Holidays always instill the need within me to take inventory of everything l have, and how lucky a skinny kid from a rural town has to be thankful for, at the ripe age of 66 years young.
My mother died too soon, at just 37 years of age, and l quickly had to find my way without the only woman l had ever loved. Less than four years later, my younger brother was brutally murdered just 20 feet from where l was, leaving me to ask myself ‘why me’ for a second time in my young life.
I share those rather hard knocks with you not for empathy, but rather for a sense of clarity, as despite all the heartache, this gregarious and opinionated sports junkie has seen so many good things and then some.
Who could imagine a career .206 Little League hitter covering a MLB playoff game, or a man with 36 career rushing yards in Bantam League football sitting in the press box of several Super Bowl contests? Yes, that’s me.
That’s not supposed to happen, but it did, and l’m thankful.
How in the world did a Jimmy Olsen wannabe find work and a free tenderloin at the Cathedral of Motorsports as he attended and then covered some 56 straight Indianapolis 500-mile races? It’s mind-boggling, yet it actually happened to me, and I’m so fricking thankful.
Throw in the NBC Finals, Kentucky Derby, Daytona 500, NCAA Final Fours, Summer and Winter Olympics, College Football Championships, and a healthy dose of Indycar, and you could ask ‘Gee, what else has this clown seen up close?’
That’s an easy one to answer as it’s the people l’ve been so fortunate to meet along the way who’ve made me look better than l ever could’ve been on my own.
The friendships that we’ve fostered are so precious to me and l’m really thankful for that.
I appreciate waking up every day and realizing that there’s food in the fridge, a roof over my head, along with a shirt on my back.
Oh by the way, heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer are certainly wonderful amenities and l’m so grateful for the love of my dogs every day.
So often l think about those ‘why me’ days and marvel at the fact my life has simply been beyond charmed and wonder why so many good things have come my way. People talk about hitting the lottery, and l will counter with how l’ve been winning it for decades now.
Drive through one of the inner city neighborhoods where people are living day to day if you want true perspective on how thankful we should all be for everything.
As l mentioned previously, I’ve been so fortunate to have been mentored by some of the best in the sports television industry, along with some phenomenal leaders in organized labor, too.
Their patience and guidance has been instrumental in terms of the vast opportunities l have been granted, and l’m so thankful to all of them for the incredible help.
Locally l’ve been able to turn singles in to home runs by virtue of my association with some real heavyweights in both sports and the media side of it as well 
— people like Wilson York, Kaye Totten, Robin Miller, David Benner, George McGinnis, Tom Moore, Mario Andretti, Bobby Leonard, Mel Daniels, Donnie Walsh and J. Douglas Boles.
Not a day goes by that l don’t recognize how thankful l am to have met them and learn from those experiences as well.
Without question, l am so thankful for having the privilege of contributing all these years to the Indianapolis Recorder Media Group. It all started when the late Jack Sales convinced then-President Shannon Williams to give me a chance to write and explained the difference between sports reporting and drafting a legitimate opinion-editorial.
Today, the phenomenally talented and experienced team of both President Robert Shegog and Editor-in-Chief Camike Jones still tolerates me as they continually put the “J” in journalism, while providing leadership to a talented group of writers in the award-winning Indianapolis Recorder newsroom. l will also concede that the wonderful layout and graphics that make my various minuscule submissions look so good are the work of one Jeana Ouattara, and l’m also thankful for both her talent and patience.
Last but certainly not least, l’m extremely thankful for those of you who read the Indianapolis Recorder and tell me via email and phone calls exactly what you think of yours truly. That goes double for those who call in to Community Connection on Thursdays when l’m chopping up all things sports with Tina Cosby. You keep me both laughing and honest and l appreciate your candor too.
To sum it all up, there’s quite a bit for this ole’ curmudgeon to be thankful for beyond this coming Thursday, and we all can show our thanks by visiting someone less fortunate and offering them a plate of food and the honest fellowship that gives both comfort and hope to them.
l know how fortunate life has treated me and how thankful l am for everything. Hopefully you are, too. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your respective families. Clearly, we all have a lot to be grateful for, now don’t we?
Danny Bridges, who will try to break all the records for food consumption on Thanksgiving Day, can be reached at (317) 370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com
Danny Bridges is an award-winning journalist and a longtime sports columnist for the Indianapolis Recorder. He covers college, professional sports and especially all things IndyCar racing. He can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
