Viewer’s guide to Thanksgiving
Well, believe it or not, Thanksgiving is nearly upon us.
The national holiday of thanks for the blessings that have been bestowed upon our nation and its citizens is celebrated in many ways, mostly traditional with the three 鈥淔s,鈥� food, family and football.
But, there is so much more to the contemporary holiday, including a lot of sports programming, shopping as a spectator sport and getting out of the virtual world by tying up your laces and doing a little recreational sports of your own.
With many schoolkids having half day and preparations for dinner usually underway, I might as well start with options beginning on Wednesday.
The Slippery Rock women travel to Oakland to face the Lady Panthers of Pittsburgh for an interdivisional basketball game at 2:30 p.m., if that蘑菇视频 to your liking.
The Penguins play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m., a perfect opportunity to get out of the kitchen and kick back for a couple hours.
(Although heed your mother蘑菇视频 warning by turning off those burners if you鈥檙e leaving the kitchen for an extended period of time. Get caught up watching the Boys of Winter and before you know it, the side dishes could burn. Burned green bean casserole lingers no matter how much Fabreze or Lysol is sprayed to dissipate the malodorous odors.)
If you鈥檙e into classic television, Decades is showing several episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O late afternoon and evening.
ABC shows a true classic at 8 p.m. Wednesday, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. First shown on Nov. 20, 1973, Charles Schulz wanted to remind viewers it蘑菇视频 not all about the turkey and the fixings. No, Thanksgiving is about sharing, be it popcorn or toast, with those who mean the most, as well as those who might not have anyone around to share.
(Though, the central theme is a bunch of preteens with apparently no parental guidance gadding about the neighborhood with little direction, the perils of raking leaves into a big pile with a precocious beagle around and why no boy should ever trust a girl to tee up a football. Sorry, I guess I should鈥檝e had a spoiler alert.)
Feeling the need to watch college men蘑菇视频 basketball in the wee hours of the morning while the pies bake? Oakland (Mich.) plays Nevada in the Great Alaska Shootout at 1:30 a.m. on CBS Sports Network.
The extended forecast for Thanksgiving Day is not very pretty with rain expected to carry throughout the morning and temperatures topping out around 50 degrees.
The weather promises to be raw when hundreds gather on Fayette Street around 9 a.m. Thanksgiving Day for the 11th annual Turkey Trot Run/Walk, benefiting the Uniontown Salvation Army.
I鈥檓 not much for competing or exercising in the rain and a rainy Woodruff 5K in July is a lot more palatable than a miserable, rainy Turkey Trot in late November, but I will once again toe the line and suggest, if you can find the time, do the same.
The race provides much-needed resources for the wonderful work the Salvation Army does for those in the county and provides the opportunity for families and friends to share a couple hours together.
Or, the 5K provides a wonderful opportunity to get away from those very same family members and friends for a couple hours. (insert haha, lol, etc., here)
It蘑菇视频 not too late to join the festivities. Early packet pickup is Wednesday at the Salvation Army from 3-7 p.m. Registration for the race ($25) will also be accepted at this time. Busy Wednesday? Then the pick-up table will be manned at 7 a.m. Thanksgiving. You can also register at this time.
So, why not don that pilgrim suit or foam turkey hat and come get soak and wet for a wonderful cause!
Once you get home, get showered up and dried off, the NFL has a couple good games on tap.
The reeling Minnesota Vikings, who won their first five games before the break and are 1-4 since, play the inconsistent Detroit Lions for first place in the NFC North at 12:30 p.m.
The Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, one of the fiercest rivalries in the NFL, then take center stage at 4:30.
Now, if the carb-loaded tryptophan meal hasn鈥檛 made you too sleepy, your Pittsburgh Steelers, fresh off reminding the Cleveland Browns that they鈥檙e still the Cleveland Browns, travel to Indianapolis to play the Colts at 8:30.
Not into football or other sporting events? Then I guess you can boldly go where no sane person cares to go 鈥� begin the frenzied Christmas shopping season with those stores who opted to open Black Friday on Thursday.
Now, my nephew Brian and myself care to take on Black Friday at our pace, whenever I get up and moving on Friday. We pick a direction (near a Primanti Brothers), spend some time shopping, before trying to catch the Penguins game at 4 p.m. in Minnesota.
So, to review: Food, family, friends, football, 5k and a chance to reconnect and share the aforementioned 鈥淔s鈥� with those who are important in our particular lives.
Happy Thanksgiving!聽