How’s This for a Merry Christmas Wish List?

Merry Christmas. Tony Kornheiser wishes the same. Among those getting a call in his Washington Post column were:

--Michael (Keep The Motor Running, I’ll Be Done In A Couple Of Minutes) Spinks.

--Mitch (I Taught Mike Tyson How To Shop And Leon Spinks How To Drive) Green, whose New York driver’s license has been suspended 54 times, leading people to wonder what it takes to get your license revoked in New York--by hijacking a bus and driving it through the window of Macy’s?

--Elise (Thanks, Chris, Hope You And Andy The Hunk Enjoy The Kimchi) Burgin.

--Eddie (Enough Already) The Eagle, Debi Thomas, Alberto (Hey Baby, What’s Happening) Tomba and Katarina Witt. David Santee, who inspired the phrase, “Hey, honey, grab my shotgun, that little twerp’s on the tube again.”

--The 7-Eleven Racing Team, “Hey, Hoss, Change My Tires and Gimme A Slurpee.”

Add Christmas: From John Eisenberg’s suggested gift list in the Baltimore Sun: “Yankee Manager Dallas Green: a subscription to the National Business Employment Weekly.”

From Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun: “Which is the scarier scenario: ‘Hey, Dad, guess what Uncle Joel gave me for Christmas--my own set of drums’ or ‘Hi, everyone, this is Brent Musburger at the opening game of the 1990 World Series . . . ‘ “

Trivia Time: What four schools have won games in the four major bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton) and which school has done it twice? (Answer to follow.)

The most outrageous statement of the year? Easy. In Stanford’s basketball media guide, it says of Todd Lichti, “Without question, the greatest player in Stanford basketball history.”

In 1936, Angelo (Hank) Luisetti changed the game of basketball when he introduced the running one-handed shot at Madison Square Garden as Stanford beat Long Island, 45-31, ending a 43-game winning streak by Clair Bee’s Blackbirds.

“Two years later,” wrote Luisetti’s biographer, Dick Friendlich, “every school kid coming to an Eastern college was firing one-handed shots off his ears.”

In 1938, Luisetti scored 50 points against Duquesne. Fifty years later, it’s still a school record.

Note: Clair Bee had a winning percentage of .827, still the best among NCAA coaches. Jerry Tarkanian is next at .825, followed by Adolph Rupp at .822 and John Wooden at .808.

Add Luisetti: From “The Modern Encyclopedia of Basketball” by Zander Hollander: “Luisetti’s basketball fame in college was such that after graduation he was paid $10,000 to portray a college basketball player in a movie. The picture, called ‘Campus Confessions,’ was one of the most forgettable films ever filmed.”

Lou D’Amico, Caesars Palace oddsmaker, said the public probably will go for the Cincinnati Bengals but said: “My personal favorite is the Rams to win the Super Bowl. It’s been an L.A. kind of year, with the Dodgers winning the World Series and the Lakers winning the NBA championship.”

Trivia Answer: Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Georgia. Alabama has done it twice.

Quotebook

Abe Lemons, Oklahoma City University basketball coach, recalling when a couple of disgruntled alumni came to his office: “They wanted to buy up my contract but neither had change for a $20.”