It’s a yearly tradition here at Awful Announcing.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day and gather with friends and family, we take a few moments to sit around our digital table and offer thanks for what’s happened in sports media this year.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Matt Yoder – I’m thankful for finally living long enough to see the first ever College Football Playoff, which was in my mind the defining sporting event of 2015.  The BCS is finally dead, and although the current system certainly has its flaws, it was a million times better than the old one.  The playoff finally brought New Year’s Day back to prominence with the semifinal games in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and it only made the National Championship Game that much bigger.  From a media perspective, the three games set the record for the three highest audiences in cable television history and ESPN covered all the games very well, with Chris Fowler growing into the lead play by play role out of Brent Musburger’s shadow.  And as a bonus, ESPN seems to have matured a bit in their college football coverage with College Football Final finally moving past the Mark May and Lou Holtz charade.

Ken Fang – I’m thankful for the amount of sports documentaries that are available to the American sporting public. From the 30 for 30 series to HBO Sports to NFL Network’s various series to Showtime’s films, we’re in a golden age of sports documentaries. And we don’t seem to be running out of subjects. With Bill Simmons taking his talents to HBO, we await what films will be produced there to rebuild that unit which was the premier sports doc series until 30 for 30 came along (started by none other than Simmons). In ten years, we may not see as many sports documentaries produced. Hopefully, ESPN will continue the 30 for 30 series and keep the documentaries coming.

Dan Levy – I’m thankful for Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock and Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless and Curt Schilling and Donald Trump and who am I forgetting in the category of over-priced windbags we cannot stop talking about day after day because they are what make America great and give hundreds or maybe thousands of fantastic writers the opportunity to show people there is a different way to talk about sports or politics or life. There’s a better way than catering to the lowest common denominator. There’s a better way than hiding behind racism, sexism and whatever other -ism will get people to pay more attention for the same reasons we all turn our heads when a car is on fire on the side of the road. I wish I could count the number of good writers and talkers who lost jobs this year (I was one, twice) while those who cater to the -isms are handsomely compensated and nauseatingly promoted by major media outlets. We should be angry at this bastardization of civil discourse and rational thought, but today, I’m thankful for it, because it gives me a reason to work every day to create something better.

VANCOUVER, BC - JULY 05:  Carli Lloyd #10 of the United States of America scores the team's second goal against Saki Kumagai #4, Azusa Iwashimizu #3 and goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori #18 of Japan in the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 Final at BC Place Stadium on July 5, 2015 in Vancouver, Canada.  (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – JULY 05: Carli Lloyd #10 of the United States of America scores the team’s second goal against Saki Kumagai #4, Azusa Iwashimizu #3 and goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori #18 of Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 Final at BC Place Stadium on July 5, 2015 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)

Phillip Bupp – I’m thankful that soccer coverage in the United States is stronger than ever. I remember being in college five years ago trying to find a crappy stream of a Liverpool game and now we have more soccer on TV than any other country in the world. This year alone, NBC continued their long term deal with the English Premier League and have every game on their networks. FOX took over Bundesliga rights and games are shown to a wider audience than ever before. ESPN, FOX and Unimas signed a long term deal with MLS and made the nationally televised game schedule easier for people to tune in. In addition, FOX’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup rivaled what ESPN did last year with the men. And since the U.S. Women’s National Team won the World Cup, the players have enjoyed mainstream coverage, including going on the morning shows and meeting the President of the United States, which has resulted in women’s soccer and the NWSL getting a much stronger foothold in American soccer. Soccer coverage is so strong that 1,400 people attended a convention run by two men in blazers who make a “suboptimal” TV show and podcast. If that doesn’t tell you how well we have it as soccer fans in this country, I don’t know what will. I say this every year now, this is a golden age to be a soccer fan in America and the great thing is that this is going to be better than ever next year.

David Rogers – I am thankful for the volume of sports content that’s out there for fans to enjoy. It seems like each year there’s a new medium or avenue to digest sports content and that’s showing no signs of slowing. Aside from the games themselves, there’s a ton of different features, documentaries and behind the scenes clips available to fans to view either on TV, on their PC or on their phone. Fans have never been closer to the sports they love and that’s a pretty cool reality we all live in. Sports content itself has taken great strides forward over the last few years and it’s exciting to imagine where it will go next.

Andrew Bucholtz – Related to the points David and Phillip have made, I’m thankful for the variety of sports options fans have today. It’s no longer a world where being a sports fan forces you to care about the one, two or three sports that may be big in your town; there’s content out there on just about any team in any sport you can imagine, and it’s more available than ever. I notice this every time I scroll through ESPN3 en route to whatever CFL game I’m watching (which in itself is amazing to see); there are Aussie Rules games, small college football games, and just about everything else you can think of. They’re not the only ones, either: NBC’s decision to go big on sports such as hockey and English soccer means American fans of those sports are better served than ever, while Fox has done a great job of bringing women’s soccer and the Bundesliga to a wider audience. Online, there’s all sorts of good content available on any sport you might possibly want to follow, and it’s possible to connect with other fans of the sport through blogs, social media and more. There isn’t much that’s truly obscure anymore; everything has its place, and its appeal. We live in a time when geographical and mass-appeal restrictions are far less of a hindrance to being a sports fan, and that’s terrific to see.

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Ben Koo – I am thankful for the increased amount of focus and investment in sports storytelling. On the first Tuesday in November, new episodes aired of 30 for 30, E:60, 60 Minutes Sports, A Season With Notre Dame Football, Undrafted, NFL Films Presents, Football Town, as well as the Kareem Abdul Jabar documentary, A Minority Of One. This cornucopia of content spanned five networks and eight hours of programming, two of which I have yet to catch up on. As various media companies, leagues, and networks point to daily fantasy (which I’m VERY thankful that advertising blitz dying down as football ends/the government gets involved) as this great source of fan engagement (and one that may prove lucrative), I continue to bang the drum that original storytelling provides a similar benefit of engagement, education, and historical context to fans. More and more networks have made investments here and we may see HBO return to its formally ambitious mindset now that their once antagonist, Bill Simmons, has joined the network. I hope to see NBCSN, FS1, and league owned networks outside of NFL Network get in the business of more documentary brand building in the mold of 30 for 30 and A Football Life. That said, I’m thankful my DVR tends to have backlog of original sports storytelling and hope we see that trend continue going forward.

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