As Thanksgiving weekend wraps up, now seems as good a time as any to express my gratitude.

I grew up with parents who assisted in steering me in the right direction in terms of my career goals. I’ve wanted to write about sports since eighth grade.

While my father was not a big fan of that goal — ‘There’s no money in that,’ he’d say — and spent a few years trying to talk me into something else, he was on my side once he discovered how serious I was about it.

To date, I’ve been a sports reporter/editor for 42 years. That number may be zero if I didn’t heed some advice from my mother.

I was covering some high school football games part-time for the Irwin Standard Observer once I got out of college. They called me asking if I could cover a game for them at the last minute. I had tickets to Game 3 of the 1979 World Series that night, so I began to turn them down.

My mother was in the room at the time. She said if I was serious about getting into that business, I should cover the game for them. I put up a fuss, but I gave away my Series tickets to a friend and covered the game.

A couple of months later, another newspaper in that area gave me my first full-time job as a sports reporter. I can’t help but think sacrificing my World Series ticket had something to do with it.

Good karma, you know.

I had fond memories of playing pick-up sports with my brothers — and my sister, who played softball on a broken foot at one point. My siblings just fueled my passion for sports all the more.

The quality people I have met in this business, I cannot begin to describe. I spent 15 years at The Herald-Star in Steubenville, Ohio, and am on my 27th year here in Butler.

I’ve learned a few basic things covering high school sports.

1. Coaches and officials are grossly underpaid. Then again, I have yet to meet a coach or official who does it for the money anyway. We all should be thankful for those folks.

2. The purity of sports is alive and well at the high school level. These kids play because they want to play, represent their schools and communities with their buddies. They put in extra time after school each day practicing so we can enjoy watching them perform on game nights. Absolutely, I’m thankful for them.

3. Athletic directors put in tireless hours all year round, scheduling and rescheduling, making sure games come off as they should. High school sports don’t exist without these people.

I love doing what I do. I enjoy the newsroom I work in and the different personalities that comprise it.

The Good Lord has guided me every step of the way. I’m thankful for Him, most of all.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle