A loving family. Good health. Friends. An outlet for these musings. A decent crosscourt forehand.
I have much for which to be personally grateful this Thanksgiving.
But since we live in a world of fives — Five Reasons Why Trump Beat Harris, Five Dishes That Will Shine On Your Thanksgiving Table, for example — here are five reasons from Sports World why we in Rhode Island should be thankful this year.
URI FOOTBALL
What a season for the Rams! A 10-2 finish to the regular season; a share of the Coastal Athletic Association championship; an at-large bid to the 2024 FCS tournament; a No. 10 seed and a first-round home game against Central Connecticut State University Saturday at noon, and rankings of No. 10 and No. 12 in the national polls.
For the first time since 1985 — a familiar phrase in Kingston this year — URI has won 10 games, but for the first time in the regular season. The 1984 and 1985 teams finished 10-3 including playoffs.
For the first time since 1985 the Rams are champions — the 1985 team won the Yankee Conference title — and undefeated at home, 6-0.
Eleven URI players earned all-conference recognition. Defensive lineman Westley Neal, Jr., linebacker A.J Pena and special teams star Tommy Smith are first-team choices.
Coach Jim Fleming is the New England Football Writers coach of the year.
A bonus: the 2024 URI Rams are the unofficial Rhode Island state champions thanks to victories over Brown and Bryant.
How they did all that is the most dramatic stat of this season. Six fourth-quarter rallies for victories. That’s right. Six!!
Rhody’s 20-17 victory over Albany Nov. 16 was typical. The Rams erased a 17-0 halftime deficit with two Malik Grant touchdown runs in the third quarter and one in the fourth. Defense saved the day. Andre Depina-Gray intercepted a pass on the URI 3-yard line on Albany’s penultimate possession, and Neal blocked Albany’s 36-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
The Rams capped the regular season last Saturday at Bryant with a second half rally for a 35-21 triumph. Grant rushed for three touchdowns and caught his first touchdown pass.
URI is winning with local talent. Depina-Gray was a star at St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket. Marquis Buchanan, Rhody’s leading receiver with 66m catches for 981 yards and second-team All-CAA, was a standout at Classical in Providence. Safety Emmanuel Gomes of Woonsocket, a redshirt senior, started 12 games and led the secondary with 68 tackles, 52 solo.
Here’s what Rhody fans think of Buchanan. During the Albany game, fire damaged his family’s apartment in Providence. A GoFundMe effort has raised $50,000 to help the Buchanans move to another apartment. Nice.
Terry Lynch has seen it all in Kingston after 40-plus seasons as a player, assistant coach and URI Radio Voice Steve McDonald’s sidekick. This team is special.
“They hang in there,” he told me. “They never think they’re out of it. It’s ‘Let’s get to the second half.’“
For the first time since 1985, they got to the playoffs as well.
Thank you, Rams!
BROWN FOOTBALL
The Bears struggled on the field again this season, finishing 3-7, but they were stars off the field.
Last month, football players donned pink T-shirts, set up weight lifting stations on the College Green and encouraged fellow students, passing faculty and anyone else walking by to Bench Press for Cancer. The Bears have been doing it for 18 years in memory of 2004 captain Lawrence Rubida, who died of Ewing’s sarcoma in 2005. The campaign raised about $11,000 this year, pushing the overall total over $200,000.
Bench Press is just one way Brown Football engages with the community. Get in the Game is a bone marrow drive held in March for the last 12 years. Thirty-two donors have provided 35 matches since inception. Seven former Brown players have produced matches that save lives.
Four years ago, former players Nate Brown and Ryan Putnam launched Lead with Love, a program offering players the opportunity to mentor underprivileged youth in Providence. Assistant head coach Willlie Edwards supervises the program now.
The simplest activity might be the most fun for Brown players. After home games a few Bears lingered near the field and autographed T-shirts and miniature footballs. Star-struck little kids in the Cub Club loved it, keeping the shirt from the laundry basket at home to preserve the prized signatures. After the Cornell game, which Brown won on a field goal on the last play, one player was not happy with his autograph. “Here, you want my gloves?” he asked two 7-year-old cousins. Thrilled, each went home with one red glove.
Thank you, Bears!
VOLUNTEERS
Where would we be without parents who sell hot dogs, pizza strips, soda, candy and programs at high-school football games? Men and women who coach recreation soccer leagues and Little League baseball and softball teams? Cheerleaders who work hard to rally spectators but never see their names in the newspaper?
Where would we be without take-charge types like Tara Schold? She is president of the South Kingstown High School Boosters Club and before that was involved with the high school parent-teacher organization.
“She’s a bulldog. She organizes everything,” SK athletics director Terry Lynch said last week. “She sets things for the future. She’s always available, always around. She’s the glue of our athletics boosters.”
The best thing about Tara Schold? Her three sons have already graduated South Kingstown High School, and still she remains involved. Jack played football, graduated in 2020, went to West Point and was one of six cadets to lead the entire brigade into Gillette Stadium for the Army-Navy game last year. Ben graduated in 2022 and Will in 2023.
“Tara is a really good person,” Lynch said. “Really good.”
I’m sure most schools have a Tara Schold.
Thanks, Tara!
DRAKE MAYE
After suffering through four seasons of Cam Newton, Brian Hoyer, Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, and Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, the Patriots finally have a QB worth watching.
Rookie Drake Maye can pass, run and most important, command respect in the huddle. Stung by the failure of Jones and wanting to protect Maye, the Patriots babied him in the first weeks of this season by keeping him on the sideline. They didn’t want him to get hurt behind a weak offensive line. Sure enough, when he finally played he got hit and suffered a concussion. The good news is he was back in action the next week.
Maye is proving he is tough and can take a hit. He should be around for a while.
Thank you, Patriots! Finally!
KIDS
Is there anything sweeter, or more innocent, than kids playing sports just for the fun of it? Toddlers nudging a soccer ball. Six-year-olds trying to hit a baseball off a tee. Or skate on wobbly ankles. Nine-year-olds playing flag football on Sunday mornings. Eleven-year-olds playing rec league basketball. All without thoughts of college scholarships or getting paid.
Along the way they learn valuable lessons like teamwork. Sports are part of the program at all boys San Miguel School in Providence. The 64 5th through 8th graders play soccer, basketball, flag football and golf and row in the STEM to Stern partnership with Brown University and the Narragansett Boat Cub.
A San Miguel 8th-grader offered this perfect definition, cited in a recent fundraising letter: “Teamwork is giving others the chance to shine.” Reading that line made me think of Larry Bird and Tom Brady, two familiar stars around here who helped others shine.
So, once in a while, let’s remember to put aside pro salaries too great to comprehend, NIL money, the transfer portal, pay for play in college, and gambling on everything. Let’s appreciate what kids do most of the time: play for fun. After all, it’s only a game, right?
Thank you, kids!
And thank you, everyone, for reading! HappyThanksgiving!
