Thanksgiving weekend and the community of Slippery Rock has plenty to be thankful for in terms of its sporting world.

Within the past two weeks, consider this triple shot of good fortune:

•

1. Slippery Rock High School football. The Rockets recently concluded a storybook playoff run that included knocking off region No. 1 seed North East in Erie, scoring a 27-10 victory over a Sharon team in the District 10 semifinals that they lost to during the regular season, and taking a heavily favored Wilmington team into overtime in the district title game.Wilmington defeated Slippery Rock by five touchdowns during the regular season.Rockets quarterback Jono Powell became the first of his position to win the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy as the leading scorer in Butler County.•

2. The Sliders are back. OK, it's not the old Slippery Rock Sliders of the Frontier League, but that's a good thing. That team won only 29 of 95 games. Why would you want that back?The new Sliders will be better.This team will be comprised of prime collegiate baseball talent, much of which could be selected in baseball's amateur draft. The Frontier League consists of former amateur players who either didn't get drafted or failed to make it in a big league club's farm system.Because the Prospect League has no trades, the same players will be sticking around all summer.And since Butler has a team playing in Pullman Park in the same league, the Sliders already have a natural rival.It gets better. Four Slippery Rock University players will be playing for the Sliders and a former SRUplayer — Knoch graduate Chase Rowe — will manage the team.Longtime SRUcoach Jeff Messer has been using his nationwide contacts to attract players, so the new Sliders will probably be pretty good.•

3. Slippery Rock University men's basketball. After posting only 17 wins in the past four years and one winning season since 1990, SRUis off to a 4-0 start.While two of those wins are against Ohio junior colleges in games that hardly could be described as real, this team may not be a mirage.The Rock put up 101 points on a reputable Division IIAshland (Ohio)team last week. SRU point guard Kyle Camper had 10 assists and no turnovers against Big East opponent Providence and 21 assists in the win over Ashland.Michael Evans Jr. is the son of a former NBAplayer and has a deadly 3-point shot. Maron Brown is averaging double digits in points and rebounds and Denell Stephens brings the house down with a thunderous inside game.All that's missing with SRUbasketball right now is fans. Morrow Field House has been relatively empty thus far and basketball fans are missing quite a show.Keep winning and they will come.And be thankful!