One of the most recent traditions of the holiday season is the Winter Classic, an NHL game played outdoors at a baseball or football stadium, on New Year’s Day. The game is something of a showcase for the sport, airing on NBC (and kicking off that network’s coverage of the season) and usually featuring two prominent teams.  This year, it’s the Rangers (undoubtedly the dominant team in the New York area) and the Sabres (alas, the worst team in the Eastern Conference). The game will never get the sort of ratings that the New Year’s Day college bowl games do – and ironically, the game is facing off against a bowl with Notre Dame, whose home games are usually on NBC – but the Winter Classic still manages to bring extra attention to a sport that always needs a boost in the US.

I thought about getting tickets to this year’s game, since I live near Citi Field, but the prices are too high.  Which, given the bone-chilling cold forecast for Monday, is probably just as well.

Topics for discussion could include:

• The last weekend of the NFL season is upon us.  What will the refs get wrong this time?
• Christmas basketball lives up to its hype, for the most part.  What did the refs get wrong this time?
• Big name baseball free agents are still sitting by the phones, but the GMs aren’t calling?  When will Jake Arietta find a job?
• At long last, the FBS college football playoff is upon us.
• The Browns close in on 0-16!

As ever, other topics are encouraged.