Dear Santa: If you have room, please consider these wishes
One week from today, when we wake up and make that mad dash to the tree to see what Santa's left for us this year, will you be happy or disappointed?
Well, today I thought I'd offer some thoughts on things I'd like to see under my Christmas tree, knowing full well some of them might be, and some might not.
So here's my Christmas wish list, as it pertains to the local high school sports world, and life in general.
•Let's start with a present called "Fewer dads coaching." I was at a game the other night that reminded me to put this on the list. At this game, and we won't say where, there were roughly 1,000 seats open. You could sit anywhere. But one particular dad chose to sit in the front row of the bleachers and, in a gym that had maybe 100 people in it, he "coached" his daughter through the entire game. "Shoot the ball," he yelled to her. "Dribble left," he screamed. "Move your feet," he bellowed. Come on. Any parent who feels the need to embarrass his kid like that should stay home. So my Christmas wish is for parents to gather in the bleachers, talk about their day, and then cheer on their kid's team. They already have coaches; please let them do their jobs.
•The next one's pretty simple, actually. Back a couple of years ago, the IHSA recommended schools take just 15 minutes of warmup time between sophomore and varsity basketball games. But there are still those holdouts out there who believe 20 minutes of warmup time is necessary. To be selfish for a moment, we have deadlines people. Fifteen minutes, across the board please.
•It's been a few years, so how about a Fox Valley area girls team playing at Redbird Arena this season? That's not too much to ask is it? While that's the ultimate goal of every team, we challenge the two best in the area so far this season - Cary-Grove and Hampshire - to make it happen. Holy cow. Could three Cary-Grove teams make it to a state final tournament this school year? Hey, why not? It's Christmas and wishes sometime do come true, right?
•When Jan. 5 rolls around, we wish for the St. Edward vs. South Elgin sophomore game to end in a tie. It will be a happier Corn household if it does.
•I really want Christmas card envelopes with those little pre-glued tear strips like business envelopes have. I think I'm going to be tasting envelope glue until March.
•As Christmas tournament time takes over these pages the next two weeks, we'd really like to see photos with lots of fans in the background and game stories that talk about the crowd effect. Go out to Dundee-Crown, Elgin, Jacobs ... wherever. There's tournaments galore all over northern Illinois and three or four straight days of games is a real good way to see which teams are going to have what it takes come postseason time.
•Speaking of the postseason, one of my top Christmas wishes is that the IHSA do away with this insane predetermined regional setup. It's not fair and it never will be.
•On a very serious note, my sincere wish this holiday season is for good health for Zach Morrison. Nobody deserves to go through what Zach is going through and we can only hope and pray that modern medicine and a higher power take over Zach's brain and heal it. And if you have time Sunday, please stop at Elgin Lanes and make a donation to the cause. Even if you can't stay and bowl, even if you have to leave the car running, stop in and drop a few bucks in the bucket. Zach and his family need it more than any of us right now.
•Finally and simply, I wish each of you peace and happiness during this holiday season.
Merry Christmas everyone.
jradtke@dailyherald.com