It's been a couple days since we lost to Canisius. We've had a little time to lick our wounds and make some progress in practice.
I'm proud to say that you'll see a stronger, fresher, hungrier Buffalo basketball team on Thursday and for the remainder of the season.
But don't think I've forgotten about everyone's favorite holiday (ok, that's an exaggeration - it's not even MY favorite holiday), Thanksgiving. Amidst the commotion of the basketball season it's easy to lose track of time...if you gave me a million dollars for telling you the date today? No dice - I have no idea. I think it's still November, though.
Luckily, my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania is only about 90 minutes from Buffalo. I scooted home Wednesday night (to the surprise of my mom - I didn't tell her I was coming home) and was able to spend Thanksgiving Day with my parents. Since my mom's a mom and my dad was a Boy Scout, they were obviously prepared for Thanksgiving dinner.
Understatement of the century.
When we sat down to dinner, it was myself, my mom and my dad at the table. Happily sitting in front of us was a 30lb turkey (they really do make them that big - must be steroids or something) and HEAPING plates of mashed potatoes, stuffing (my favorite), green beans, cranberry sauce and rolls upon rolls upon rolls.
Needless to say, the back seat of my car was overflowing with leftovers that now sit in our refrigerator as breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of our lives.
As I returned to the court Friday, my dad did the same. I only had practice but Dad was suiting up for the First Annual Greenville (PA) High School Alumni Basketball Game. He had been prepping for this game for months, hitting the gym alone and with my mom lifting, shooting and everything in between so he would be in tip-top shape.
You see, my dad's basketball team was (and still is) Greenville High School's all-time winningest team. He and his teammates had a reputation to uphold.
My mom witnessed what was almost an amazing upset. The opposing team, consisting of more recent Greenville graduates took an early lead and held the lead into halftime. The old guys (literally - my dad's team was an average of 20+ years older than their opposition) mounted a furious comeback, cutting the deficit to one before finally falling to the young guns by seven.
You'll have to ask my dad for a more accurate play-by-play. But from what I hear, it was a heck of a game - and the crowd was going wild.
As we all know, Friday was also Black Friday. Did I go shopping? No.
Should I have? Yes.
Why?
Because shopping on Black Friday and on Christmas Eve (I've done both) is something everyone should experience. There's just nothing like it. So if you missed Black Friday, save those last few presents for Christmas Eve and make a game out of it: see if you can finish your Christmas shopping on time. Oh, and cross your fingers that what you're shopping for is still in stock.
Now THAT'S a good time.
Enjoy your leftovers...
