10 Best Sporting Events Winter Has to Offer
Winter can be a cold, bleak and depressing time of year. Luckily, there are sports galore to warm fans' spirits.
In honor of the winter holiday season, the following is a collection of the best sporting events winter has to offer. To make things simple, winter here means December through February, and sporting events mean games, tournaments or official team-sanctioned training. (OK, that last one is just so spring training can be included.)
A lot of sports go down in the wintertime, but these are fun to watch, include exciting storylines and have special qualities that make them great.
Stay cozy by the TV with these events this winter, and happy holidays.
Australian Open
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As the first tennis Grand Slam each year, the Australian Open offers special appeal. It is the first chance for fans to see how the big names will fare and if struggling players will bounce back.
The 2016 edition will feature several such storylines. For instance, how will Serena Williams perform after the shocking U.S. Open defeat that ended her season? Will Rafael Nadal start the season with a bang after struggling through much of 2015? Will Novak Djokovic continue his incredible dominance?
Find out in January.
Winter X Games
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Winter sports were first introduced into the X Games in 1997. Since then, the annual winter edition has dazzled fans of all that is edgy and extreme.
The Winter X Games include sports such as skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, and they feature some of the most adventurous and talented athletes in the world. Heroes like Shaun White helped solidify greatness there, and newcomers like Chloe Kim have emerged there.
The 15th anniversary will take place Jan. 28-31 in Aspen, Colorado.
NBA Christmas Day Games
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Like Thanksgiving Day NFL Games, Christmas Day NBA games give folks compelling sports to watch as they nurse that holiday food coma.
One thing that makes these games so watchable each year is the care taken by the NBA to schedule the most enticing matchups. For instance, LeBron James made his return to Miami on Dec. 25, 2014.
The highlight of the 2015 schedule is the Finals rematch, pitting the defending champion Golden State Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beyond that, other matchups include interstate rivalry games such as the San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets and the battle of Los Angeles between the Clippers and Lakers.
Daytona 500
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The Daytona 500 is one of NASCAR's premier events, making the fact that it kicks off the season even more enticing. Each February, it signals the end of a three-month offseason and provides anticipation worthy of its nickname: the "Super Bowl of stock car racing." The huge purse helps, too.
In 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the event for the second time, and Joey Logano took home the checkered flag in 2015.
UEFA Champions League Round of 16
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Qualifying and group play in the Champions League happen in the summer and fall, but winter is when competition really starts to heat up. By February, the knockout-phase teams have been determined, and round-of-16 play begins.
There was no shortage of drama leading up to this stage in the 2015-16 season. Chelsea, who has struggled to the point of sacking manager Jose Mourinho, advanced, while Manchester United failed to do so.
There are several big-time matchups on the docket, including a pair of heavyweight battles between league champions. Bundesliga's Bayern Munich will take on Juventus of Serie A, and Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1 will face defending Premier League champion Chelsea.
Spring Training
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The majority of MLB spring training takes place in March (hence its name), but pitchers and catchers generally report in February, and the first 2016 games will also happen at the tail end of winter.
February signals the beginning of baseball for diehard fans who think three months of offseason is too much. Young players and veterans alike vie for roster spots, offseason acquisitions get used to their new teams, and predictions for the upcoming season abound.
Spring training is the true start to the baseball season, and it makes those agonizing last few days of winter more bearable.
College Football Bowl Games
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One could argue there are too many bowl games these days, but it's still awesome to enjoy weeks of college football postseason action every year.
Bowl games started on Dec. 19 in 2015, meaning fans can go the entire extended holiday season without having to live without sports.
Of course, the most highly anticipated matchups start on New Year's Eve with the first round of College Football Playoff games. That leads right into New Year's Day, which will offer classics like the Rose Bowl for fans' viewing pleasure.
This year's "Granddaddy" in Pasadena will feature Pac-12 champion Stanford versus a gritty Iowa team that came within one outstretched arm of going to the CFP themselves.
NHL Winter Classic
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The NHL held its first outdoor game in 2003—the Heritage Classic in Edmonton, Alberta. A few years later, the inaugural Winter Classic happened at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York, and a great hockey tradition was born.
What makes this event great is its throwback quality, reminiscent of hockey's great outdoor past. NHL chief operating officer John Collins said the snow "clearly romanticized the event and gave it a snow-globe effect," per Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Collins went on: "It was incredibly compelling—a phenomenal celebration of hockey."
The 2016 edition of the annual event is scheduled to take place Jan. 1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and will feature the Boston Bruins vs. Original Six rival Montreal Canadiens.
Super Bowl
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The entirety of the NFL postseason occurs in winter, and it's all awesome. That said, the culminating event is obviously the Super Bowl.
Features like the legendary commercials and halftime show ensure the Super Bowl is always an event of spectacular proportions, but when fans are especially lucky, they get a good game, too.
Super Bowl XLIX provided that, pitting the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks. The game was close most of the way and essentially ended on an unbelievable goal-line interception by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler.
According to Dominic Patten of Deadline, 114.5 million people watched the game, making it the highest-rated Super Bowl of all time.
Plus, Super Bowl parties.
Winter Olympics
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This one probably goes without saying, but every four years, sports fans of the world are treated to a truly extraordinary occurrence. The Olympic Games are special for their rich history, excitement and rarity.
Olympic talk dominates sports news for months (or more) leading up to and following the Games. In 2014, the Sochi Games provided no shortage of intrigue outside the field of competition. From gay rights protests to questionable athlete living conditions, interesting storylines were abundant.
The competition itself was even better. Canada swept the hockey tournaments, taking gold in the men's and women's competitions for the second Olympics in a row. Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya dazzled the home crowd. American men took gold, silver and bronze in the slopestyle skiing event.
The 2018 Games in Pyeongchang can't come soon enough.
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