In David Stern’s league, nobody balls on Christmas Eve. But a number of the NBA’s merry gentlemen won’t be resting on Christmas Day, as 10 teams will do battle during a TV quintuple-header on three of the pro hoop circuit’s national carriers.

If the Blue-Gray college football All-Star game has been relegated like so much coal in the stocking, the NBA will let you and your kids open the presents under the tree before providing more than 12 hours of action courtesy of ESPN, ABC and TNT.

First up: the spirits of seasons future will appear on ESPN in the form of the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul and the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard at noon.

Tipping at 2:30 p.m., ABC will conjure the spirits of seasons past with the Big Shactus, Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns taking on their playoff nemesis, the San An...Read More

You have to wear a 10-gallon hat and spurs when rooting for the Dallas Cowboys to think Terrell Owens isn’t a jerk. Truly a talent, TO’s tantrums and self-indulgence make it tough to give the man his due as a member of pro pigskin’s on-field pantheon.

But, in this instance, I’m here to praise not bury the Dallas wideout.

How many Dallas detesters wouldn’t want to emulate what the Terrible One did when, as a member of the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 24, 2000, he celebrated a pair of TDs by running to midfield and stomping on the ‘Boys famed star logo at Texas Stadium. Okay, we could live without George Teague’s hit on the second.

Yes, barri...Read More

Riding impressive streaks, the Boston Celtics and San Jose Sharks have dunked and skated their way to the best records in the NBA and NHL, respectively. And the Nielsens, for the most part, have followed in tow with the clubs’ white-hot beginnings to their 2008-09 seasons.

On Dec. 17, the Sharks suffered just their second loss in 14 games when they wound up on the wrong end of a 2-1 OTer in Ohio against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with their record dipping to 25-3-3. Before that contest, San Jose had surpassed the 1929-30 Boston Bruins for the best 30-game start ever in pro pucks.

Through their first 25 games on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Sharks contests have averaged a 1.26 household rating, a 40% rise from the same stage of last season, when San Jose scored a 0.93 mark overall, according to Nielsen Media Resea...Read More

This was when baseball and boxing topped the sports world. Prior to the establishment of our Sunday afternoon rituals on couch and tavern. Long before the league generated millions and then billions in rights fees, which later came due in the form of millions and then billions in license fees.

This goes back just under a half-century to Dec. 28, 1958 at (the old) Yankee Stadium (RIP), where the New York Giants (their warm-up jackets sported the interlocking NY) hosted the Baltimore Colts in what would become known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

The 9 p.m. lead-out from the Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec. 13, ESPN's documentary spliced archival and coaches’ film from both camps, with Bob Wolff's radio call dubbed in, to capture most (perhaps the upcoming DVD includes all the plays) of the action.

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I guess a lot of people were watching the San Diego-Oakland game in 3D in theaters Dec. 4 because the match-up drew an all-time low for an NFL Network pro pigskin contest.

Only 1.9 million checked out that battle of non-playoff participants, even as the disappointing Chargers still talk about having Norv Turner at the helm next season.

That 34-7 clunker pulled NFL Network’s average for its first five games down to 3.3 million viewers. Last season, the league’s in-house service averaged 4.6 million for its eight primetime affairs, a total lifted by the10.1 million who watched the Dallas Cowboys top the Green Bay Packers, when both clubs hel...Read More

You know the scene from Titanic: Jack Dawson and Fabrizio on the boat’s bow, with Leo character’s declaring himself king of the world.

At Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, three longtime Knicks fans, ennobled by the plastic cups and the amber liquid they held in lieu of scepters, pontificated as if they were the kings of the basketball world, while watching the orange and blue give the Portland Trail Blazers a real tussle.

Naturally, the triumvirate’s conversation turned to basketball royalty: King James and what it would be like for His Majesty to lead the Knicks.

But before we got too giddy, one noble reminded what James and his courtiers did to Mike D’Antoni’s squad at MSG the week before: “They put the hammer down. They let LeBron know what it might be like to play for the Knicks,...Read More

Very difficult matchup for ESPN’s Monday Night Football tonight.

Not only does the Jacksonville Jaguars-Houston Texans game from Reliant Stadium hold zero playoff implications, it goes up against MNF’s toughest comparison from the 2007 season: New England’s 27-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens was the equivalent Week 13 contest a year ago.

The Dec. 3, 2007 game, if you’ll remember, attracted 17.5 million viewers as the Pats kept their undefeated regular season intact in the last minute. That average was the largest live audience ever for a cable program to the point. Today, it ranks third overall behind the live+ seven-day total for the premiere of Disney Channel telefilm High School Musical 2, and this year&...Read More