Forgive me for being a little late to the resolutions party.

I know 10 days into the new year isn’t the right time to say what I should fix in 2006. For most people, 10 days is five days longer than it took them to break all their resolutions in the first place.

But I do feel I have some good ideas to offer. Just not for myself. Instead, I’m all about telling everyone else what they need to do. (I guess that resolution to be less of a nag didn’t pan out.)

So here are three changes that I’d like to see happen on the high school sports scene in 2006:

¢ No more boys-girls basketball doubleheaders.

The next good explanation I’m given for why this is standard practice in this state will be the first one. I’ve yet to find the redeeming quality in scheduling a girls and boys varsity program to play in the same gym on the same night.

Two sets of refs still have to be paid. Two buses still need to ferry the visiting teams to games. The gym lights still have to stay on four hours.

Yet the school only gets one set of gate receipts.

How much fun would it have been to have last month’s Lawrence High-Free State girls game on one night, with the LHS-Free State boys the next? It would have provided two great opportunities for city fans to show their school spirit, instead of having to cram it all into one night.

Play the girls games on Mondays and Thursdays, the boys games on Tuesdays and Fridays.

¢ No more Kansas High School Activities Assn. moratoriums.

I’m a family guy. Nothing beats walking in the door and getting a big hug from my 2 1â2-year-old daughter. My wife and I are expecting twin sons any day. I wouldn’t trade any of them for the world.

However, after a hectic Christmas day, I would trade them for an exciting hoops tournament the next two nights – a benefit I’ve enjoyed while covering high school sports during my various career stops throughout the country.

No such luck here. The KSHSAA says Dec. 23-28 is a no-no. And given that basketball teams are limited to just 20 games -another rule that needs changing – most coaches have used this time to take a two-week break, backloading the bulk of their schedule in January and early February.

That means I’m stuck watching some variation of the Rinkydink.com Bowl night after night during the holiday season to get my sports fix.

¢ No more holiday vacations that don’t end until Jan. 3.

Want to take your kids to see Ma and Pa during the holidays? Go for it. As I mentioned above, there isn’t anything here to stop you.

But do you think you could get back in town so Little Johnny could at least get in one day of practice before his next game?

I covered three different sporting events last week where I had to hear coaches lament their teams’ poor performances due in large part to the inability to run a practice with a full stable of players.

Bear in mind, these games were at least two full days after the New Year’s holiday.

Here’s a novel thought – allow your youngster to honor his or her commitment to the team during the winter, and load up the minivan to go see Granny in June.