It’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The biggest holiday of the year in this country — even more so than Christmas Day. I still find it hard to really get into the spirit of celebrating the holiday. I don’t get into the traditional American football games, so maybe that’s one of the reasons the holiday seems so foreign to me. But it’s fun for the kids and for the family to get together, so I’ll be looking forward to that.

In the spirit of real football and Thanksgiving Day, here are a few of the reasons to be thankful:

  1. Watching a live match, not knowing who will win and being completely drawn into the game,
  2. Seeing a goal scored out of nowhere, when you least expect it,
  3. A football commentator summing up a key moment with words of wisdom that roll off the tongue like poetry, and
  4. A football stadium full of fans in sweet chorus.

And here are a few things that piss me off:

  1. Watching a match and knowing what the final result is,
  2. Watching a nervy match and waiting for a goal to be scored, which would change the game, but it never comes, and
  3. Watching your team lose to a undeserved last minute goal.

For soccer fans in the United States, there are a few more reasons to be thankful. ESPN360 and Setanta Sports will be televising the latest round of UEFA Cup games today as follows (all times eastern):

  • Schalke vs Manchester City, Setanta Sports, 1pm [live] or 6pm [delayed]
  • Tottenham vs NEC, ESPN 360, 1pm
  • Portsmouth v AC Milan, ESPN 360, 3pm

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!