Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

One of the benefits of writing a column that runs on Thursday is, in late November, you get an easy one in which you can simply list all of the things you’re thankful for instead of something truly philosophical and insightful.

So, without further ado, here’s a few things in sports that I’m thankful for:

• Warm Friday nights during football season. We made it through this season without one of those frigid evenings where you dress like you’re gearing up to explore the South Pole. Hopefully we don’t get 20 of them during soccer season.

• Wheel routes. The prettiest pass in football, where the running back saunters out of the backfield and up the sideline, and the quarterback throws a dart to hit him in stride.

• Plays from the 1-yard line. Not first-and-goal, but first-and-10 from a team’s own 1-yard line. So many goofy things can happen — a safety, a turnover returned for a touchdown, a 99-yard touchdown — that it’s sneakily the most fun play in football.

• Flea flickers. The moment when the running back turns to pitch the ball back to the quarterback, you can often hear 70,000 people gasp in either anticipation or dread.

• The zip of the net as the basketball passes cleanly through. It’s just a sweet, sweet sound, man.

• The feel of a warm breeze and sunshine on your face on a Saturday afternoon in spring. There’s nothing like being at the ballpark right when the weather is warm, but not yet hot, and getting the feeling that anything in life is possible.

• The coaches and parents who call in scores and talk to us, win or lose. We can’t be at every game, and those who take stats and pass along information afterward make the job a million times easier.

• Our readers. We wouldn’t be here without you, folks.

• In a similar vein, our very grateful readers. Covering Tallulah Academy’s football team on its march to the MAIS eight-man championship last week, a number of you took the time to personally thank me for our coverage. That meant a lot to me. Thank you. It’s nice to know we’re appreciated.

• Writing about sports for a living. The hours are long and meeting a daily deadline can be stressful, but it beats the heck out of digging ditches.

• Turkey and football on Thanksgiving. It’s one of a million things that make America great. Enjoy it, everyone, and have a happy one.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer with The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at 601-619-7120, or via email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com