MATT DRISCOLL: GOBBLE GOBBLE >>>

The turkey is long removed from the table, and the day full of lopsided NFL games on TV has finally come to an end.

And it hurts every time I move.

This is what Thanksgiving is like for those â€" like this hack writer â€" who haven’t done anything athletic in at least 5 years yet decided it was a good idea to play in this year’s YMCA Morgan Branch Turkey Bowl II.

Despite the pain, it was absolutely a good decision. Getting the athletic juices flowing again â€" however phlegmy and winded and wincing â€" was extraordinarily fun. It was like recess â€" only for adults. It was a chance to be a kid again, for a night. I got to point to my wife and kid on the sidelines after throwing touchdown passes. That’s a kind of gratification my real life rarely offers.

Oh yes, despite the fact my team â€" the Gravy Boat â€" made up of guys all near or exceeding 30 years old â€" looked like we were coached by Tyrone Willingham much of the time, participating the YMCA’s Turkey Bowl was the most fun any of us have had in far too long.

Unless, that is, you’re like my friend Ryan Monson â€" a 28-year-old electrician â€" who broke his tibia and fibia in the closing minutes of a meaningless flag football game between the Gravy Boat and a group of nameless athletes from one of the Y’s adult workout classes. A larger member of the Gravy Boat â€" Gary McGinley from Puyallupâ€" fell head first into Monson’s lower leg. We all heard the break. A fire truck and an ambulance were soon on the scene, and â€" needless to say â€" the Turkey Bowl was over.

So, to sum things up â€" the Turkey Bowl is great fun unless you break your tibia and fibia. Then it probably seems like a poor decision. Here’s to hoping my buddy Ryan gets some really good drugs from the Doc, and no ambulances are called to next year’s game.