School’s almost out for Christmas vacation and I’ve had some requests to write a new column (evidently they need to know what Christmas gifts are in this year). So here are some Holiday thoughts on things that may or may not matter for those of you who care and especially for those of you who don’t.

* How great was the Jr/Sr High Christmas concert? Great selections, great renditions, tons of kids out for Band and Choir… I was impressed. Congrats to Mr. Spann and Mr. Leeka; the improvements in these programs are pleasantly noticeable. The High School Choir’s “Carol of the Bells� interpretation was outstanding!

Just another of about a billion reasons why my kids go to St. Albert…

* You’ve heard all the bickering lately about the de-Christmas-ing of America? If not, find a news source somewhere please. And if you’ve paid attention at all, you’ve seen it coming for years. Target and the Wal/K-Marts of the world decking their collective Christmas halls well before Halloween; re-naming Christmas programs to Holiday programs; the banning of nativity scenes anywhere and everywhere. And check this one out; some town in Wisconsin, has changed the name and words to “Silent Night� to “Cold in the Night� and the song now sings "Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite." What is that? Even Weird Al Yankovich wouldn’t try that one. You get the idea.

You’ll never see me thumping a Bible in someone’s face or be mistaken for some righteous do-gooder, but from where I sit, it’s kind of disgusting really. I don’t know much, but I do know this - if you or your kids or grandkids went to a public school system, you’d be keenly aware of all this hub-bub. But because we are a Catholic institution with teachings based on the life of Jesus Himself, our kids can sing Away in a Manger, Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard on High ‘til the cows come home. Not celebrating the REAL reason the season was created in the first place just seems stupid and hypocritical.

* Advent is already into its 3rd week and I just wanted to give a public shout-out to Fr. Hobt. I love this guy (even though we’ve never visited with each other more than 15 seconds at one time). He gets it. Every time he says Mass, he always seems to find the perfect point at the perfect time in my life. Last Sunday, I was about ready to kill Nick, Tony and Z-Man before we left the house, some old lady in front of us sort of smelled and the guy behind me with the 4 brats had no clue as to the chaos they were creating. Needless to say, I was distracted and did not have my “A� game on for Mass. We’ve all been there. But up steps Fr. Hobt who succinctly (which I always appreciate) nails the point about how much better it really feels, when you stop and think about it, to give than to receive. And that giving of ourselves to each other is why The Big Man put us all on this spinning globe in the first place. 1st pitch grand slam. Thanks Father. I needed that one.

* Been to any games or matches yet this season? Since this is a sports site, it’s probably OK for me to throw in a thought or two regarding our winter teams, eh?

-Did you know the Dance team is awesome? Yea, I figured you did. They brought home two State Championship trophies from Des Moines earlier this month and continue to delight the home crowds every time they perform. Coach Guinan and the girls work as hard as any team St. Albert puts on the floor and are more than deserving of any and all awards they earn.

-As predicted, the Wrestling team is making strides with a bunch of young kids and a few solid, veteran leaders. While they continue to improve, the numbers of athletes and the number of wins slowly increase as well. Stay on ‘em Coach Driver and seniors! Good things are about to come your way.

-The Girls Basketball team is similar to the Wrestling team this year in that there a few outstanding upperclassmen leading a throng of youngsters still getting their feet wet in Varsity competition. You can see the potential at times; at other times their youthfulness is enough to make Coach Heithoff pull out the rest of his hair. Growing pains early should make way for experience later in the season when the victories really count.

-Before the season began, Charlie predicted the Boys Basketball team would make the State Tourney. After watching them get dismantled by Red Oak in the opener (another Class 2A District foe) one would have to wonder about that prediction. But they have bounced back nicely since then with wins over West Harrison and Carroll Kuemper and look like they are getting their hoops legs under them. People sometimes forget that when a football team makes it far in the fall playoffs, you lose valuable pre-season basketball practice time. It’s a trade Coach Scott will take any day, but it does affect your early season capabilities. They’ll be fine and fun to watch the rest of the way.

* So, did you check out the live or archived video feed we did the other night vs. Kuemper’s boys? Can you believe that stuff? LIVE VIDEO from our gym? And I thought the quality was really good as well. It’s not a perfect system yet but we’ll keep working on it. You’ve go to remember that none of us operating stalbertsportsfan are professionals, which is why we all still have day jobs. We do it because we love it and we know you guys do too. SA has it’s own mobile TV/Radio station; who would have thought?

* I’ve got to finish this column the way I always do, with some music and Christmas gift ideas for those of you struggling to find just the right thing to put on your list.

-There is absolutely no way you can go wrong with an X-Box 360. If you have parents or someone that loves you so much that they are willing to drop that kind of cash on your sorry self, than take full advantage and ask for one of these bad boys. The graphics are ridiculously good, the extra stuff it’ll do… it’s awesome – for now. Just remember, additional games aren’t cheap and next year there will be something better.

-Staying with video games, the PlayStation PSP handheld game looks fantastic. I haven’t had the pleasure of using one yet, but I want to. They may have started out a bit light on the overall number of games but the selection’s much better now. Being able to upload your music, videos, photos, and having internet accessibility makes the PSP a downright perfect Christmas gift.

-For the rest of you, like myself, who may not be loved quite so much, simply ask for new music. The gift that keeps on giving. But which new music to ask for? Honestly, there’s not really that much great new stuff out there in my opinion. So to be safe, look for some of the Greatest Hits albums that often come out around the Holidays.

-Young hipsters might enjoy Blink 182’s G.H.’s, Franz Ferdinand’s sophomore effort "You Could Have It So Much Better" or Nickelback’s new one "All the Right Reasons".

-Older fellas like myself will love Def Leppard’s “Rock Of Ages� or Van Halen’s “Best of Both Worlds� new G.H.’s collections and Jackson Browne’s "Solo Acoustic Vol. 1". Browne is getting impeccably smoother as he gets older I think, and was at the top of his game a year ago when I saw him at the Orpheum. Hope Vol. 2 doesn't take too long to be released.

-Right now I’m listening to some classic 80’s; The Police’s “Zenyatta Mondattta� and the ultimate east coast garage band, The Del Fuegos’ and “Boston, Mass.�

* There you have it; more meaningless chatter from a guy who has a forum to chatter in. Got to love the internet. Anyway, Christmas Greetings from stalbertsportsfan and don’t forget what Fr. Hobt said – it’s far better to give than receive. And we all know that actions speak louder than words so send your gifts to the address listed at the bottom of the page.

-Vinnie