For more than 40 years, Charlotte sports columnist Ron Green Sr. wrote a Thanksgiving Day column about what he was thankful for, both in and out of the sports world.
Readers looked forward to it. They quoted lines from it. It was a beloved Charlotte Observer tradition. Ron Green’s Thanksgiving Day column would be waiting for you on the front of the sports page on Thursday morning, before the football and the food appeared, and it would make you happy.
Ron is retired now, and I spoke to him by phone earlier this month. He’s 93 years old and “doing pretty well,” he said. He and his wife Beth still live in Charlotte. His voice sounded strong.
In 2021, I began my own tradition of honoring Ron by writing my own Thanksgiving Day column in the same format. The idea was to be a good cover band, playing somebody else’s famous tune and subbing in my own lyrics.
“I was just checking with you if that would be all right to write that again,” I said to Ron when we talked last week.
“Do it,” Ron said. “And have fun with it.”
So here goes. First of all, thanks to Ron and his family — it’s an honor to know you all. And now, the rest of the list.
I’m thankful for:
— High school coaches. Sports has a positive effect on millions of teenagers every year. The purity of competition, the joy of a player accomplishing something for the first time, the lessons learned in defeat. And none of that is possible without the coaches who put in hundreds of hours for little or no pay.
— Radio stations that don’t convert to an all-Christmas music format the day after Halloween.
— Families, mine and yours, in all their messy glory.
▪ All 15 of the men and women who sat down with me for in-person, in-depth interviews for “Sports Legends of the Carolinas.”
This was my favorite work-related project of 2022 and truly one of the favorites of my career, as visual journalist Jeff Siner and I crisscrossed the Carolinas to talk to people about their journeys into iconic status.
Those interviews became a series of stories and a podcast, and readers and listeners have embraced them both.
So thanks to everyone involved in that series and especially to the legends who gave me, in many cases, hours of their time. In order of their appearance in the series: Muggsy Bogues, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danny Ford, Jake Delhomme, Davis Love III, Charlie Scott, Wesley Walls, Dawn Staley, Bob McKillop, Judy Rose, Phil Ford, Jay Bilas, Charlotte Smith, Roy Williams and Steph Curry.
— “Goodnight, Moon.” The well-loved children’s book turned 75 years old this year and has helped generations of kids fall into a peaceful sleep.
A comb, a brush, a bowl full of mush. And a quiet old lady who was whispering, “Hush.”
I was talking about this book recently with Dale Jr., whose two girls love it.
“That book has a magic in it, right?” Dale Jr said. “There’s something about it that clicks, and they just want that story, over and over.”
— Dave Tepper (the concert promoter version).
Yeah, yeah, you might remember that Tepper and I got into a bit of a verbal battle at his press conference when he discussed the firing of Matt Rhule. The Panthers and Charlotte FC owner is one of the most controversial figures in town these days, and for good reason.
But hey, it’s Thanksgiving, and I’ll give Tepper credit for this: he and his team have brought concerts to Bank of America Stadium that never used to come here. I took my 18-year-old, who actually likes some of the music I do, to the Billy Joel concert in April. It was my son’s first concert experience, and a night we’ll both always remember.
— Faith. Feasts. Fourth-and-goal plays, when the offense huddles up for one more try and the stadium vibrates with anticipation.
—Title IX — celebrating its 50th anniversary this year — and the evolution of women’s sports. As the parent of a 15-year-old daughter who loves soccer, I’ve got some skin in the game and know there’s still a long way to go.
— Sports rivalries. Among the best: UNC-Duke. Clemson-South Carolina. Shelby-Crest. Providence Day-Charlotte Christian.
— Pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
— Charlotte FC, which drew a remarkable 74,479 for its first Major League Soccer game and has continued to spice up Charlotte’s sports scene ever since.
— Pets. We feel blessed to have something of a Noah’s Ark at our house on Thanksgiving weekend, as our two children in their 20s are joined by our two teenagers, and our two dogs and our two cats. Those four furry friends cause us all kinds of trouble (especially one of them, a beagle-boxer mix named Fern who wears a perpetually guilty expression for good reason). But man, are they ever worth it.
— The World Cup, one of the great sports events I’ve never been to but have on my bucket list.
— My wife Elise. We met on the escalator, between the second and third floor of the old Charlotte Observer building that has now been torn down and replaced, in the grand Charlotte tradition of demolishing old things and putting up new things.
Four kids and 25 years later, to borrow a line from what Ron Green once wrote about his marriage to Beth, we’re what they call a stable franchise.
—The drive up to Boone on an autumn football Saturday, when the trees look like Monet painted them and the stadium fills with black and gold.
— The ACC football championship, played every year in Charlotte, just as it should be. This year’s Clemson-UNC tilt on Dec. 3, featuring homegrown products Drake Maye for UNC and Will Shipley for Clemson, should be a lot of fun.
— Youth sports officials. We’ve got an officiating shortage in many corners of the sports world. All you have to do is attend one sporting event to understand why: officials routinely get berated, and sometimes worse, by parents, coaches and even players.
And they make so little money that it takes such a dedicated person to do the job. The next time you’re at a game, please tell the officials afterward: “Thank you.”
— Old family stories that we’ve heard before, told over the Thanksgiving dinner table about people who have passed on, bringing them back to us.
— Those who serve others, on Thanksgiving and other days, trying to unite our divided world.
— Saundra and Chancellor Adams, two of my favorite people. Chancellor Lee Adams, the son of Cherica Adams and Rae Carruth, was supposed to die on the night he was born. Instead, he turned 23 earlier this month.
— The Christmas lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway, on the streets of McAdenville and outside all the homes in the Carolinas who brighten up their own homes for the enjoyment of others.
—Libraries, bookstores and record stores. I still get a feeling of wonder each time I walk inside.
—The feel of an actual printed newspaper in your hand, with a cup of hot coffee resting beside it.
I know more people get most of their news now online rather than in print. So do I. But there’s something about having the actual newspaper in your hands — folding it to get to the crossword puzzle, cutting out a recipe or a story about a local kid, even getting a little ink on your fingers — that can’t be duplicated.
In any case, thanks to all of our subscribers, both digital and print, for allowing me to work here for nearly 30 years and hopefully for a lot more to come.
Roy Williams said in our “Sports Legends” interview, quoting a country song he likes, that he found something he loved, called it “work” and did it for decades.
I feel exactly the same way.
So splurge today. Enjoy your family and your food. Hug some people. Have a second piece of pie. Throw a football. Take a nap.
And have a happy Thanksgiving!
