With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it seems necessary to give thanks to the past year in sports, with 2016 consisting of many highs for sports fans around the country.

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On behalf of the city of Cleveland, I give thanks to Lebron James.

King James ended Cleveland’s 52-year title drought, winning the 2016 NBA finals in dramatic fashion, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors in seven games.

You really had us going when you left for Miami in 2010. Thank you for returning to Cleveland after figuring out how to win the NBA finals.

Although we would have loved for you to stay and win those two titles here in Ohio, we can’t complain, as our sports teams haven’t been all that successful the past five decades.  We will take what we can get.

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On behalf of Cubs fans everywhere, thank you Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon.

Steve Bartman, you can come out from hiding. Your incident in the 2003 NLCS has been forgiven.

With our first World Series title since 1908, we northsiders can collectively exhale a sigh of relief and happiness.

Theo, we thank you for your need to show the baseball world how great you are at ending curses.

Maddon, we will forever question certain decisions you made in that historic game seven. However, you ultimately helped guide our young franchise to a title, and for that, we are thankful.

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On behalf of Patriots fans everywhere, Peyton Manning, thank you for retiring.

I will tip my cap to you for your ability to throw a worse spiral than my three-year-old cousin and still make a decent career out of it.

Sure, you won two Super Bowls, but you also lost the respect of fans everywhere with your countless nationwide commercials.  How does that chicken parm taste in retirement?

Honestly, congratulations on a successful career.  We thank you for calling it quits and finally realizing you will never be as good as our guy, Tom Terrific.

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Lastly, on behalf of Sox Nation, I truly am thankful for “Big Papi,” David Ortiz.

I will always remember your historic 2004 postseason run with my beloved Boston Red Sox.

Ending an 86-year curse is never easy, but you sure made it look easy. You single-handedly brought the winning tradition back to the city of Boston, while also being the lovable, goofy, and amazing human you are.

I still get goose bumps when I watch the speech you gave after the Boston Marathon bombing.

You took it upon yourself to use your platform as an athlete to speak out against acts of terrorism, while sticking up for the city you love and call home.

Although you called it a career after the 2016 season, you will forever be my favorite baseball player of all time.

For what you have done for the sport, the organization, the city of Boston and for humanity, I truly am thankful.