I sat down on my couch with my laptop to write this week's column and started looking at my scribbled witty -- and not so witty -- notes from the week.

It took me about 10 minutes to come to the conclusion that I had absolutely nothing to write about this week. Nary a thing.

It was about that time that my darling 3-year-old daughter got out of her bed and came into the room and told me that she wanted Santa Claus to bring her a new princess dress for Christmas.That coupled with the fact that there is a 7-foot tree in my living room reminded me that Christmas is less than a week away and I have yet to write my obligatory wish list.

Sure it's lazy but it's getting late, so I am looking at it as "problem solved." I hope the fat man is reading.

First, I wish for the 43 car to be on the track in 2009. It's not NASCAR without the 43.

I wish for a new first baseman for the Red Sox. Not that there is anything wrong with Youkilis. Sign Mark Teixeira and move Youk to third. You need to bat in your lineup.

I wish for a few of the old car bodies lying around Robby Gordon's race shop. Since 2005, Gordon has raced Chevys, Fords and Dodges. This week, he announced that he would make the switch to Toyota in 2009.

That is some serious excess sheetmetal somewhere. It would be cool to have one of those in my backyard. I'm sure the neighbors would love it.

I wish for Roger Goodell to continue to reinstate Pacman Jones for the stupid stuff that he does. As long as he is around, I have something to write bad jokes about.

I wish for this every year but I am going to do it again this year. There should be a race in Darlington on Labor Day. Make it happen, Santa.

I wish I could write a NASCAR column without having to be an economist. That's not really a wish. It's more a statement of fact and a sad indictment on the state of affairs in this country.

I wish I had the difference in how much the Saints are paying Reggie Bush and how much he is actually worth.

I wish for a decent ride for Bobby Labonte. If Reed Sorenson has a ride and Bobby doesn't, I am going to flip out.

As I am writing this, it's getting a little late in the evening. I wish I had a Shiner Bock beer.

I wish Brett Favre would retire. Or not. Just pick one this year and do it without talking about it. His saying he might retire (again) was the lead on SportCenter tonight. I can't deal with that again.

I wish someone other than Jimmie Johnson would win the Cup in 2009.

I wish for the energy of Joe Paterno. He's like 140 years old and just signed a three-year extension to stay at Penn State.

And finally, I wish for the Daytona 500 to hurry up and get here. I want some racing.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Andy Cagle can be reached at andycagle@earthlink.net.