For the last two weeks, the sports-media cognoscenti have gotten themselves all worked up about the NBA's TV ratings, divining disaster from a few desultory sniffs through the early-season results. For some,

Traditionally, the National Football League has stepped aside and let the National Basketball Association have the honors of filling up Christmas Day with nonstop basketball action. However, after Christmas fell on a Sunday last year, and the NFL stuck to airing games on their normal day, they had a thought…