I’m Thankful For…

Dave · November 27, 2008 at 10:08 am · Filed Under Mariners 

My beautiful wife.

A ridiculously awesome partner in the blog. Derek’s work both in writing and behind the scenes is what makes this place as much fun as it is.

The best blogosphere of any team out there. From Conor’s writing here, to Jeff, Matthew, and Graham at Lookout Landing, Churchill at ProspectInsider, Yencich at Mariner Minors, Baker at the Times, and all the rest of you guys who contribute all over the place, there’s no better community of fans on the internet.

Larry Stone.

Hope for the franchise for the first time in I don’t know how long. The acceptance of new ideas from an organization not known for forward thinking. A front office committed to winning. A baseball team headed in the right direction.

My family, who might be 3,000 miles away, but are still a big part of my life.

Felix.

FanGraphs, The Hardball Times, and InsideTheBook – three sites run by people dedicated to advancing the understanding of baseball and sacrificing personal profit and gain to make it happen. Studes, Appelman, and Tango are pillars in the baseball community.

Albert Pujols – watching him hit is just more fun than anyone should be allowed to have.

MLB.tv – yes, the quality is questionable, their blackouts are stupid, and they have a quesitonable taste in repetitive advertisements, but being able to watch the Mariners as often as I want from North Carolina? That’s a great invention.

$1.76 a gallon gas.

My stunning wife.

Comments

27 Responses to “I’m Thankful For…”

  1. floydr on November 27th, 2008 10:18 am

    Thank YOU for all the fun!

  2. wabbles on November 27th, 2008 10:24 am

    Ditto, except for all the family and wife stuff. And ditto floydr, I found this place years ago when searching for people online who just liked baseball. It’s been so much better and so much more than I ever imagined.

  3. Evan on November 27th, 2008 10:36 am

    Oh, Jeez. Is it Thanksgiving?

    I totally missed that.

  4. walkie83 on November 27th, 2008 10:36 am

    dang… you make me want to get married…

  5. Jeff Nye on November 27th, 2008 10:49 am

    I’m thankful for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade getting rickrolled!

    Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

  6. JLP on November 27th, 2008 10:51 am

    I’m thankful for…

    …my wonderful wife and kids. Check my blog to see pics of my great family.

    …great friends.

    …the Seattle Mariners. Win or lose, I love baseball. And now there’s some hope on the horizon.

    …Turkey Day leftovers. Turkey and mashed taters mixed up together with gravy and corn. Mm-mmmm-good.

    …USSMariner. Thanks for making me a better fan.

  7. Jim Thomsen on November 27th, 2008 11:34 am

    I’m thankful for:

    — Ryan Dempster’s funky glove twist

    — Double-overtime for working on Thanksgiving

    — Willie Bloomquist, who thinks he can be an everyday player in the National League (and has hired Scott Boras to make his case)

    — Deep-fried turkey (the finest I’ve ever had)

    — Good friends (just went to a party full of people I hadn’t seen since graduating high school 25 years ago, and it was as if no time had passed at all … in the best possible way)

    — My nonexistent wife and children

    — YouTube video of Brian Downing’s batting stance (he remains my favorite player ever)

    — The Onion

    — The knuckleball

    — The ability to face reality, accept that my 22-year career in newspaper journalism is ending, and that I have an exciting chance to start over and find something new to do.

    — Good health.

    — Hope for the future. It may take till 2012 or so, but I feel it’s possible that Mariners just may rise from their own ashes like a phoenix out of Arizona and become strong again. (I can’t tell you how sick and sad I’ve been the last several years, rooting for the M’s to lose so that the organization would tear down and start over.)

    — And most of all, I hope Carl Everett is somewhere today with people who love him.

    — Oh, and USS Mariner, the best damn Web site in the solar system. Fortified with ten essential vitamins and minerals, it’s made a nutritious part of my complete breakfast for the last 5 1/2 years. You guys rock the casbah, shock the monkey and twist the sister.

  8. Carson on November 27th, 2008 12:37 pm

    You covered Felix, and I +1 that for sure.

    But, I am so extremely thankful for getting to watch Ichiro play every day, and his hilarious quotes. Watching his batting routine never gets old.

    I’m thankful for this site bringing me out of the dark ages of BA and ERA. I have a ways to go, so please never stop doing this.

  9. pakipaki on November 27th, 2008 1:26 pm

    I live in New Zealand, and we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. I like the idea though.

    I am thankful that my mate kyoko put me on to USSMariner and Lookout Landing. I’m still very early on in my baseball/Mariner fandom, and I’ve cursed kyoko many times over the last few years for putting me on to such a terrible team. But I’m an M’s fan (rocking my Ichiro away jersey as we speak!), and that will never change.

    I’m also thankful that all of my exposure to baseball analysis is through the M’s blogosphere, so I have not had to ‘unlearn’ any biases toward unhelpful stats.

    I really appreciate all of the work you guys do, and don’t bet against seeing kyoko and I at some future LL/USSM event.

    Kia ora

  10. J on November 27th, 2008 1:26 pm

    Thanks, Dave.

    I’d echo your sentiments here. I’m thankful for an online fan base and a blogging community that managed to stick through it all and make a historically bad season interesting and sometimes entertaining. Any team would be lucky to have just one person covering the team with such devotion, but that we have several going out there everyday to provide that comprehensive coverage is really quite incredible.

