Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Eve and, while I am looking forward to listening to the Wings and Avs tonight, I am less rabid about it in light of the whole Jiri Fischer situation. The press says he's fine, and I totally believe that and it's great, but suddenly the game seems more just that, a game. I checked NHL.com this morning as usual and saw that my Wings are now behind Ottawa for the league lead, and it seemed less important.

I remember having this same feeling after attending Skate America a few years ago and actually talking to the athletes, seeing them as real people (short people, mind you, figure skaters are sooo much tinier than they look on tv!). Skaters that I didn't give a hoot about how they performed previously, I suddenly wanted them to succeed. I think so often we forget how fragile, human, and real even the superhuman actually are.

Of course, even if I spoke Spanish, I'm not gonna say that to a South American soccer fan whose team's star player missed an empty net or a PK, even though those are the people who really need a reality check. I'm all about fan-aticism, but who wins the World Cup isn't going to solve world hunger or fix the ozone layer.

It's a matter of perspective. So, for the moment anyway (at least until the Stanley Cup playoffs), I am thankful for athletes who give their all and for all the fans who remember it is just a game.