Christmas and sports have become associated with the NBA. For many years, the Blue-Gray college All-Star game was played on Dec. 25. There have been some NFL games on the holiday, too. And a somber remembrance as Yankee legend Billy Martin lost his life on Dec. 25, 1989.
Blue-Gray games
The Blue-Gray All-Star game was a fixture on Christmas from 1979-2003, exempting 2003. The annual contest was discontinued after the Blue’s 31-24 victory in 2003.
2002 Las Vegas Bowl: Katie Hnida
During the 2002 SEGA Sports Las Vegas Bowl Katie Hnida became the first women to play in a NCAA Division I-A game, college footballs highest level of play. Here PAT attempt was blocked. She also went on to become the first women to score in a Division I-A game in 2003 in a 72-8 blowout of Texas State University
2003 Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii 54, Houston 48
Houston and Hawaii engaged in an offensive shootout and were tied 34-34 at the end of regulation. Each scored a touchdown on the first two overtime possessions. Hawaii got the ball first in the third overtime and Michael Brewster ran eight yards into the end zone, but the Warriors failed on the two-point conversion. However, Houston’s overtime possession ended on downs and Hawaii came away with a victory. The coaches were Art Briles for Houston and June Jones for Hawaii.
Christmas 1971, NFL style
Early in the day, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings 20-12. Then, the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins met in Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. The teams battled back and forth and were tied 24-24 at the end of regulation as Kansas City’s Ed Podolak had a huge game rushing, receiving and returning. After a scoreless first overtime, they went into a second one. Finally, with 7:20 left in the second overtime period, Miami’s Garo Yepremeian kicked the game-winning field goal.
1994: Shula breaks regular-season win mark
The Dolphins took control early, holding Barry Sanders to 52 yards rushing, and scoring on five of their first seven possessions to take a 27-10 halftime lead and held on for a 27-20 win. The victory was head coach Don Shula’s 319th regular-season victory, putting him ahead of George Halas.
2004: Lawrence Tynes’ redemption
After missing two field goal attempts earlier in the game, Lawrence Tynes redeemed himself by nailing a 38-yard field goal with 22 seconds left that put the Chiefs up 31-30 over the Oakland Raiders. Dante Hall had returned a kickoff 49 yards to get Kansas City in excellent field position for the winning score.
2016: Steelers win AFC North
The NFL played its first Christmas Day games since 2011 and the Pittsburgh-Baltimore matchup was one for the ages. Trailing 17-10 heading into the fourth quarter, the Steelers scored three touchdowns in the final period. The last was a four-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with nine seconds left. The win clinched the AFC North for Pittsburgh.
1984: Bernard King goes off
In front of a Madison Square Garden crowd, King torched the New Jersey Nets for a Christmas Day-record 60 points. His New York Knicks still lost, 120-114.
Knicks-Celtics 1985
In a memorable matchup, the Knicks took on Larry Bird’s Celtics in Patrick Ewing’s rookie year. By the third quarter, the Knicks trailed by 25. Ewing came alive and brought the Knicks back to even at the end of the fourth quarter, and hit a game-winning shot in overtime. Ewing scored 32, topping all scorers.
2004: Kobe faces Shaq
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal three-peated as world champions when they played on the Lakers together. In July 2004, the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Miami Heat and the NBA scheduled their first meeting for Christmas. The game lived up to its hype, as Bryant scored 42 points and drew O’Neal’s fifth and sixth fouls, sending Shaq to the bench with the two teams tied 91-91. The game went into overtime where Dwayne Wade led the Heat to a 104-102 win. Bryant missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Phil Jackson: 1K
The defending champion Boston Celtics were riding a 19-game winning streak in 2008 and faced the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since defeating them in the NBA Finals. Four Lakers scored in double digits and beat the Celtics 92-83. The win was Lakers head coach Phil Jackson’s 1,000th of his career.
2010: LeBron triple-double
LeBron James tallied 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double in his first Christmas Day game with Miami, a 96-80 victory over the Lakers. James became the fourth player to notch a triple-double on Christmas, joining Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek and Billy Cunningham. Russell Westbrook joined the list in 2013 and Draymond Green did so in 2017.
Soccer 1914
The Christmas truce match was a friendly game of soccer between German and British troops at the height of World War I. It reportedly was the Germans who had the idea to wish their British counterparts a Merry Christmas and have a day of peace after trucking in Christmas trees and holiday goods to the front lines. Eventually, the sides began mingling with each other and began kicking around a soccer ball. Legend has it, the British troops defeated the Germans 3-2.
Christmas hockey ends
Beginning in the 1920s and lasting until 1971, there was an NHL game played every Christmas Day. The NHL ended the tradition to give its players a holiday break. On the final Christmas that games were played, there were six, and the last goal scored was by Stan Gilbertson, as his California Golden Seals defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1.
1989: R.I.P. Billy Martin
Yankee legend and on-and-off manager Billy Martin lost his life in a car accident on Christmas in 1989. Martin was still a special consultant to Steinbrenner when he was killed in a low speed single-vehicle accident. His vehicle ran into a drainage culvert near the entrance of the driveway to his farm in Port Crane, north of Binghamton, NY.
