Ahhh, Christmas.

One of my most favorite times of the year.It's amazing how much this column makes a lot of my sports friends nervous about what Ol' Santa has in his bag for them. I just don't understand why.For the first time every I was asked to play Santa Claus this year for a private function. Didn't know if it was my rosy cheeks or what. Just paid a visit to my doctor last week and he said my weight was fine and never made mention that it could be spread out a little better.Well before it gets too late and I have to head off with my reindeer, I better check over this list one more time:PAT CRAMPSIE - A few big men to compliment the outside shooting of his Panther Valley guards.JOSH SNYDER - A run at the District 11 championship next fall to go along side the Eastern Conference title his Northwestern Tigers picked up this year.BRIAN GEIST - A trip to East Rutherford, New Jersey to see his Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.JOHN PATTON - A continued work in progress for his young Marian boys basketball team.JEFF MINNICH - A successful takeover of the Palmerton track and field program and more trips to states at Shippensburg.JOE BEREZWICK - A couple of dominant players to get the Tamaqua girls basketball program a quick fix.T.J. ENGLE - Season tickets to Penn State home games so we don't have to listen to him pout every time the Nittany Lions aren't on Cable TV.STEVE HLUSCHAK JR. - Some positive things in the Northern Lehigh wrestling room for his Bulldog grapplers.MARK ROSENBERGER - Another quarterback that will hopefully make the All-State team for the third straight year for his Olympians.CHRIS STITZEL - A patent for the success his Northwestern girls cross country team has had the past several seasons.MATT DAVIS - A return to the football sidelines, but this time as the head coach at his alma mater.JIM TERWILLIGER - A good QB to replace Brandon Leap since his Pleasant Valley gridders head to the LVC and open up with Easton, Bethlehem Catholic and Whitehall.RODNEY STROHL - A trip to the Colonial League and District 11 playoffs for his return to the Palmerton girls basketball bench.JASON BORIS - A decent post-season for his Cincinnati Bengals.STAN DAKOSTY - Less injuries for his Marian football team and another post-season appearance.DREW BENYO - Another successful season for the Jim Thorpe cross country team.NADIA GAURONSKY - A return to the Mountain Valley Conference girls basketball championship game.TOM McCARROLL - A successful first season in the Anthracite Football League for his Lehighton High football team.BOB FORD - A year's supply of Yueng's and wings for all of the extra time he puts in making our sports photos the best around.BRAD HURLEY - Eight more wins for his Panther Valley girls basketball team.CASZY KOSCIOLEK - A spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs for starters and then any win after that is a plus.DAVE LAVIN - After a couple of trips out to Hershey to the state finals, a state champion from one of his standout Palmerton wrestlers.JOE TOUT - A lot more wins for his Northern Lehigh football team to get the Bulldogs back to their winning ways.JILLIAN BARRON - Plenty of Tamaqua girls softball wins in the tough Schuylkill League.CHRIS DEUTSCH - A shot at an undefeated Colonial League season for his Northwestern girls basketball team.EMMETT McCALL - A skiing lesson for when he visits his daughter Darby at the University of Rochester.RICH OERTNER - A winning season and a trip to the playoffs for the Lehighton boys basketball team.CHRIS WALKOWIAK - A Palmerton offense that will put up enough points to make it easier on its defense next fall.DOC FALLABEL - An awesome encore for his state championship Marian Fillies volleyball team.ROD HECKMAN - Lehigh Valley Phantoms season tickets.SAM BONNER - A season for his Tamaqua Blue Raiders like they had back in 2012.JUSTIN CARLUCCI - After a sub-par season for his Tennessee Titans, a decent NFL draft.LEIGH KEENAN - Continued improvement by the Palmerton boys basketball team so it can make something out of this season.PATRICK MATSINKO - A strong enough training workout to give the Spartan race a shot this year.JASON ZIMMERMAN - A turf field so he could be on the same level as his counterpart Brian Geist at Northern Lehigh.JEFF NIETZ - A couple of long ball hitters for his Marian baseball team.ANDY STEINMETZ - A smart phone so he can check his e-mail a little easier.AND A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO: Ken Piontkowski, Jake Perschy, Paul Brutto, Joe DeAngelo, Len Brylewski, Jon Mashack, Jeff Reading, Clem McCarroll, Mike Luna, Tom Kanger, Mike Hromyak, Nancy Filer, John Cooper, Tim Robb, Kristen Black, Grant Whary, Rob Kovacs, Bernice Bott, Dustin, McAndrew, Dan Williams, Amanda Dietz, Tim O'Connor, Lamar Long, Kyle Spotts, Len Smith, Dan Eddinger, Nate Hunsicker, Jim Moll, Ryan Sharkazy, Mike Svetik, Andrew Remsing, Alex Noll, Erv Prutzman, Jessica Frew, Jason Reinhard, Mike Lehtonen, Dave Oertner and the list goes on and on....