The National at Midweek, 11/21/12: Thanks.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a day when we all distend our stomachs at the expense of the entire turkey population of these glorious United States (unless you, like me, prefer to murder pigs instead). Of course, owing to family scheduling, I am preparing this week's Midweek while the turkey and ham sit in the oven; we'll be having Thanksgiving dinner this evening rather than tomorrow. Oh, and I am dying of the plague or consumption or the grippe or some horrible respiratory calamity, so...

...so maybe I've been a bit harsher the last couple of days than normal. Sorry.

Anyway, it's time to list some things I'm thankful for in the spirit of the season.

• I'm really thankful for antibiotics. Okay, okay, I'll quit whining.
• I'm thankful for college football, which despite all our bitching and complaining is still the greatest spectator experience on the planet. No other sport gives us so much to argue about, nor so much to look forward to, nor so much chaos and upheaval.
• I'm thankful for family, and a roof over my head, and modern conveniences. Including a big bowl on top of the house that lets me watch thirty-gajillion football games every week, including ones nobody but me actually seems to care about.
• I'm thankful for my alma mater, and for the Wildcats giving us all this great season. Yes, the loss Saturday was disappointing -- even crushing. But we're still 10-1, we can still handle business, and there's even still an outside chance we could get to play for all the marbles anyway. It's a fool's gamble, and we shouldn't dwell on it long enough to even allow for disappointment if it doesn't happen, but it would be a wild sort of payback for a passel of previous wrongs, real or perceived.
• And I'm thankful for you guys, and a platform to express myself. We may disagree. I may come across as an arrogant jackass. I may have never met an argument I didn't like. But if y'all weren't important, I wouldn't engage, either. Unlike some other guys who Write Things On The Internet, I value your feedback, even if we disagree... and I feel it's only proper for me to react to your thoughts rather than ignore them. That way... that way leads to ESPN Conversations. Blecch.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy the day, enjoy your families, eat yourself stupid. Just don't go shopping tomorrow night. I won't want you to get injured or anything.

Forgetting something? What? Oh, the Midweek. Right. Well, we've got three separate pieces of video, including Shutdown Fullback's post-mortem of Saturday's twin bloodbaths, a roundtable regarding the Big Ten's latest cash grab, and Power Rankings. There's the Numerical and the BlogPoll and BCS analysis and Spencer Hall's top-25 recap. We've also got a buyer's guide to Maryland and Rutgers, Jason Kirk ranking the rivalry week games, and coverage of Jack Taylor's ridiculous 138-point effort for Grinnell last night.