Rip City Hump Day Links

FC Dallas win MLS's Fashion Statement of the Year. Click Here to see why.
Juan Agudelo on the move to Spain? Think again says RBNY
St. Paul kid earns D3 All-American honors for Macalester
USL-PRO's LA Blues official introduced
New PDL team in Winnipeg: WSA Winnipeg
Diver breaks depth record
D.C. United sign 4th Homegrown Player
Big moves in the Second Phase of the Re-Entry Draft
Iconic Images of 2010
Blender's Songs of the Week, with videos!
Video of the Week: MPLS Metrodome caves in during historic blizzard

Be Thankful for the Little Things

As an athlete, there are somethings we take for granted.  We sometimes forget about the wonderful opportunity we have to play the sport we love, while others have never even had that chance to take the field of play.  We take for granted our opponent who, at times, we'll curse, scream and even hate, yet we forget that if it wasn't for them, we'd have no one to play against resulting in us not playing at all.  Lastly, we forget to remember how precious the gift of good health is to us.  Injuries happen often in sports; we watch it happen to both teammates and opponents every game, yet we have the naivety to act as if we're invincible and it will never happen to us.  The cold and somber truth is that injuries happen, and you never expect yourself to get hurt until you're lying on the field.

I found a story on D3 Football.com about a college senior quarterback who was hurt the second game in the season.  He was not going to be able to take another snap in his college career.  However, this leader took it upon himself to neither pack it in or give up.  He spent the entire rest of the season helping out the young, inexperienced, backup quarterback to help lead their team to the best season the school has had in the past 24 years.

In the end, the injured senior quarterback was able to take the last snap of the season on a victory kneel to win the game.  I can guarantee you that no one has been more thankful for the simple action of taking one snap of the football than this guy was.  Click here to read the original and touching story.

So during this Thanksgiving break, take time to really give thanks for the simple things in life.  It's the meager actions and events that we take for granted, and we never realize it until they're long gone.  Be thankful and have a very delightful and joyous Thanksgiving.