Shoup Shots: All I want for Christmas is …

This is the most wonderful time of the year.

Or, depending the personality traits of your relatives, maybe it’s not.

Maybe this is the most dreaded time of the year. Lines are longer. Conversations with family gets weirder. And maybe the post-dinner cocktails get stronger.

However, I have a more positive outlook on the holidays. Since flying the Shoup nest, I have come to truly appreciate spending time with the ones who saw me get excited about receiving socks for Christmas. At least that’s what my grandma told me I always wanted for Christmas. Apparently I was strange growing up.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza or Festivus, you can’t deny there are at least a couple things you’d like to acquire this holiday season. It’s not appropriate for me to ask for cash anymore (growing up sucks) so I primarily asked Santa for a couple wardrobe upgrades.

As far as prep athletics in Northern Nevada are concerned, there are a couple things I’d like to see under the metaphorical tree.

1. A non-Gorman state champion

Bishop Gorman has stomped on the NIAA and the state football/boys basketball/baseball “tournaments” it hosts yearly.

Gorman’s ridiculous dominance has removed the drama that is supposed to come with these tournaments. Let’s see someone else hoist a trophy. That’d be neat.

2. A shot clock

You know what’s lame? Watching a narrow basketball contest come down to the final minutes and being forced to witness the winning team dribble the ball around the court for 45 seconds before someone is forced to foul.

There were possessions in last year’s DI North regional tournament that lasted more than a minute. Gross.

Nobody goes to the games to watch teams take a knee.

As frustrating as it is to watch, It’s equally frustrating to coaches in Northern Nevada. A handful of coaches have shared their desire for a shot clock.

I want a shot clock and I want it now.

3. No more important games in December

Those of you who listen to my radio show (Bueller? Bueller?) have heard me gripe about this on more than one occasion.

In many cases, basketball teams were playing games that went towards league records in the first games of the season. Season openers and the handful of games that follow are supposed to be games that prepare you for the campaign, not play a part in determining how the campaign will be judged.

A couple solutions would be starting fall sports season earlier, allowing an elongated winter season that doesn’t force a crammed schedule. Or making the crossover games (Sierra League vs. High Desert League) non-league contests.

4. Wi-fi in all gyms

Granted, part of the problem is that I have T-Mobile. Yes, I know. I’m not proud.

But the list of gyms I struggle for service in is pretty impressive. The list includes Spanish Springs, Damonte Ranch, North Valleys, Galena, Douglas and Bishop Manogue.

Is wi-fi everywhere I go really that much to ask?

5. Some form of Reno-area sports media competition

Ping pong. Reciting ‘The Office’ quotes. Texting and driving.

Okay, maybe not the last one. But all of us are forced to spend time with each other on a nearly daily basis. And there has to be a way to prove who’s the best of us once and for all.

Because that’s what the holidays are really about. Determining winners and losers.