With nine NHL games, three NBA games, an NFL game and an MLB playoff game — made possible by the Chicago Cubs’ victory in Game 4 of the NLCS on Wednesday — Thursday is your (first) sports equinox of 2017.
What’s a sports equinox? As my former colleague Reuben Fischer-Baum wrote on a couple of occasions, it’s when all four major U.S. sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — play at least one game on the same day. Historically speaking, it doesn’t happen often. There have only been 17 sports equinoxes in history, including Thursday:
Another sports equinox is in the books
Dates on which all four major U.S. sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL) had at least one game
| NUMBER OF GAMES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DATE | DAY | MLB | NFL | NBA | NHL |
| Oct. 17, 1971 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 7) | 12 | 3 | 6 |
| Oct. 15, 1972 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 2) | 12 | 3 | 6 |
| Oct. 22, 1972 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 7) | 12 | 3 | 5 |
| Oct. 14, 1973 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 2) | 12 | 3 | 5 |
| Oct. 21, 1973 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 7) | 12 | 3 | 5 |
| Oct. 15, 1978 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 5) | 13 | 5 | 5 |
| Oct. 14, 1979 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 5) | 13 | 3 | 7 |
| Oct. 12, 1980 | Sun | 1 (NLCS Game 5) | 13 | 4 | 8 |
| Oct. 19, 1980 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 5) | 13 | 3 | 6 |
| Oct. 27, 1985 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 7) | 13 | 1 | 5 |
| Nov. 4, 2001 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 7) | 13 | 7 | 4 |
| Nov. 1, 2009 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 4) | 12 | 7 | 4 |
| Nov. 2, 2009 | Mon | 1 (WS Game 5) | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Nov. 1, 2010 | Mon | 1 (WS Game 5) | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Nov. 1, 2015 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 5) | 12 | 7 | 5 |
| Oct. 30, 2016 | Sun | 1 (WS Game 5) | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Oct. 19, 2017 | Thu | 1 (NLCS Game 5) | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Amazingly, there was a 15-year period without a single sports equinox, between 1985 and 2001. And after 2001, seven more years passed without it happening. But sports equinoxes have occurred much more frequently in recent years — six have happened in the nine years since 2008. They might become even more common in the future, thanks to Thursday-night NFL becoming a fixture, the World Series often running later than usual, and a new NBA scheduling policy this season that moved the season’s opening night up by a week and a half.
If the Cubs can force Game 7 in the NLCS, Sunday will be another sports equinox. As will Oct. 29, if Game 5 of the World Series takes place. But even if those do happen, Thursday’s equinox will be the only one this season with the added bonus of college football — there are two FBS games tonight, including No. 25-ranked Memphis at Houston (A “Super Equinox”?). Good luck finding enough screens to watch it all!