Playing on Christmas Day: The price of big money
Kobe Bryant was the first to complain publicly. He probably wasn't the first athlete to mention it to anyone, but he appears to be the first professional basketball player to be quoted in print.
"It's part of the game," Bryant told the Los Angeles Times, diplomatically. "But after awhile, it would be nice to spend a Christmas with family. We've been fortunate that most of our Christmas Day games have been at home, but we've played for five or six Christmas Days in a row. It would be appreciated if other teams participated in the Christmas Day games, though."
"It's part of the game...But after awhile, it would be nice to spend a Christmas with family...It would be appreciated if other teams participated in the Christmas Day games..."
Playing professional sports on Christmas Day has long been a point of contention for Christian athletes. Still, most of them get the point. On the one hand, December 25 is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, it's the 21st century and the public wants something to do on Christmas Day.
Now, to be fair, there are usually only two major professional sporting events and another international amateur event that takes athletes away from their homes on Christmas Day.
This year, there are five NBA games on Christmas Day: Chicago is at Brooklyn, Oklahoma City plays at New York, Miami travels to Los Angeles to play the Lakers, Houston is at San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers play the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California.
The NFL has a year off. There are no NFL games scheduled on Christmas Day this season, although a Christmas Day game is often part of the schedule. The NHL stopped its annual Boxing Day games with its latest collective bargaining agreement. This year, players have three days off at Christmas.
Meanwhile, Canada's national junior men's hockey team will be in Malmo, Sweden, for the start of the IIHF World Junior Championship on December 26. Although there won't be a game on Christmas Day, you can bet there will be a practice.
For a Christian athlete like Jeremy Lin of the Houston Rockets, playing on Christmas Day is just part of the business. It's also another opportunity to play for the glory of God.
"I was once cut on Christmas Eve," Lin says. "I might have a different perspective, but I welcome the opportunity to play in the NBA on any day. I'm secure enough in my faith that I'll do what I need to on Christmas Day and I will play the game. Would I like it to be different? Yes. But that doesn't mean I won't do what I love to do. God gave me a gift. I won't squander it."
For the young men on Canada's national junior team, playing in the World Junior Championship, no matter where or when it is, trumps just about everything. The fact that Hockey Canada does everything it can to have the players' families on the road, takes much of the burden away.
"Every high level athlete understands that along with international fame and the opportunity to earn a big paycheque, comes a hectic work schedule," says Hockey Canada president, Bob Nicholson. "The World Junior Championship has always been a Christmas-time event and we do whatever we can to make the players as comfortable as possible over the Christmas season. We understand, but we also know these players want to be here. It's just part of the game."
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