Christmas? Did someone say Christmas?

As you enjoy the final bits of turkey you vigorously pick off the bone of the poor creature, let’s talk baseball. Yes, baseball.

In this season of Thanksgiving, Major League Baseball has much for which to be thankful.

Baseball is thankful for the NBA. The recent incident of players heading into the stands to belt fans, and that term is used loosely here, has resulted in more dismissive treatment toward the NBA.

Have you heard as many negative comments about the league since the incident as I have? That matter was followed this week by Minnesota’s Michael Olowokandi having the police use a stun gun against his when he refused to leave a bar at 3 a.m.

The NBA is quickly becoming the nation’s most expensive gang, if not the most dangerous.

Ron Artest, the player suspended for the remainder of the year for his involvement in the fan brawl, had already thrilled the NBA and its owners. Earlier this year he asked for time off to promote his new rap CD.

Artest did this saying the real NBA season didn’t start until the playoffs anyway, so what was the problem with him missing a few regular season games.

That must have come as a shock to the league to learn that six of the eight months in which games are played are really worthless.

Joe DiMaggio once said that the reason he played everyday and played hard every inning was because he never knew who might be in the stands getting to see him play for the first and only time.

What a concept, but one largely lost to history at this point.

Worse yet, the NBA players association is appealing Artest’s suspension and that of the other players involved. That knee-jerk reaction is expected. “The good of the game” rarely crosses the minds of any professional players’ association these days.

Baseball has much to be thankful for as fans dismiss the basketball season with hot stove topics.

Baseball can be thankful for the NHL. You may be one of the many unaware, and not really very concerned, that the NHL is in a lockout due to a labor dispute. With a third of the season’s games lost, the league is close to losing the entire year.

The Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightening recently had a quiet ceremony to give some of the players their championship rings. You probably missed that, too.

The players weren’t allowed to have a full-blown ceremony with fans in attendance. The NHL wanted to lock the players and fans out of that bit of potential goodwill. Why waste a chance to make matters worse?

And MLB? It has the Red Sox and Yankees, the Yankees dining Pedro Martinez, the Nationals preparing for a season in Washington, D.C., winter deals being swung, and spring training trips being planned.

Baseball enjoyed a nice fat turkey Thursday. It has its problems but, oh, so much to be thankful for.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.