I’m pretty sure I forgot to mention Brian Ownby yesterday in my impromptu “will they, won’t they” roster rant. I am an idiot, and I am sorry. He’s back, he’s great, I’m extremely glad about all of it.

Today’s a new day, though, the day before Thanksgiving. Kids are out of school. If you’re hosting people at your house tomorrow, you’ve probably taken the day off work. Or called in sick. Or just not cared. I won’t judge! It’s basically a holiday. While I’m tempted to take a dive down the historical origins of Thanksgiving and deconstruct that bullshit story about Squanto and the Pilgrims, I’ll take my own day off. Instead, I’ll list off some things I, as a Cooper and Louisville City FC supporter, am thankful for:

• The invention of beer
• a community of people from lots of different backgrounds that has embraced soccer in Louisville
• A group of owners willing to take a risk on those same people
• Tom Farmer, Ken Luther, Alex Miner, Tim Clark, JC Cissell, Martin French, Augustus Waiters, and countless other Coopers, board member and otherwise, who help to make gamedays what they are
• James O’Connor, Daniel Byrd and Thabane Sutu
• Brad Estes
• John Neace, Tim Mulloy, Mike Mountjoy, and Wayne Estopinal, among many others
• John Hackworth and Danny Cruz
• Every player that’s ever worn purple at Slugger Field
• The Heretics and their progeny
• Scouse Bromilow and his House
• Against the Grain, Saints, Molly Malone’s, Falls City Beer, Butchertown Pizza Hall, and other fine establishments that love Louisville City
• Lance McGarvey and his irrepressible enthusiasm
• Barbara Sexton Smith, for the same reason, and in a lot of different directions

The list is much longer than that but that’s who I could come up with before my kids woke up and forced me to feed them this morning. Sports are an escape from reality; they aren’t really necessary or important in the grand scheme of just about anyone’s life. Unless, of course, you make your living in sports. Or unless it’s a sport that’s helped you form bonds with new people that you might have otherwise never met. Or if it’s a vehicle to helping to make a lot of people’s lives better. In that context, yeah, sports really can matter.

I really am thankful that I’ve gotten to meet so many people and have so many new experiences in my own city thanks to soccer and our club. I’m beyond thankful for the work that the owners, players, coaches, and front office have put in to make LouCity so unbelievably successful. Their hard work has given all of us something to be proud of. More importantly, though, it’s helped to create a new community of people that wouldn’t have existed before: a big, incredibly diverse group of people that love soccer, love our city, love (or at least tolerate) each other, and want to help make all of that better not only for themselves but for anyone else who wants to tag along.

I’m most thankful for that. Happy Thanksgiving.