Where do you start when giving Thanks to everyone in the local sports scene who's made the past eight months or so almost perfect?

Not to beat a dead turkey, but the Red Sox are world champs, the Celtics are rejuvenated and playing great basketball, the Revolution made the Finals again, BC is headed for a bowl game you've actually heard of, the Bruins are playing better than expected and are fun to watch, and the Patriots...well, the NFL just announced that all the rest of the Patriots' opponents will be able to put 20 guys on defense for the rest of the season.

Yeah, there's a lot to be thankful for. Unless you're Bill Belichick, and have only three days to come up with reasons to hate Philadelphia.

The C's recovered from their first loss and dusted off Golden State last night to keep their perfect record at home alive. The Warriors, coming off slamming New York, looked sluggish and disoriented; they shot horribly, allowed the C's to blow open a big lead in the second quarter, and were never in the game last night.

Tomorrow, the Garden will be buzzing all day: the Bruins host the Islanders at noon, then the bull-gang has to bust their humps to get the floor assembled for the Celts-Lakers game in the evening.

Today, we can also give thanks that for the first time in years and years, the football games are interesting. The Lions and Packers are both in the postseason hunt, the Cowboys and Jets...well, it'll be interesting if you like watching the Jets play a much much much better team (which we enthusiastically do), and the Colts play the Falcons, which will be exciting if you're one of the few people with the NFL Network.