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Southern at Lisbon
8th Grade: Southern won 54-23 Monday. Southern, Katie Kellogg 26 points, Kalayah Crute 16; Lisbon, Gracyn Owens 9.
Time for football on Christmas
(AP) -- Like it or not, LeBron James and the NBA are going to have to make room for the NFL no matter what day of the week Christmas Day falls.
Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history while the NBA had its best holiday numbers in five years according to Nielsen. The NFL and Nielsen said 65 million U.S. viewers tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two NFL games.
The Baltimore Ravens' 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million while Kansas City's 29-10 win at Pittsburgh averaged 24.1 according to early viewer figures released by Nielsen on Thursday.
The NBA's five-game slate averaged about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, according to the league and Nielsen.
"I love the NFL," James said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. "But Christmas is our day."
However, Wednesday's ratings showed that there is room for both. Even though the NBA had the sports calendar to itself on Dec. 25 for many years, the NFL has made Christmas one of its tentpole events during the regular season, joining Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving.
Sirianni, Ertz clear the air
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz cleared the air after they exchanged words following Washington's comeback win over Philadelphia on Sunday.
Videos show Ertz gave Sirianni a high-five as they were headed in opposite directions. Sirianni turned to say something to Ertz, who then turned around and walked back toward his former coach.
Sirianni called Ertz this week to apologize, according to an ESPN report.
"I'll just keep my conversations with any guys private," Sirianni said Thursday. "I've got a lot of respect for Zach. Great football player, great person to be around. I've really got a lot of respect for Zach, and all the good things that he's done, and my relationship with him."
Ertz spent his first eight-plus seasons with the Eagles, catching the go-ahead touchdown pass from Nick Foles in the franchise's only Super Bowl victory. He was traded to Arizona during the 2021 season after playing six games under Sirianni.
"Nick and I had a great relationship when I was there, and we still have a great relationship. It's definitely been blown way out of proportion," Ertz told reporters. "We spoke. We're good. There's no ill feelings on my part, and I don't think there are any ill feelings on his part."