There is a college football game.
It is Christmas Eve and, in the sports world, it is supposed to be quiet. There will be the annual Hawai’i Bowl college football game featuring San Jose State and South Florida, a game that starts at 3 in the afternoon in Hawai’i, 8 o’clock back east. The National Football League generally avoids playing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But times have changed. There are two Christmas Day games, the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens will take on the Houston Texans. In 1955, the NFL pushed the Cleveland-Los Angeles and in 1960 Green Bay-Philadelphia league championship games to Monday, December 26th. The NFL was stung by political criticism in 1971 after playing two Christmas Day playoff games. It was the second game, a long overtime affair between Miami and Kansas City that was the problem. Allegedly families missed traditional Christmas Day dinners because people were too concerned with the game. The issue became so heated that one Kansas state legislator introduced a law calling on the NFL to ban Christmas Day games. The proposal went absolutely nowhere but the NFL didn’t take any chances. The league reworked the schedule and did not have any Christmas conflicts for years. Since then, no politician has introduced legislation barring the NFL or the NBA, the NHL or NCAA from playing on Christmas.
Sports generally does not take days off. The National Hockey League shut down for three days. The National Basketball Association has nothing scheduled. The NBA does have Christmas Day games. The NHL last scheduled games on Christmas Eve in 1971 and stopped playing Christmas Day games in 1972. The NHL even has a trade ban between December 19th and 28th of each season. The games must go on. It is on the schedule.
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