Christmas Blessings

The magic of the holidays.

Good morning friends.

Now that’s what I call holiday cheer.

Knicks 126, Cavs 124

21-9 Overall (W1); 15-2 at home

I love Christmas. Always have.

Obviously I’m not alone in this sentiment - who doesn’t love Christmas - but as far as holidays go, much like my relationship to the Knicks in comparison to other teams I used to root for, my love for Christmas has grown over the years whereas the others have gradually faded away in importance.

I think this is partially due to my wife (it is also her favorite holiday, and her love for the Christmas season largely why we got married in December), partially due to being a dad, partially due to the Knicks, and partially due to the fact that I’m a big softie underneath my crusty exterior, and the magic of Christmas is still something I can’t fully quit. More on that shortly.

The Knicks, of course, have played more Christmas Day games than any other team. They owe that to being one of the NBA’s marquee franchises, which itself is a function of having been around since the league’s inception and playing in New York.

It is not due to always deserving to play on Christmas, as their 2-7 record on December 25 from 2002 to 2020 shows. That record indicates not only that they lost most of the games they played, but that for a majority of the years in that span, the Knicks were so bad that the league deemed them unworthy of the showcase alltogether.

Those Christmases without Knicks basketball always felt like something was missing, like having no tree or no egg nog. Even when the team was bad, I looked forward to them being on television, because, well…that’s what fandom is.

Thankfully, after a two-year hiatus, New York was back in their rightful place in 2021, and they haven’t left since. For those last four years, I had the luxury of watching the games without the stress of hosting since I was a guest either at my brother-in-law’s or my wife’s parents. This was once again an option this year, as we hosted Thanksgiving and would have been well within our right to pass Christmas off to someone else. With the game at noon, I knew full well that trying to host while watching was going to nearly impossible.

But here’s where me being a big softie (and incredibly stubborn) re-enters the picture. As many of you know, this is our first winter in a new home. I couldn’t resist doing my best Clark Griswold impersonation and hosting a fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. Griswold put up 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights. I prepared dinner for nine adults and four children while watching a basketball game. Let’s call that a draw.