    Thanks to all involved in making it possible.

  11. Typical Idiot Fan on November 27th, 2008 1:53 pm

    My stunning wife.

    I’m guessing that after only mentioning her once she literally took a tazer to you to force another mention. Kudos to telling us of her transgressions while appeasing her wishes.

    I tease, of course. Happy holidays!

  12. patnmic on November 27th, 2008 2:01 pm

    I’m thankful for the USSMariner, the beautiful distraction baseball is from real life and all you crazy bloggers who give me something to look forward to when I log onto the net. Thanks everyone and I hope you have a great Holiday season.

  13. mkd on November 27th, 2008 4:59 pm

    USS Mariner!

  14. Scooter4 on November 27th, 2008 5:25 pm

    I’m thankful for Carlos Silva… wait, what does “thankful” mean again?

  15. msb on November 27th, 2008 9:07 pm

    I’m thankful that after weathering various storms, my family on the whole is healthy and happy

    I’m thankful for baseball and for getting to watch AB and Ichiro, Felix and Slaughter Roy.

    (oh, and speaking of wives and wives-to-be, I see that Roy and Lacy are registered at Penneys, and could use a toaster)

    I’m thankful the Ms aren’t the Padres and may rebound sooner rather than later.

    and (especially when I wander into Cloud Commentland elsewhere) I am thankful for USSM.

  16. JMK on November 27th, 2008 9:39 pm

    Thanks for all the fun and education here on ussmariner.

  17. Slippery Elmer on November 27th, 2008 9:43 pm

    My stunning wife.

    Pics or it didn’t happen…

  18. DoesntCompute on November 27th, 2008 11:20 pm

    Does your beautiful wife know about your stunning wife?

    Happy Thanksgiving all.

  19. oh poker on November 27th, 2008 11:24 pm

    Poker, an income source that has allowed me to go to school, take extended vacations, and work exactly when I feel like it. I’m thankful I haven’t gotten burned out in the last 4 years and that I can still make a living despite things having gotten tougher in every way since party poker.

    Oden-Aldridge-Roy, Rodriguez to Fernandez, Batum, Outlaw, Blake, and Frye. In roughly that order.

  20. DKJ on November 28th, 2008 9:21 am

    I am grateful for the authors and monitors of this blog for:

    – Keeping us all on topic. I am a better person for the times I have been squelched. Really. (Okay, it stung, but you were right.)

    – Promoting civility and intelligence in the blogoshpere, without expunging passionate advocacy. This is model of discourse in any context.

    We are bound to have happier things to discuss in the coming months. (As John Lennon added to his pal Paul’s song: “It can’t get no worse.”) So I am grateful for the anticipation.

    -DKJ

  21. msb on November 28th, 2008 10:35 am

    did I mention leftovers?

    I’m thankful for leftovers … hmmm. pumpkin, or chocolate pie?

  22. TomTuttle on November 28th, 2008 9:03 pm

    I’m thankful for:

    -My family

    -My friends

    -My health

    -My sound mind

    -The Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and WSU Cougars

    -Tony Bennett, June Daugherty, Jack Zduriencik, Don Wakamatsu, Mike Holmgren, Tim Ruskell, Jim Sterk (WSU A.D.), and Paul Wulff (for his pride).

    -SAFECO Field, Qwest Field, Martin Stadium, Beasley Coliseum, and Bailey-Brayton Field (in Pullman).

    -All the times I got to see Tuba Man outside of
    SAFECO Field and Key Arena

    -All the times I got to see Junior, Edgar, Randy, Dan, Bone, A-Rod, “Sweet” Lou Piniella, and all the rest of the ’90s Mariners in the Kingdome

    -Getting to see in person, among other things:
    *Game 5 of the ’95 ALDS
    *The 2001 All-Star Game at The Safe
    *The Seahawks beat the Panthers for the NFC title
    *Many thrilling wins in Cougar hoops since ’06
    *Apple Cup ’08

    -Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Dave Simms

    -1995, 1997, 2000, 2001

    -The 12th Man

    -The ZZU Cru

    -March Madness

    -October baseball

    -Super Bowl Sunday

    -USSMariner

    -Geoff Baker, Larry Stone

    -King Felix (Ichiro isn’t so bad either. . .)

    -The day every year when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training

    -The excitement of Opening Day

    -The times when there is fresh snow on Mt. Bachelor

    -And of course, a full stomach on turkey day

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

  23. Graham on November 29th, 2008 9:38 am

    I am thankful for Dave and DMZ for teaching me real baseball analysis.

  24. marinerbullpen on November 29th, 2008 10:26 pm

    But diesel is still $2.89 in my town.

    But mainly, the Mariners are trying something new and not going with the “good ole boys”.

  25. Evan on November 30th, 2008 11:41 am

    I am also thankful for Dave and DMZ teaching Graham real baseball analysis.

  26. Teej on November 30th, 2008 9:08 pm

    Dave, Derek, Jeff, Matthew and Graham have taught me more about baseball than anyone or anything did before I found the two blogs a few years ago. Thank you all.

  27. msb on December 1st, 2008 7:50 am

    and Conor, over the last few months ….

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