I love the neighborhood we live in.
It’s really quiet, there’s very little trouble and the people are the kind of people you want as neighbors.
I was watching the first quarter of the Sunday Night Football game between the Packers and Seahawks last week when I heard the windows rattle and felt my comfy chair start to shake.
I said under my breath “what in the wide, wide world of sports is goin’ on out there?”
So I threw some shoes on and went outside to find out.
I should have known…it was him.
Standing up and hopping over the closed door of a sleigh that looked like a sporty convertible, Santa had arrived.
I said, “where did this come from?” pointing with both hands to his ride.
“This is what I use just to mess around in between big trips,” Santa responded, with air quotes, a wink and a smile.
Santa said, “shall we get down to business?”
And we did.
If you didn’t know, Santa comes to my street each December in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas for advice or confirmation on who has been naughty in sports in the last year and who has been nice.
In keeping with tradition, we started on the good side.
I checked with him to make sure he was taking care of Cailin Clark, and he was slightly offended by the thought that he wouldn’t know which list she should be on.
“Are you kidding me right now?” he barked. “My crew at The Pole are all getting ‘Clark 22’ Indiana Fever jerseys when I get back.”
I suggested to him that Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman should be on there.
All he’s done is take a bad situation with Brian Kelly leaving South Bend for LSU and turn it into positive feelings…and wins. He’s what Notre Dame needed, and he is delivering.
I also wanted to make sure that Matt Painter is on his good side, and he assured me he most certainly is.
The Purdue coach continues to find the right people who fit into his system of doing things while playing hard all the time and projecting an image that makes Purdue fans want to cheer for them—every single one of them.
And then Santa added that Warsaw football coach Bart Curtis and his entire coaching staff were going to be getting special treatment this Christmas season.
He said, “winning football games is fun, but bringing a community together the way the Tigers did this fall means you get a little extra something from us!”
I always have loved Santa’s style that way.
I also suggested that he do something special for rugby players.
“Rugby players?” he asked. “Why rugby players?”
I said, “Have you ever watched rugby?”
Santa said, “good point.”
Then he peered over his glasses at me, and I knew he was switching lists.
In a very somber tone, I said to him, “can you put a lump of coal in the stocking of the ownership of the Blackhawks, White Sox and Bears because…”, and Santa interrupted me by waving his hand and saying “I know, I know…we’ve been watching up there. Just embarrassing. They are all on the this list.”
I suggested Santa send a message to football players who feel the need to celebrate winning a road football game by taking their school flag and trying to “plant it” at the 50 yard line of the other team’s field.
Santa replied, “can you help me understand what this is all about? Why do they do that?”
I said that I wasn’t sure, but then Santa said “I have the perfect gift for them. I am going to get them all a guide on what fields have field turf and what fields are natural grass. How dumb is it to try to plant a flag into an artificial surface field?”
I snickered and nodded my head. He was exactly right.
And then, as he always does, he looked at me and thanked me for my time and assistance, and I returned the favor by thanking him for all the good he does for so many.
And he asked me about what I was looking for in my stocking or under our tree this week.
I told him I really didn’t need anything from him this year, but I appreciated his offer. He’s really a very generous guy, but you probably already knew that.
He gave me a salute, hopped back over the driver’s side door of his vehicle, and turned the lights on.
He only had Dasher and Vixen with him on this visit. He only needed two with him since it was not a weight-bearing trip.
They started southbound to build momentum, then wheeled around and headed back toward home.
And as he rose up above me from my left to my right, he said “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great night!”