told me that he told them, as well as his doctor, that his goal, Lord willing, was to make it to our school.

And I am extremely proud and thankful to say that my great friend, the Reverend James Mason, was able to speak to our students this past week.  He even closed our assembly with some words to the audience, thanking them for the opportunity to come to the school, thanking his fellow speakers for serving our country, and thanking God for the health to come.  He then closed the assembly with a word of prayer

Thank you, Mr. Mason, for your impact on our students, and for your impact on me.  When I think of your life and the influence you have made on so many, the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:21 ring true:  “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Follow the author on twitter:  @macaljancic

You can also e-mail him:  macaljancic@yahoo.com

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In sports, yesterday’s cheer often become tomorrow’s anguish, and last month’s sorrows bloom into next month’s joy.

20 summers ago, Forest Gump was dominating the movie theaters, ‘I Swear’ was the mushy ballad on the radio, and I got engaged to my college sweetheart.   It was also the year that Jacobs Field opened up, spurring the re-birth of the Indians.  The one downside of the Tribe becoming relevant for the first time since 1959 was that the losses were much more painful to stomach.  And the inevitable week-long slumps that occur during a 6-month baseball season were agonizing for the hungry, die-hard Indians’ fans.  I can remember my future father-in-law and his daughter sometimes complaining about the periodic struggles of pitchers like Jack Morris, Eric Plunk, and Jose Mesa, as well as those times when the big bats of Albert Belle and company went silent.  My answer to Beth & Keith was this:

“It’s a loooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggg season.”

Sports is pretty much an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows.  Well, unless you are the ’85 Bears, 90’s Bulls, or John Wooden coaches your team.  In this golden age of multi-media entertainment at our finger tips,  It’s still the ultimate reality show.  So fans are often quick to push the panic button after an ugly loss, and a bit premature in crowning champions after a big win.

Want evidence?  Let’s flip the calendar back just one month.  Remember October?  Tom Brady and Ben Roethisburger were washed up.  The Seahawks had a free pass to the Super Bowl.  The Big Ten was terrible.

One month later, Tom and Ben looks like,….well, Tom and Ben.  The 2007 versions of Tom and Ben.  The Seahawks are leaking some serious oil, and the Big Ten……..  Well, like grandma said, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Let’s break down the winding autumn path of three of our local teams:

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES:

PAST: The 1-1 Buckeyes’ season is over after a prime time 35-21 loss to an impressive, resurgent Virginia Tech team.  Their frosh QB looks like, well, a frosh, and alleged Silver Bullet defense is firing B-B’s.

PRESENT:  ‘JT Barrett’ and ‘Heisman’ have been in the same sentence more than a few times.  Joey Bosa looks like he’s eventually gonna be the first OSU top-10 draft pick since 2008 (remember Vernon Gholston?)  Mighty Virginia Tech is a not so mighty 4-5 on the year.  Making the inaugural final 4 college football play-off looks unlikely, but not impossible.  A win over Michigan St. in Saturday night’s high-stakes match-up will go a long way.

CURRENT RED FLAG:  OSU’s 2nd half offensive performance against a mediocre Penn State squad makes one wonder how they can hold up against an elite, top-10 team.

CURRENT RAY OF HOPE:  When Penn St. forced OT a couple of weeks ago, I figured the Bucks were done for.  Barrett, who struggled greatly in the 2nd half, stepped up to push the team to victory.

FUTURE?  Headed to top-tier New Year’s Bowl, but not the play-offs, despite failing to knock the Spartans off their Big Ten perch.  Fall of 2015 should be fun once the QB situation gets sorted out.

CLEVELAND BROWNS:

PAST:  After rolling the Steeler to improve to 3-2, the Browns might as well pencil in a 6-2 record for their Thursday night trip to Cincy with the terrible trio of Jacksonville, Oakland, and Tampa coming up next.   Can Brian Hoyer be the next…

PRESENT:  Despite a 5-3 record,  the confidence meter for the Browns has slipped.Why?  Some blame Mr. Hoyer.  Me?  I say Hoyer has every right to sing some Billy Joel Karaoke…

“I ammmmmm……………………an innocent mannnnnnnn!  Oh yes I ammmm!!!”

CURRENT RED FLAG:  I cast my stones at the Browns offensive line.  Hoyer has gutted out wins over the Raiders and Buccaneers in spite of having absolutely no running game, which limits the effectiveness of the play-action passing that their offense is built upon.

CURRENT RAY OF HOPE:  Brian Hoyer is 8-3 as a starting QB for the Browns.  8-3!!!  For the Browns!!!  Just win, baby!

