Things I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! For those of you who may not be aware, Thanksgiving is a holiday here in the United States wherein us Americans come together with friends and family to watch Snoopy float through New York City, play a few downs of touch football before going inside because it’s too cold, watch the Detroit Lions get pummeled, pig out on a giant meal that would have passed for a feast in 17th Century New England, argue about politics with our outspoken uncle, and slip into a food coma on the couch at 6 pm. Underneath all that, it’s really about getting together with friends and family and enjoying each others’ presence while being grateful for what you have.

This is a Borussia Dortmund blog, and I feel as if much of my writing has been negative over the last few months. I know this hasn’t exactly been without reason, as the club in many aspects has not performed to the expectations of its fan base, but it’s not as if there’s nothing to be positive about so far this season.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are just a few things that I’m thankful for:

This may seem like a no-duh, but I feel like it’s worth reiterating now, just because the current atmosphere surrounding this club, at least per my perception, is overwhelmingly negative. The results so far this season haven’t been good, the hiring decisions have been questionable, some fans want Edin Terzic sacked, some fans want Hans-Joachim Watzke sacked, and some fans want just about everybody else sacked.

I myself am not exactly happy with how the club is being run at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love it. I still get goosebumps every time I hear the roar of the Yellow Wall after a goal, I still hum along to Heja BVB before every kickoff, andI am still not above jumping around my apartment like a maniac every time Dortmund scores a game winning goal. I hope you guys still love it too.

If there is any player that embodies Borussia Dortmund, it’s Marco Reus. The man had so many opportunities over the last decade to move on to greener pastures, and at times his injury misfortune seemed so severe as to threaten his career entirely, but through it all he stayed loyal to the black-and-yellow. While he is no longer the player he once was, and has surrendered his armband accordingly, he remains capable of contributing to BVB’s success on the pitch and is still a friendly, professional face of the club.

And I will never not love this meme:

Our writers are mostly volunteers, and those of us who are paid make not much more than peanuts, yet each of our writers continues to show initiative and creativity. It’s been an adjustment without the Daily Bee and I’d like to get more content out regularly (some of our writers, including myself, have had hectic schedules over the last few months) but I couldn’t be more appreciative of each of our contributors. So Paul, Zac, Paddy, Anders, Yash, Joey, Sarah, Nick, Brian, and everyone else who has contributed to this site over the years, thank you!

Yes, we’ve reached that sappy point in the article where I thank everybody who continues to follow this site and reads the articles that we produce. Sometimes I have a bit of imposter syndrome running this site because I’m continually surprised that, with all of the vast library of content available on the internet, a small yet surprisingly faithful group of readers continues to come here, read our material, and participate in the comments.

The online soccer community can be incredibly toxic, a trend that even extends to Borussia Dortmund, but I believe that here at Fear the Wall we’ve managed to carve out a little community where everybody enjoys each others’ perspectives and where we can all come together once a week to enjoy watching our favorite team play.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving!