LARSMONT… The Minnesota Vikings are in free fall after dropping yet another tilt to the suddenly rejuvenated Oakland Raiders, I haven’t heard the name of Donovan McNabb even whispered in over three weeks now, and the whole Vikes stadium matter seems to once again be at a standstill. And lo and behold, the Cheeseweasels are still undefeated…

UMD Bulldog football moves on to fight another week; the St. Scholastica Saints do not. 

Very nice season for the Saints, though. Congrats to the entire team. Bulldog men’s hockey is surging after an indifferent start, and the Golden “G’s,” after losing the Friday eve game at St. Cloud 4-3, smoked them 5-0 on a Nick Bjugstad hat trick for the return match at Minneapolis on Saturday eve. The game was officiated by none other than local hockey and coffee legend Brett Klosowski…

With Turkey Day at hand, that also means that my great-nephew, Mr. Mohawk, will be having another birthday. The lad turns eight this year. We will be celebrating by building and launching another model rocket. This year we will be attempting the launch of a two-stager. One booster will propel the missile skyward for about 1000 feet, and then a second booster will ignite and send the rocket another 1000 feet into the wild blue yonder. The Hawk got an iPad from his folks as a gift and he was already looking at weather reports for Thursday and checking things out like winds aloft and so on. He is a member of the Blaine Little League Black Stingers...

 The hockey media went into nuclear warp speed overload when it was announced yesterday afternoon that Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins will be making his return to action after missing eleven months plus, due to the effects of a concussion suffered last New Year’s Day during the Winter Classic. Sid the Kid will be playing tonight versus the New York Islanders at Pittsburgh. I would look for Crosby to engage in a few games before looking like he did last year at this time, when he was putting up some huge numbers and literally pulling away from all other scorers in the NHL scoring race. I will also be hoping that some clown doesn’t try to make a name for himself by needlessly injuring Crosby again. The NHL is a better league with him in it, not on the medical sidelines… 

Don’t uncross your fingers, because the Minnesota Wild are leading the Northwest Division right now and are currently challenging for the Western Conference lead as well. I know, I know, just a scant few weeks back I wrote how they were going to finish toward the back of the Conference pack, were going to struggle to score, and had a defense that was so young that half of them still watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. Well, we have all been pleasantly surprised by the club’s start. I say all because I wasn’t the only hockey fanatic that thought this team with this roster would struggle. They don’t give up, and they find ways to win in situations when in seasons past they wouldn’t have. The goaltending has been superb, and I have to give rookie head coach Mike Yeo his due. He and his staff have this team playing together and focused. Keep it up, boys…

Finally, yes, it is Thanksgiving week, a week in which we should take some time out to reflect on what we have in our lives to be thankful for and to give thanks and show our gratitude. My list is quite long, when I think about it. This will be my first Thanksgiving ever without my grandma, my mom’s mom. We lost her in January. She was a very strong Swedish woman who helped build tanks during the WW II effort. She could drink more beer and catch more fish than most guys I know. She would have been 92 in March and wasn’t well, so it was time. Out of all of the women in the world who could have been my grandma, I’m glad it was her. I am thankful for that.

When we look around at the world today and see all of the dishonesty and greed and what it has led to and done to people, most of us still have many things to give thanks for. 

I was in rural Arkansas just last week and saw some real poverty. It reminded me of what I saw in some parts of Mexico. It disheartens me to think that what I saw was in this country, but it also reminded me to be thankful for how many of us here have a better life than that. 

Most of all, this Thanksgiving season I am going to give thanks for all those who are making some big sacrifices in their personal lives so that they can be a part of the movement protesting against injustice and inequality in this country and in this world. And if you don’t think that it is a real problem of epic proportions, I would suggest you read the book “The Impact of Inequality.” I am positive you could find a used copy for a rather inexpensive price. It is more than worth the time to read it, and just might give you some more things to contemplate during this week of giving thanks for all that we have, enjoy in our lives, and hold dearly… PEACE

Do something extra good for someone this week and don’t tell anyone about it...

THE MFAN NFL PICKS FOR WEEK 12:

(HOME team in CAPS)

LIONS over cheeseweasels

BOYS’ over fish

San fran over BALT

ATL over Vikes

Hous over JAX

TENN over T-bay

STL over Cards

CINCY over brownies

J-E-T-S over buff

Caro over INDY

SEATTLE over Wash

OAK over bears

Pats over PHILLY

Den over SAN-D

NEW ORLEAN over giants

Pitt over CHEFS

WEEK ELEVEN INCOMPLETE AT PRESS TIME

NEW TOTALS NEXT WEEK!!!

Marc Elliott is a freelance sports opinion writer who splits time between his hometown in Illinois and Minnesota. Elliott grew up in the Twin Cities with many of his childhood neighbors working or playing for the Vikings and Twins. He participated in baseball, football and hockey before settling on hockey as his own number one sport. Elliott recently wrote “The Masked Fan Speaks” column for the Lake County News Chronicle for the past ten years and was a prominent guest on the former “All Sports” WDSM 710AM in Duluth.