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Dear Santa,
Here's my list. No need to peep it twice – once is enough. If you can't come through on all of them, I understand. Only so much you can do. But what you can't get to now, I'm almost positive I can recycle and add to next year's list.
I'll leave the white fudge Oreos and a glass of milk with a shot of Jameson on the table next to the fireplace, as usual. Tell wifey hello.
One Love, Scoop
All a brotha wants for Xmas is …
• The Bears to win the Super Bowl. (Or at least be in it, because as long as the Ravens and the Chargers play for the AFC championship, I'm cool. That'll be the real Super Bowl.)
• An Iverson Denver Nuggets authentic home jersey.
• A new soon-to-be-old microfiber NBA basketball. (They're collector items now.)
• A well thought-out and fair college football playoff system.
• To take the "C" out of BCS.
• To not let ABC turn Christmas Day into another Shaq verses Kobe, 2˝-hour dramedy.
• A network to pick up the best sports television series no one saw, "Timeless."
• A signed copy of "Forty Million Dollar Slaves," by William C. Rhoden.
• To meet Gary Smith.
• To, for one column, be as good as Rick Reilly.
• One appearance on "Sports Reporters."
• To interview Barry Bonds before he quits.
• To spend an hour with Ali before he dies.
• An Ernie Barnes original of "Skins and Shirts"
• A ticket (not a media credential) to see Prince perform at the Super Bowl.
• For the USC-Michigan game to be better than the Ohio State-Florida game.
• For Brett Favre to retire.
• For Bobby Knight to not pass Dean Smith.
• Another Ivory Latta-Kristi Toliver battle.
• The "Tokyo" set from the Nike Stussy World Tour package.
• A pair of new core Premium AF1's from Italy.
• For the airport in Kansas City to be renamed for John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil.
• For Tara Conner or Lacy Chabert (or both) to be Tom Brady's rebound chick.
• To see Rachel Nichols (reporter) and Rachel Nichols (actress) in the same room, at the same time.
• To make Theo Epstein and the Red Sox understand that Matsuzaka is not going to replace Pedro – in pitching or presence.
• A score that's better than 1.6 percent the next time AP does a study on the number of black sports editors of newspapers.
• Another Jemele Hill.
• A sports version of "Inside The Actor's Studio."
• Facial hair for Richard Jefferson.
• For Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose to change their minds and go to the University of Illinois together next year.
• For no one to hear about Noel Johnson until I write a column about him.
• Send KG to an East Coast team before the trading deadline.
• Amare Stoudemire to be 99.8 percent by April.
• For LT to get the MVP.
• For Isiah Thomas to save himself from himself.
• For the media to realize that Roger Federer had just as good a year as Tiger Woods and give him the props he deserves.
• To rent an apartment from Donald Sterling.
• That new $3,000 book on Pelé.
• Magic Johnson's wardrobe.
• For Ernie Johnson to enjoy many more Dec. 25ths.
• John McEnroe's signature.
• An invite to Tony and Eva's wedding.
• For Chicago not to be upset if the Bears lose their second-round playoff game.
• For Tony Dungy to finally get to the last game of the season.
• For Shaq not to get mad if I happen to write that he "might" have to admit he's falling off when he comes back.
• For every black athlete to understand that although they aren't all role models, every one of them represents our race and how we are perceived and received by the rest of the world. (Santa, it's hard to hold your head up when some of us are making the rest of us look like idiots.)
• For Gary Sheffield to never change.
• My "Sports Unplugged" radio show back on the air.
• Shakara Ledard on the cover of SI's swimsuit issue.
• A scandal-free NBA All-Star Game in Vegas.
• A copy of the Wonderlic Test.
• To produce a segment for "Real Sports."
• For T.O. to get everything he deserves.
• For my sons to love the Jordans you got them for Christmas.
• Something, anything, for the Knicks. (My bad, that's for my letter to God.)
Scoop Jackson is a national columnist for Page 2 and a contributor to ESPN The Magazine. He appears regularly on "Quite Frankly" and other ESPN shows. He resides in Chicago. Sound off to Scoop and Page 2 here.