FUTURE?  Browns hang around just enough to keep play-off hopes alive, but center Alex Mack’s season-ending injury continues to haunt the Browns as their offensive woes lead to an 8-8 finish.

STOP THE PRESSES!!!  i HAVE TO MAKE AN EDIT!!!  Did I mention that sports are a roller coaster?  Just as I am writing this, the Browns decide to shake off their shakiness and dominate the division-leading Bengals like… pretty much the entire AFC North has dominated the Browns for the last 15 years.  The Dawg D makes Andy Dalton–a.k.a. ‘The Red Rifle’–look more like ‘The Red Rider B-B Gun’.

NEW FUTURE PREDICTION:  Super Bowl!!!

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS:

PAST:  The new ‘Big Three’ graces the cover of  Sports Illustrated, and are on regular rotation for ESPN Sportscenter.  The only question is  who will come out of the Western Conference to face the Wine and Gold in June?  Coach David Blatt is an Ivy League maestro whose European offensive magic will take the NBA by storm.

PRESENT:   One win, three losses.  Kyrie has taken 36 shots since his last assist.  Kevin Love looks more like Kevin Like.  I wonder how Andrew Wiggins and  Anthony Bennett are doing?  This no carb version of LeBron doesn’t look like that superhuman that was  finishing fast breaks in South Beach the last four years.  Welcome to the NBA, coach Blatt!

CURRENT RED FLAG:  See the last paragraph.  And the Cavs seem to be giving up more easy shots than they are getting.  The team that gets the most easy shots usually wins.

CURRENT RAY OF HOPE:  Remember who we picked up this year…

Whoops.  Wrong Picture.

FUTURE?  The Cavs start harmonizing their game right around the time Santa cleans some chimneys.  Dion Waiters is wearing a uniform that is not wine and gold.  Come play-off time, LeBron starts shouldering the load, the Cavs make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and…

well, my crystal ball gets pretty cloudy right about then.

Just remember, when it comes to sports,  early-season lemons can often become late-season lemonade.  And today’s Krispy Cremes eventually become tomorrow’s day old donuts.  And speaking of donuts, let’s hope that Big Ben starts showing his age again, so we can get this guy and his jelly belly back off the streets…

ROY JONES JR. POUND FOR POUND TOP 10 HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS   (how Tusc./Stark/Carroll County football teams measure up in relation to teams it’s own size as well as their play-off run potential),

FINAL EDITION FOR 2014:

10.  7-3 New Philadelphia (last week #6):  hopefully Quakers can bounce back from disappointing 34-0 loss to rival Dover.  Undefeated #1 seed Tri-Valley awaits.

9.  7-3 Perry (last week unranked):  GlenOak has momentum heading to post-season with wins over Lake, Hoover, and Perry to gain Federal League Championship.

8.  7-3 Aquinas (last week #9):  One of the best teams not to make the play-offs.  Unfortunate to see Coach Budd resign after a great tenure at his alma mater.

7.  7-3 Massillon (last week #8):  Tigers Tigers’ quest for that elusive play-off state championship begins with a trip to undefeated Perrysburg.  Tough regular season should be helpful.

6.  8-2 Tuscarawas Central Catholic (last week #7):  great regular season is rewarded an opponent that must be endorsed by Sherwin-Williams:  7-3 Paint Valley.

5.  8-2 Indian Valley (last week #4):  Unfortunately, Braves just miss out on return  trip to the play-offs.  Congrats to Jake Davis for his 2,000-yard season and phenominial career.

4.  8-2 Dover (last week #5):   Tornadoes make big statement with easy shut-out of Quakers. #2 seeds usually get manageable opening games against #7 seeds.  Unfortunately, perennial play-off juggernaut Columbus DeSales doesn’t fit that description.

3.  9-1 Louisville (last week #3):  Leopards’ average margin of victory for their last 8 games:  36 points.  Only two of those teams had winning records (both only 6-4).  Hopefully the lack of being tested doesn’t hurt them in a rugged region, starting with 9-1 Poland Friday.

2.  10-0 Garaway (last week #2): They are one of 5 undefeated teams in their region.  But their toughest opposition might be their opening game with 8-2 Cleveland St. Joe’s.

1.   10-0 Canton Central Catholic (last week #1):  Hail to the champions of the inaugural Mac Snacks Poll Championship!!  A possible regional final match-up with Youngstown Ursuline looks to be the one big hurdle to getting to the final 4.

 

Follow the author on twitter:  @macaljancic

You can also e-mail him:  macaljancic@yahoo.com