Ranking the three big sports holidays

Some holidays move around on the calendar each year and others just don’t have specific marquee sporting events that always fall on that date. But there are three that always bring joy to sports fans everywhere.  Here is how I rank them.

3. Christmas: Five NBA games that always feature the best teams and the best players. It’s a tradition that’s certainly growing on me, especially with the marquee game this year being a rematch of the NBA Finals last season between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Teams like the Lakers and Knicks seem to be staples on Christmas regardless of how good they are. Other times, teams with a star player or two underachieve and the game that team is playing in isn’t as much of a draw all of a sudden. Such is the case with the New Orleans Pelicans playing the first game on the Christmas slate this year despite having star power forward Anthony Davis to feature. At the end of the day, most of the better teams and players in the NBA are going to be playing on Christmas, so it’s certainly worth watching.

2. New Year’s: The longstanding traditions are what make the holidays great. There aren’t many better traditions in sports than college football on New Year’s Day. I don’t think it was a particularly wise move to schedule the playoff semifinal games on New Year’s Eve, as opposed last year when the games were played on New Year’s Day. Nonetheless, there’s nothing like the history that comes with New Year’s college football and I’m sure more people are interested now with the playoff being a part of the schedule. The NHL’s Winter Classic isn’t nearly as longstanding as college football on New Year’s, but it’s one of the best spectacles in all of sports.  It takes hockey back to its outdoor roots and the crowd is far larger than any other hockey game. There have been more outdoor games added to the NHL schedule since the Winter Classic began in 2008 in Buffalo as a result.

1. Thanksgiving: On this day, it’s just your duty as an American citizen to have football on while eating a big dinner with the family.  Not to mention the great high school football rivalries that are renewed around the country on Thanksgiving. It’s the same thing every year, but I love it more and more. I’ve blogged about my love for Thanksgiving before so this was really a no brainer.