Events in Sport
- Jan 1 49th Rose Bowl: #1 Southern California beats #2 Wisconsin, 42-37
- Jan 1 29th Sugar Bowl: #3 Mississippi beats #6 Arkansas, 17-13
- Jan 1 29th Orange Bowl: #5 Alabama beats #8 Oklahoma, 17-0
Event of Interest
Jan 7 The rift between Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell and head coach Paul Brown reaches a boiling point, and Brown is fired
Paul Brown
- Jan 13 2nd AFL All Star Game, Balboa Stadium, SD: Western Division beats Eastern Division, 21-14; MVPs: Curtis McClinton, Dallas Texans, RB; Earl Faison, LA Chargers, DE
NFL Pro Bowl
Jan 13 13th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 30-20; MVPs: Jim Brown, Cleveland Browns, RB; Eugene Lipscomb, Pittsburgh Steelers, DT
Jim Brown
NBA All-Star Game
Jan 16 13th NBA All-Star Game, LA Memorial Sports Arena: East beats West, 115-108; MVP: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, C
Bill Russell
Event of Interest
Jan 17 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA SF Warriors scores 67 points vs LA
Wilt Chamberlain
- Jan 19 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Margaret Court beats Jan Lehane O'Neill for 4th consecutive year 6-2, 6-2
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 19 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson wins 1st of 5 straight Australian titles; beats countryman Ken Fletcher 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
Roy Emerson
Hall of Fame
Jan 29 Jim Thorpe, Red Grange & George Halas elected to football Hall of Fame
Birthdays in Sport
- Jan 1 Lina Kačiušytė, Lithuanian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1980; WR 1979 2:28.36), born in Vilnius, Lithuania
- Jan 2 David Cone, American baseball pitcher (perfect game 1999; AL Cy Young Award 1994; 5 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1992, 96, 98–2000), born in Kansas City, Missouri
- Jan 2 Edgar Martínez, American Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman and DH (7 × MLB All-Star; 5 × Silver Slugger Award; AL batting champion 1992, 95; Seattle Mariners), born in NYC, New York
- Jan 3 Aamer Malik, Pakistani cricket batsman (14 Tests, 2x100s 1989; 24 ODIs), born in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan
- Jan 3 Jim Everett, American NFL quarterback (Pro Bowl 1990; NFL passing TD leader 1988, 89; LA Rams, New Orleans Saints), born in Emporia, Kansas
- Jan 4 Linda Muri, American rower (Olympics 1996), born in Killingly, Connecticut
- Jan 5 Jeff Fassero, American baseball pitcher (Montreal Expos), born in Springfield, Illinois
- Jan 6 Norm Charlton, American baseball pitcher (Seattle Mariners), born in Fort Polk, California
- Jan 7 Craig Shipley, Australian-American baseball infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Parramatta, Australia
- Jan 8 Hiromi Kobayashi, Japanese golfer (3 LPGA Tour titles), born in Iwaki, Fukushima
- Jan 11 Kate Gompert, Ames lA, tennis star
- Jan 11 Petra Schneider, East German swimmer (Olympic gold 400m, 400m medley Moscow), born in Chemnitz, Germany
- Jan 11 Tracy Caulkins, Winona Minn, swimmer (Olympic-3 gold-1984)
- Jan 15 Lijuan Geng, Chinese-Canadian tennis player (Olympics 1996), born in Hebei, China
- Jan 15 Richard Nasheim, Canadian-Austrian ice hockey coach and forward (Team Austria 1998), born in Regina, Canada
- Jan 15 Yaro Dachniwsky, American team handball goalie (Olympics 1996), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Jan 18 Yury Zakharevich, Soviet weightlifter, born in Tver Oblast, Russia
- Jan 19 Michael Adams, American NBA guard (Charlotte Hornets), born in Hartford, Connecticut
- Jan 20 Scott Fisher, Australian basketball forward (Olympics 1996), born in San Jose, California
- Jan 21 Detlef Schrempf, German NBA forward (Mavericks, Pacers, Supersonics)
- Jan 21 Jessie Hester, NFL wide receiver (Raiders, Falcons, Colts, Rams), born in Belle Glade, Florida
Hakeem Olajuwon
Jan 21 Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American NBA center (Houston Rockets, Olympic gold 1996), born in Lagos, Nigeria
Hakeem Olajuwon
- Jan 22 Jeff Treadway, American baseball infielder (LA Dodgers), born in Columbus, Georgia
- Jan 22 Andrei Tchmil, Ukrainian-Belgian cyclist, born in Khabarovsk, Russia
- Jan 23 Rocco Romano, Canadian CFL guard (Calgary Stampeders), born in Hamilton, Canada
- Jan 24 Martyn Grimley, English field hockey player, born in Halifax, United Kingdom
- Jan 24 Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer, born in Sittard, Netherlands
- Jan 26 Simon O'Donnell, Australian cricketer (Deniliquin NSW ODI all-rounder 1985-90), born in Deniliquin, Australia
- Jan 26 José Mourinho, Portuguese football manager (Chelsea), born in Setúbal, Lisbon
- Jan 28 Colleen Harp, WPVA volleyballer (US Open-9th-1994), born in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 28 Denise Biellmann, Swiss figure skater (Olympic 4th 1980), born in Zurich, Switzerland
Deaths in Sport
- Jan 5 Rogers Hornsby, American Baseball Hall of Fame 2nd baseman ( NL MVP 1925, 29; 7 x NL batting champion; St. Louis Cardinals, Browns, Chicago Cubs) and manager (Cardinals, Browns, Cubs), dies of a heart ailment at 66
- Jan 18 Johnnie Moyes, journalist and cricketer (S Aust batsman), dies
- Jan 25 Wilson Kettle, Nfld, dies at 102, leaving 582 living descendants
- Jan 28 Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (Tour de France 1911), dies at 78
- Jan 30 Sir Pelham Warner, English cricket batsman, tour manager and administrator (15 Tests; MCC chairman of selectors), dies at 89