Thanksgiving is upon us, and 2017 has given sports fans much to be grateful for. As we sit down to celebrate what makes us most American -- stuffing our faces and watching (or protesting) football -- I'll be giving thanks for these highlights from the year in sports:
The 'thumbs down' Mets fan
Back in September, the Tampa Bay Rays hosted the New York Yankees in a "home" series at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, after Hurricane Irma. Predictably, the crowd was more pinstripe-friendly than at a normal Yankees road game -- except for one disapproving Mets fan.
As Todd Frazier rounded the bases on a three-run home run, 54-year-old Gary Dunaier put down the thumb seen 'round the world and instantly became a sensation. The Yankees embraced the gesture, making T-shirts, flashing thumbs down after big hits and photobombing teammates with it during interviews.
More broadly, the thumbs down meme signaled a new era of youthful exuberance in the Bronx. Headlined by Aaron Judge's historic rookie season, this year's Yankees team was full of young, scrappy players who like each other and clearly have fun on the field and in the dugout. It's a welcome change from the old, struggling Yankees of recent years -- and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Yankees fan. Count me among those who, after Derek Jeter retired, wondered who would take up the mantle of "face of baseball," but who also maintained that the sport didn't necessarily need a singular face anymore.
This season proved me wrong as I watched the nation enthralled by Judge every time he stepped to the plate. Judge is the spectacle baseball needs, the face baseball executives want -- and that's cause to give the thumbs down each time we all rise.
Aly Raisman and the women of USA Gymnastics
In this important cultural moment some are calling a "reckoning," let's take a minute to thank Aly Raisman and the dozens of women who have come forward to expose alleged sexual abuse in sports. Just like we're seeing in media and politics, there has long been a predator problem in sports that nobody wanted to talk about -- "the elephant in the room," as Raisman put it. More than 125 women are suing former USA Gymanstics team doctor Larry Nassar for assaulting them, and Raisman is calling out the organization for failing to protect its members.
The issue extends far beyond the gymnastics world and suggests an institutional culture, particularly within youth and amateur sports, that puts girls in vulnerable positions with coaches and trainers. As far back as 1999, USA Gymnastics and USA Swimming sent letters to the United States Olympic Commission calling for revamped policies to combat assault. As more women continue to come forward, and with high-profile voices such as Raisman's leading these calls, perhaps we'll finally start to see some actual solutions.
Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
I mean, just look at this nugget.
Plus, now that she's here, we'll all get to see her mom play tennis again soon.
Carlos Beltran's career
Carlos Beltran is going out on top, announcing his retirement after finally winning a World Series with the Houston Astros in October. He played for seven different teams over the course of his 20-year career, but whether you're a fan of the Royals, Astros, Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Yankees or Rangers, if you're a baseball fan at all, you were lucky to see Beltran play. The pride of Puerto Rico, he gave us some of the greatest postseason performances of all time, homering in five straight games in 2004.
Baseball narratives haven't always been kind to Beltran, but he was one of the purest hitters you'll ever see, and one of baseball's most naturally gifted. You might wonder what his career would have looked like had he not started out by slugging 20 homers and 100 RBIs a year for the hapless Royals, or without his later-career injuries. But history will be kind to Beltran's legacy, and we shouldn't waste a moment being ungrateful for the 20 years we had watching him.
Black Girl Magic in tennis
With Serena Williams on maternity leave, women's tennis opened to a wide field, and American women were ready to step into her shoes. Fans of American tennis have long been starved for stars on the men's side, but the women have been ready to deliver in Williams' absence. This year's US Open was truly magical, with an all-American semifinal featuring Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe, and, of course, Venus Williams.
How these women won just added to the magic. Venus, the lovable veteran whom everybody wants to root for, beat Petra Kvitova in one of the tournament's most thrilling matches. No. 20 Vandeweghe upset No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. In the end, Stephens defeated Keys for the title in a moment that signaled to every person in that arena the coming of a bright new era for American women's tennis.
And for a sport in which the Williams sisters have dramatically altered the racial power dynamics, the fact that three of the four semifinalists were black women, playing in front of largely white audiences, was a stark marker of progress.
Beth Mowins and Doris Burke
This was the year when women's voices in sports became louder. In September, Beth Mowins became the first woman to call a Monday Night Football game -- and many male sports fans went absolutely nuts. The shock of hearing a woman's voice describe receiver routes and blocking schemes was just too much for these men to bear. You can see why Cam Newton was so confused.
But to women sports fans, or just fans of smart playcalling, Mowins was significant. In a space that has been closed off to women for so long, hearing someone on a national broadcast who sounded like us went a long way. Representation matters, and you could argue that it matters most in the booth -- not just on the sideline.
Not to be outdone, in October, Doris Burke started her new role as the first female, full-time national NBA analyst. It's a move some of us have been looking forward to for a while. As with Mowins, Burke is widely respected throughout the industry; Jeff Van Gundy has called her "the LeBron James of sportscasters."
As women in sports media, we often struggle with the uneven sense of "meritocracy" as compared to some of our male colleagues -- whether how we look matters more than what we say, and whether what we say matters less than what the men say. As uncontested experts in their fields, Mowins and Burke give the rest of us hope that being really good at our jobs doesn't go overlooked.
Pete Carroll's face
It's just the gift that keeps on giving. Plus, as a Giants fan, I'm thankful for anything that can steal some of the heat from #ManningFace.
The many faces of Pete Carroll pic.twitter.com/7OLvboMiPz
— Jason (@TucsonFan4) November 21, 2017