December 1941 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Sports History

Dec 2 New York Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager; replaces another future Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Terry, who heads Giants' farm system

Dec 9 7th Heisman Trophy Award: Bruce Smith, Minnesota (HB)

Sports History

Dec 11 Australian state cricket associations, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales decide at meetings with new Prime Minister John Curtin to abandon all interstate first class matches for the duration of WWII

Dec 11 NY Giants acquire future Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman Johnny Mize from Cardinals for 3 players & $50,000
Dec 14 1st NFL division playoff, Bears beat Packers 33-14
Dec 21 Chicago Bears Ray McLean makes last NFL drop kick for an extra point

NFL Championship

Dec 21 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat New York Giants, 37-9; first team in NFL championship game era (since 1933) to win consecutive titles; Bears 5th title overall

Dec 22 1942 NFL Draft: Bill Dudley from University of Virginia first pick by Pittsburgh Steelers

Birthdays in Sport

Dec 2 Mike England, Welsh soccer defender and manager (44 caps, Tottenham Hotspur; mgr Wales), born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales
Dec 2 Sugar Ramos [Ultiminio Ramos], Cuban-Mexican boxer (World Featherweight champion 1963-64), born in Matanzas, Cuba (d. 2017)
Dec 4 Marty Riessen, American tennis player (9 Grand Slam doubles titles), born in Hinsdale, Illinois
Dec 4 Raul Blanco, Argentine-Australian soccer coach (Australia 1996-97), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dec 8 Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
Dec 8 Geoff Hurst, cricketer (Essex 1962, better known as soccer immortal)
Dec 10 Jeff Jones, Welsh cricket fast bowler (15 Tests England, 44 wickets), born in Dafen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Dec 12 Nikolai Osyanin, Russian soccer striker (3 caps; PFC Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, FC Spartak Moscow), born in Sobolevskoye, Russia (d. 2022)
Dec 14 Barry Hadlee, New Zealand cricket batsman (brother of Richard & Dayle; 2 ODIs NZ World Cup 1975; Canterbury), born in Christchurch, Canterbury
Dec 17 David A. Gall, Canadian thoroughbred Hall of Fame jockey (US Champion Jockey by wins 1979, 81; first to ride 8 winners on single US race card), born in Rose Valley, Saskatchewan (d. 2021)
Dec 18 Jan Kowalczyk, Polish equestrian rider (Olympics gold show jumping individual; silver team 1980), born in Drogomyśl, Poland (d. 2020)

Dec 23 Serge Reding, Belgian weightlifter, born in Auderghem, Belgium (d. 1975)
Dec 28 Intikhab Alam, Pakistan cricket leg-spinner (1959-77)
Dec 30 Mel Renfro, American football player
Dec 31 Milkha Singh, Indian cricketer (brother of Kripal Singh India batsman in 4 Tests), born in Madras, India (d. 2017)
Dec 31 Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish football manager, born in Glasgow, United Kingdom