Spirit of the holidays

By Bruce Martinez

My last column before the holiday season is a very special one for me. It is time to give thanks and I have much to be thankful for.

The 49ers are playing like I remember from the glory days and I believe Jeff Garcia is a better quarterback then both Young and Montana were at this stage in their respective careers.

Major League is still the funniest movie I've ever seen, Hoosiers still gives me chills and Victory still inspires me. All this matters because it suggests I have a kind sentimental side, at least a small one.

Back home in Nevada, the Chaparral Cowboys won the state soccer title with many players I still call my friends.

The Yankees aren't World Champions but I do think they'll have Giambi, Bonds, Sheffield and Floyd batting 3-6 next spring.

Bubby Brister is still waiting for Brian Griese to accept his challenge to a dual.

Rickey Henderson still is speaking in "Rickey Speak," confounding a slew of linguists from Stanford to Harvard and everywhere in between.

The toughest fighters in the world still come out of the poorest neighborhoods in Mexico and they never back down from a good boxing match.

Outside of having these random sports moments, people and ideas to be thankful for, I have a great staff to be thankful for. Without them this section wouldn't be what it is and I would be lost as the sports editor. So this last bit of gratitude is for Erin, Alison and Jack, and for Jaime, who deciphers my run-on sentences, and for Phillip and Brian and for the Lunch Box who introduced me to Sam Banks. Thanks guys, and have a wonderful holiday season.