What is the Best Holiday for Sports?
Photo: mythandmystery.com
With today being Thanksgiving and that meaning football all day, I decided to take a look at a couple of other holidays and write about which one is the best for sports fans. The four I am going to look at are Thanksgiving and football, Christmas and basketball, July 4 and baseball, and New Years Day and hockey. I will be counting down from the least exciting to the most exciting holiday when it comes to sports.
4. Christmas and NBA
I’m sure I’ll catch some slack for ranking Christmas Day NBA last because so many people these days absolutely drool over the NBA. I am a Hornets fan and follow the NBA as well, but let’s be honest, Christmas is the biggest holiday of the entire year and it completely overshadows anything sports related. The vast majority of people are visiting family, exchanging gifts, and eating as much food as they can possibly eat all day long. Those are the priorities. With all of that eating and sitting around, a nap must be priority number two. So where does the NBA fit it? It really doesn’t. Now that’s not to say it won’t be on the tv when we are filling up on ham, macaroni, green beans, etc., but it’s more for background noise. The NBA tried to make Christmas its day by establishing this tradition, but that’s like me trying to establish Earth as my planet. It’s way too big of a thing for anybody or anything to try to make their own.
3. New Year’s Day and NHL
I love the tradition the NHL has set up by playing the Winter Classic every New Year’s Day. For those who aren’t aware, especially in the South, the Winter Classic is a hockey game played outdoors, usually in a baseball or football stadium, between two NHL teams. You have to remember, on January 1st, these outdoor games are extremely cold and sometimes it snows during the game. HOW AWESOME IS THAT! The only problems with this annual game are the fact it is not quite a well established tradition (it began in 2008) and the fact that America doesn’t appreciate the sport of hockey like it should. Once you give it a shot, there’s no turning back after you fall in love. Every year I absolutely love eating my New Year’s dinner, while watching two professional hockey teams play on an outdoor rink, in the elements, like a bunch of kids playing a pickup game.
2. July 4th and MLB
Now this one’s hard for me not to rank number one because I’m very biased and I am a huge baseball guy. But let’s dig a little deeper. July 4 is America’s holiday and baseball is America’s sport. Never mind that football has more viewers than baseball, but baseball will always be America’s pastime. So what better than a day full of grilling out, swimming, shooting fireworks, and watching baseball to celebrate the best country in the world? Every major league baseball team plays a game on July 4th, giving every fan the same opportunity to watch their team. The only reason I didn’t put this one as number one is because July 4th is a busy day with a lot going on. It’s a day you try to jam as much fun stuff as possible to do in 24 hours and you just can’t quite do it all. Therefore most people don’t sit down and watch the entire game, but instead watch a few innings, go for a swim, eat a hamburger, watch a few more innings, etc. But if you took baseball away from July 4, then the holiday itself would have a huge vacancy in it.
1. Thanksgiving and NFL
You have to rank this number one. When you think of Thanksgiving, you think of two things: food and football. If you leave either one out, then you didn’t really celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s always fun delving into one of the best meals of the year while watching some team just annihilate the Detroit Lions. When it’s time for dessert a few hours later you have some apple pie and some beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. Just when you think your perfect Thanksgiving Day is complete at 8:00 p.m., you are awarded with one more primetime NFL game. Man, don’t you just love America? So everyone make sure to enjoy your Thanksgiving Day today with a full plate and a full slate of football games. Eat as much as you can and move as little as possible because it doesn’t get any more American than that!
Garett