Today, 'team' is about friends, family

I’ll try not to take a lot of your time on this Thanksgiving Day.

Because …

You should be spending it with family and friends, recalling all the wonderful things you have together.

Even problems and some bumps in the road are merely blessings in disguise. And the more you share them, the more obvious it becomes.

So, I’ll be as brief as possible, which my pals will tell you isn’t too easy.

This is a message I’ve shared in print at other times and in other places, but it’s just as true now as the first time I wrote it.

Here’s the heart of things …

As I mentioned right at the top, Thanksgiving should be an experience of togetherness.

It’s a truly American holiday, even if those Pilgrims and Indians we drew in third grade weren’t exactly historically accurate.

What Thanksgiving should NOT be is a day of wall-to-wall football.

I’ve been to plenty of these “dinners” where women gather in the kitchen — doing the work, basically — while guys sprawl across the living room or den somewhere and watch football with a few cold ones.

NO, THAT isn’t the point of Thanksgiving.

Sorry, fellas.

Football season goes on endlessly, and there are plenty of Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays to hang out with your buddies and whoop until you’re hoarse.

But on Thanksgiving, for once, forget those 350-pounders slamming into one another and spend some time with the relatives.

Don’t cheat, either, letting women present everyone with a magnificent turkey dinner — and then grabbing a plate so you can scuttle back to the TV.

Enjoy the feast together.

As the name implies, you should be giving thanks.

There are millions on this planet going hungry today — and that includes some of your neighbors in Kootenai County.

Think about that.

Their idea of gratitude is saved for remaining alive for another year.

Meanwhile, we lucky ones stuff ourselves and assume that, somehow, it’s simply our right to have all the food we’ll ever need.

Go ahead and enjoy it, but keep things in perspective.

Remember the whole point of this holiday, and truly make it a day to be together — not split up between those doing the gravy and others watching the Detroit Lions.

NOW MAKE no mistake about this: I am a sports fan.

To excess, at times.

I’ve gone to bed in the wee hours and been unable to sleep because of some terrible result.

On the other side of it, I’m in paradise with a victory — and beyond that with a championship.

And yes, I’ll defend being a sports junkie with my last breath. Like music or theater, it’s wonderful escapism in a world that sometimes wallops us.

Now having said that …

I do not watch any sports events on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

NEVER!

Today is for hugging your family and feeling that love.

Nothing can replace that.

Well, maybe the Cubs winning the World Series …

No, wait.

Wait.

That was a joke just for my boss, and he would tell you the same thing.

Even the Cubs can’t replace family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving, and bless you all.

•••

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

A Brand New Day appears from Wednesday through Saturday each week.

Steve’s column on Gonzaga basketball runs on Tuesday.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

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Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA