F&BT Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all our loyal F&BT readers!  On behalf of WildHawks and I, we would like to wish you a safe and happy holiday.  It's been quite a football season thus far, and we've truly enjoyed ourselves with this little-known blog.  As we approach bowl season, I thought it would be a good time to step back and look at the life of the blog and the Big Ten season, and take note of everything that we're thankful for...

I'm thankful for February 5th, 2008, when we gloriously launched this little procrastination project known as First and Big Ten. 

I'm thankful for nearly four months later when we posted our first actual football-related post. 

I'm thankful for reserving the right to be lazy.

I'm thankful for Terrelle Pryor joining the Big Ten, even though that would come back to bite me in the ass when he beat UW.

I'm thankful for Mike Barwis turning into a celebrity in the offseason, only to have the players he made bigger, faster, stronger, and better conditioned suck when it came to...you know..."playing football". 

I'm thankful that the Big Ten started their Oddysey back to respectability.

I'm thankful that we linked to a real-life, respectable and big-time blog...SportsByBrooks.

I'm thankful that the Big Ten Network got picked up by major cable carriers across the country.

I'm thankful that The Journey followed the Illinois football team, even though I predicted it would show their fall back to earth.  It was a great show, and gave you every reason why the Illini struggled this year...not enough energy/urgency playing the game.  It came up every week, with coaches imploring/screaming at their players to get more excitement at halftime.  It also gave us J. Leman, BTN star!

I'm thankful for Joe Tiller's career, and it going out on the right note.

I'm thankful for MY BOY #85 David Gilreath.

I'm thankful for Big Ten running backs.  Shonn, Javon, Beanie, Evan, PJ, John Clay, Tyrell.  They reminded us weekly that this is a smashmouth football conference.  They are easily the best collective group of running backs in a conference.

I'm thankful for Joe Paterno, and his Nittany Lions putting him back on top...where he belongs.

I'm thankful for yearly doormats becoming respectable football teams...Illinois last year and the Minnesota Golden Timmays! this  year.

I'm thankful for Jim Delany respecting tradition and bucking the calls for adding a team to the Big Televen and a college football playoff.

I'm thankful for all the new, exciting coaches that have joined the Big Ten in the last few years.

I'm thankful for WildHawks joining me in this endeavor to write about college football.  His posts may have been few and far between at times, but he came through when I needed him to and he's definitely funnier than I am.

Finally, I'm thankful for you...the loyal F&BT readers.  Most of you are friends and family, and we certainly can't thank you enough for your support.  I wasn't sure how this would turn out, or what exactly I would write about for an entire year, but somehow this has worked out.  To all the people that I include in these stories, I apoligize if they have embarrassed you.  To all the commenters, it makes my day to see the emails pop-up when you leave your comments.  To everyone who calls me every Saturday and Sunday to see what I thought of the latest Big Ten news, thank you.  I was pretty sure that we would've failed by now, but as I look back, I can't believe where we stand.  We've been linked to a major blog, a small group of people read this thing regularly, we've written 72 posts, and since we started keeping track in Week 3...we've had over 1,000 page views.  

I'll never promise that I won't be lazy at times, and most likely the comedy factor of blogging will escape me, but I'll keep writing and giving you my thoughts on the Big Ten.  You keep reading...and make sure to tell your friends.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!