5 Lamest Dates Of The Year On The Sports Calendar

(CBS) For sports fans, Wednesday night is one to spend with your loved ones, take in a movie, tickle your cultural fancy or knock off the items on your honey-do-list.

It is, simply put, one of the most boring days of the year on the sports calendar. With that in mind, we take a look at five of the lamest days on the year for sports fans, the guideline being the dearth of events and the lack of significance of those being played.

Pro Bowl Sunday in late January, a week before Super Bowl

After three glorious weeks of postseason football, the only pigskin action we can consume is the awful Pro Bowl. This also typically marks the day after the NHL All-Star Game, so no hockey is being played. The NBA can offer up a Sunday afternoon showcase game, but that and some leftover college basketball is about all there is to choose from.

Friday before the NBA All-Star Game in mid-February

The final NBA game(s) played before the All-Star Game come on Thursday night, so there' no professional basketball to consume here. Friday night also rarely offers much on the college basketball schedule. On top of that, MLB teams are still about a week away from reporting for spring training. This makes for the perfect date night for Valentine's Day.

Wednesday after the MLB All-Star Game in mid-July

This is the prohibitive favorite for the worst day on the entire sports calendar. There are no MLB games, while the NFL, NBA and NHL are in their offseasons, with most of the free agency madness done already. Golf tournaments aren't contested on Wednesdays, and Wimbledon has just concluded, so there's no tennis of significance being played. The highest-level soccer leagues also aren't conducting their seasons.

First Thursday in August

Yes, this is quite a random date to pick, but early August still contains no NBA, no NHL and no college sports yet. NFL teams have reported to training camp, but preseason games haven't started yet in earnest. And what else do Thursdays mean? It's an off-day for some MLB teams, while many of the other dog-days-of-summer matchups are contested in the afternoon because it's getaway day. It provides little by way of primetime viewing.

Christmas Eve when there are no NFL games on 

Even though we understand this is an evening to spend with your family, we could all use a good game on in the background. Unfortunately, this night sometimes provides little. The menu usually only consists of a bad college football bowl game or two -- it's the Hawaii Bowl and nothing else in 2016 -- and some lower-profile holiday tournament college basketball.

The only saving grace here is that Christmas Eve has a fair chance to fall on a Thursday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday and offer us an NFL game or full slate of games in some form. In 2016, 28 of the 32 NFL teams will play on Christmas Eve when it falls on a Saturday, so it's a great day this year. Other years, not so much -- in 2015, we were treated to a Chargers-Raiders game.