Pork is the official meat of our Thanksgiving. Celebrating the best time for football

Friday night section finals. Thanksgiving tripleheaders. College football home finales.

Forget the turkey. We feel for the poor animal that gave its hide so we can throw the old pigskin around the yard this holiday week.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, secretly wishing the pilgrims had brought pork to the potluck dinner – ribs, bacon, anything but turkey – here is our annual list of thank-you cards, football edition.

49ers for real?

Thanks, 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, for a healthy portion of perspective as your 9-1 team plays the Packers (8-2), Ravens (8-2) and Saints (8-2) over the next three weeks.

Yeah, the 49ers have a tough stretch in front of them after feasting on a last-place schedule to date. That does go both ways, though.

“As far as the stretch going forward at the same time these teams have to play us, we are a 9-1 team, so I think they have a pretty tough schedule ahead of themselves, as well,” he said on 95.7 The Game.

That’s the beauty of the next 21 days. We can finally decide if the 49ers can survive a postseason-like gauntlet, or see if they are the gauntlet themselves.

High schools get it right

Props, Central Section, for giving us a round of championship games Friday that feel more balanced and fair than ever before in the six-division format.

We love the sheer force of Central and Buchanan in the Division I game. No. 8 Central Valley Christian gives us our underdog in Division III. Caruthers-Dos Palos gives us our small-town fix at Division V.

And, yeah, my Selma Bears are in the Division IV title game. Not bad for a team that has played every single game on the road this fall while the stadium gets rebuilt.

On Kaepernick, Raiders and more

Gracias, NFL, for reminding us that The Quarterback Who Didn’t Show Up For His Job Interview wants the attention more than the job.

Because, when we want a job doing what we want to do, we show up when they ask us to show up. Just ask Eric Reid, the gainfully employed protester in Carolina.

▪ Much obliged, Oakland Raiders, for giving Oakland one last thing to cheer about. We still hate that you’re leaving, because The City deserves a team of its own, but as far as last whirls go, this wild-card chase is going pretty nicely.

That said, may everything fail dazzlingly in Las Vegas, and you move back to Oakland for a third time. Don’t think that’s possible? The Warriors did nothing but cross The Bridge, and look at what’s happened to them.

▪ We appreciate you, Tom Brady, for weaning yourself off what fountain of life pills you’ve been chasing down the past five years.

With your bad elbow, and diminished stats, we are starting to suspect you may be mortal like the rest of us bums.

▪ Thank you, Bill Belichick, for trading Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers. We would have hated for you to have a post-Brady plan to extend your kingdom.

▪ And thank you, too, Garoppolo, for throwing enough are-you-kidding-me interceptions to kill any thoughts that the 49ers are going to actually win the Super Bowl, because the last thing 49ers owner Jed York needs is a side of smug to go with his smug.

Hokit and Selma

Thank you, college wrestling rankings, for recognizing Fresno State’s Josh Hokit as the third-best 197-pounder in the land while he wraps up running back duty on the football side.

And a thousand thanks, Selma High, for lasting longer than Kingsburg in the playoffs. So nice to hear the sound of nothing from my Viking wife.

This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Pork is the official meat of our Thanksgiving. Celebrating the best time for football."