SPORTSCLOPEDIA 4: MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS DAY MOMENTS IN SPORTS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 25 Dec 2022
Merry Christmas from me and my wife Chona and children Mallory-Luz, Marton and Marlon! Let's have a sporty Christmas now. Here are the some memorable sports moments which happened on Christmas Day December 25.
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1914: Christmas Truce Football Match of World War I
The Christmas truce match was a friendly game of soccer-football between German and British troops at the climax of World War I. It was made into a movie in 2014 entitled Joyeux Noel. As told, it was the German soldiers who offered their British counterparts a Merry Christmas and established a day of peace after sending Christmas trees and holiday goods. The two warring sides began blending together and started playing a soccer ball. It was reported that the British troops defeated the Germans 3-2. Captain Clifton Inglis Stockwell commented on the friendly Christmas game: “It was one of the most curious Christmas Days we are ever likely to see.”
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1984: Bernard King scores 60 points
In front of the homecourt Madison Square Garden crowd, King attacked the New Jersey Nets defense scoring a Christmas Day record of 60 points. But his team New York Knicks still lost 120-114, but his scoring spree in that game was memorable. King went on to win the scoring title that season and this Christmas Day achievement was his highest point output of the season.
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1933: Frank Klick upsets Kid Chocolate for the Junior Lightweight Title
Boxing matches were used to be fought on Christmas Day and the biggest title match featured Eligio Sardinias, aka Kid Chocolate, considered by many boxing fans as one of the 50 best fighters of all time. He held the junior lightweight title since 1931 and was favored to beat the slow puncher Klick. Some 5,000 fans in the Philadelphia Arena were astonished when Klick stopped the lethargic Kid Chocolate in the seventh round to seize the title.
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2008: Phil Jackson achieves 1,000th win
The NBA has always made it a tradition of matching powerhouse teams on Christmas Day and it usually includes a rematch of the protagonists of the previous season's Finals. It happened in 2008 when the defending champion Boston Celtics who were on a 19-game winning streak played the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since beating them in the recently concluded NBA Finals. During this game, four Lakers poured in double digit points and defeated the Celtics 92-83. The victory was Lakers head coach Phil Jackson’s 1,000th win of his career.
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2004: Kobe and Shaq clash for first time
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were teammates when the Lakers three-peated as world champions. They also had a rivalry within the team. In July 2004, the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Miami Heat and the NBA scheduled their first game as opponents in Christmas. The game expectedly was exciting, as Bryant scored 42 points and drew O’Neal’s fifth and sixth fouls, disqualifying Shaq with the scores tied at 91-91. The game went into overtime as Dwayne Wade led the Heat offense en route to a 104-102 win. Bryant missed a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
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1986: Bulls vs Knicks rivalry began
The game was a clash of two rising superstars. The Chicago Bulls, led by their soaring superstar, Michael Jordan, and the New York Knicks with its center of attraction Patrick Ewing. It was Jordan’s first Christmas Day showdown and was a thriller of a game, and Ewing and company won it, 86-85. The game was just the start of the famed Bulls and Knicks frequently facing each other on Christmas Day and establishing a classic NBA rivalry.
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2016: Cavaliers vs Warriors rematch
The match between the Cavaliers and Warriors was their first after Cleveland’s miraculous 3-1 resurgence against Golden State in the NBA Finals the past Finals. This game proved to be in the middle of the Warriors and Cavaliers clashing in the Finals for four consecutive years. The Cavaliers overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter led by the deadly offensive of Kyrie Irving, winning by a hairline 109-108 even if Kevin Durant had 36 points.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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