So, you want my advice on a New Year’s resolution, do you?

It is a fair concern on this first day of the new year. If you love local sports — and why else would you read my blatherings? — then I guess you came to the right guy.

First off, resolve never to miss another 100-point outburst by Free State’s or Lawrence High’s boys basketball teams. Trust me. I saw them both.

Also, don’t be absent when Dain Dillingham has a breakaway or when five three-point shooters scatter around the arc at an LHS boys game. Don’t wait for the next day’s Journal-World to see how many points Josie Polk scored. Be there when Seabury Academy’s Scotty King is open from downtown and the opposing coach gets ready to bench the guy who should be guarding him like glue.

Be able to say you saw it when Alex Brunfeldt left opposing swimmers in his wake at the state championships. Don’t blink when Brendan Halpin makes his move, putting another inferior wrestler’s shoulders on the mat.

Don’t be at home while Veritas Christian’s Mark Randtke is grabbing the offensive board and putting it back so smoothly, or when Lawrence’s Kristian Pope is dazzling a packed gym with a beautiful no-look pass as four defenders collapse on him.

If I were you, I’d resolve never to look away when Brady Morningstar gets the rock. Don’t hold back when asking how Lawrence’s Drew Huff can be so good as a sophomore. You’re not the only one who wonders.

Don’t miss the last time an exhausted Brett Shoffner’s arm is raised triumphantly in the air by the official after he throws a foe around like a ragdoll. Resolve to be in the stands when Emilie Humbarger has the ball with the game on the line.

When the weather gets warmer, don’t miss that first right-down-the-middle-of-the-plate meatball Free State’s Ryne Price sees this baseball season. Then, don’t miss the swarm of teammates greeting him at home plate 30 seconds after he hits it halfway to Oskaloosa.

Make sure you’re at the LHS tennis courts this spring when coach Dick Wedel tells another hilarious story. Don’t be a no-show when Free State’s Alysha Valencia knocks down the tape and takes home another medal from a 3,200-meter race that was too easy.

Have no reason to miss FSHS soccer senior Rebekah Berkley as she knocks in another goal, this time near-post. Don’t wish you would have shown up to see swimmers Ashley Jackson and Ashley Robinson earn another plaque on Free State’s Wall of Champions.

When the summer rolls around, put off mowing the lawn if the Lawrence Raiders are playing baseball, the greatest game ever invented. After all, our Raiders do have a state title to defend.

And before you know it, the fall will be here again. Don’t worry about the leaves covering the yard when you could be at Haskell Stadium, watching Lawrence’s Jeff Colter shaking the secondary or Ian Handshy going bowling for linebackers as he rumbles for the score.

Resolve not to stay home on a perfect October afternoon, when Andrea Koch is at Free State carrying the torch of great Firebird tennis players, the last being her big sister, Rachel.

You could lie around on a Saturday morning this autumn, but instead, resolve to not miss Lawrence’s Drew Vogel and Free State’s Danny Schneider as they battle each other — and the rest of Kansas — for a state cross country title at Rim Rock Farm, the crown jewel of local sports facilities.

Show up and see Lawrence’s Chelsey Ornburn as she sticks a perfect dismount from the beam. Greet Sydney Wilson in the clubhouse after she sinks a 40-foot putt to cap a spectacular 18 holes. Cheer the unsung heroes — Lawrence’s Jake Brewer marking a man flawlessly on the soccer field, or Free State’s Phillip Weinmaster opening the hole that lets Jamie Resseguie run 30 yards for the touchdown.

It may be too much to fathom, now. But resolve to do all of it. Before you know it, Jan. 1, 2005 will be here. And it all will start again.