By ROBERT L. LEE

As when Mother’s Day rolled around, with Father’s Day only a few hours away this week’s column is geared toward the big “D,” and I don’t mean divorce.

We could all rant and rave and sometimes complain about some of our experiences, but this is the sports section, and there’s no room for most of that stuff.

Instead I would just like to say thank you to all those dads from all those daughters and sons, like me, who never really said it when it probably would have mattered the most. Times when the race on the television is set aside, and somehow quickly to opera, or other around the house chores put on hold for that impromptu all-star series of pitch and catch.

Most guys don’t need the pat on the back every day or every week, but being human, it does mean something deep down. My Dad and I used to shrimp, fish and camp out more than anything.

Every so often he would actually tell me thanks for getting up at 4 a.m., shrimping all day, sleeping out on the boat and doing it again the next day. It was easy to tell he appreciated the fact that I wanted to participate in the things he enjoyed, instead of locking my melon to the television.

I admit, and so does every other person I know of, heading up to eight ice chests of ice cold shrimp isn’t the best way to spend a Sunday, but having that legitimate reason to just talk with him makes the numb fingers and slimy cans of beer worthy of a 30-second commercial.

Lest I forget the grandfathers in all of this. These are the guys who have gained that extra time under their belts and possibly had the unspeakable joy of having not only a child, but grandchildren. And we all know what happens when kids go to the grandparents’ house. With grandfathers, everything is magnified.

They’ve had more time to think about things, a lot more experiences than can be spun on the back porch, and most unfortunately, and I really don’t like to mention it, but less time to spin more.

Simply, fathers and grandfathers have one day set aside for them. Some may think it’s corny, but it’s just for a day and when it’s over, the other 364 days seem to miss that little piece of something. It’s not hard to think back to all those times dad’s gotten you out of those jams, or made you laugh, or did anything else for the betterment of his children.

So even though when that question pops up and he says “I don’t need anything for father’s day,” it may be true and the garage may be full, but just getting a quick gift is not what he would have done to really say thank you to his kids.