20th Annual Sports Fan's Letter to Santa Claus

Dear Santa Claus,

            Wow, what a year! I don’t think even you could have seen that coming.

            The coronavirus pandemic certainly has consumed our lives and has affected everything; people have lost their jobs and thousands have lost their lives. There isn’t anyone who hasn’t been affected in some way by this plague we call COVID-19.

            This may be a slightly different letter than years past, because it seems a bit selfish to ask for sports related gifts for the coming year, when so many people are dealing with the loss of a family member, or their business has been shut down for ten months.    

            The sports world has been turned on its head. Professional, college and high school sports were shutdown in the midst of their spring schedules. The NHL and NBA didn’t finish their seasons until they set up “bubble” communities during the summer, giving us sports fans a bit of an escape from reality for a while.

            Major League Baseball played a limited schedule, but the minor leagues were totally dark this year. That was no fun for the local Tulsa Drillers fans.

We are thankful at least that our local universities and high schools were able to play a football schedule, and are now into basketball season, but even those schedules are a “fluid situation” and have been affected by athletes testing positive for COVID-19.

            I think about the thousands of people, like myself, who enjoy working at local sports venues, whether it is a big chunk of their annual income, or as a nice little side job, who came up way short financially this year. I ask that you bring them many unexpected blessings this holiday season and on into the New Year.

            As you know, there are several vaccines on the way, but then again, we’re told that’s not going to be the end all – cure all. Those of us who have suffered through two weeks of dealing with the coronavirus won’t be in a hurry to get a vaccine, since we feel we should have some immunity to this bug at this point.

            Also, it’s been a rough year politically and socially for the United States. I don’t know what the news coverage is like there in the North Pole, but here, we don’t know what to believe any more. Civil unrest, riots, lawsuits and more, have overwhelmed cities across our land. Families are feuding over politics and it’s not because Steve Harvey is going to award them a bunch of cash at the end of the show.

            Please, dear Santa, I ask that you bring us peace and love and joy this Christmas, and let that flow into the coming year. Bring wisdom and a sharp mind to our nation’s leaders, and safety to our military members all around the world.

            Also, I ask that you bring an end to this pandemic, so that we can get our lives and businesses back to what used to be normal.

            And yes, Santa, as a sports fan, please give us our sports back. We want to be able to sit with our fellow fans in the stands, yelling and cheering for our teams. We want to experience that high-decibel sound when our players take the court. We want to enjoy sitting outside on a beautiful summer day and listen to the crack of a bat swung by a soon-to-be Major League prospect.

            And most of all, we want to rip the mask off of 2021 and find a bright, big smile that tells us everything is going to be all right; that the one we celebrate at Christmas has it all in control, and for that, we can be grateful, have hope, and press on. Until next year, please be safe and tell Mrs. Claus thanks for the sweater.

Sincerely, your friend,

Jeff Brucculeri

[as published in the Tulsa Beacon newspaper, Dec. 17, 2020]