January 1980 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Australian Men's Tennis Open

Jan 2 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Guillermo Vilas retains title for 4th and last Grand Slam win; beats American John Sadri 7-6, 6-3, 6-2

Jan 6 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston Oilers, 27-13
Jan 6 NFC Championship, Tampa Stadium: Los Angeles Rams beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 9-0
Jan 6 Phil Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat
Jan 7 Minnesota ends Philadelphia Flyers' NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak ends
Jan 8 Islander Glenn Resch's 20th shut-out opponent-Canucks 3-0
Jan 8 NCAA decides to sponsor women's championships in 5 sports

Sports History

Jan 12 Björn Borg of Sweden wins his first of 2 season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles outclassing American Vitas Gerulaitis 6–2, 6–2 at Madison Square Garden, NYC

Jan 12 Phoenix point guard Mike Bratz begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games during a 107-96 loss at the Golden State Warriors

Olympic Games

Jan 20 President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow

Jan 20 Super Bowl XIV, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
Jan 21 Les Henson, Virginia Tech, makes 89' 3" basketball field goal
Jan 22 West Indies beat England 2-0 to win cricket's 1st World Series Cup
Jan 25 Dutch government demands boycott of Olympics
Jan 26 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
Jan 27 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 37-27; MVP: Chuck Muncie, New Orleans Saints, RB
Jan 28 New York coach Red Holzman wins his 600th NBA game, only the second (after Red Auerbach) coach at the time to reach the plateau, as the Knicks beat Golden State, 107-103
Jan 29 Cleveland Cavaliers beat LA Lakers 154-153 in quadruple OT

Birthdays in Sport

Jan 2 Mac Danzig, American mixed martial artist (The Ultimate Fighter 6 lightweight 2007), born in Cleveland, Ohio
Jan 3 Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey hall of fame defenseman (Olympics gold 1998; Chairperson IOC Athletes' Commission 2016-18), born in Panorama City, California
Jan 3 Bryan Clay, American decathlete (Olympic gold 2008; World C'ship gold 2005), born in Austin, Texas
Jan 3 David Tyree, American NFL wide receiver and executive (Pro Bowl 2005; Super Bowl 2007; NY Giants), born in Livingston, New Jersey
Jan 4 Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer, born in Lisbon, Portugal
Jan 4 Yaroslav Popovych, Ukrainian cyclist, born in Drohobych, Ukraine
Jan 6 Steed Malbranque, French footballer, born in Mouscron, Belgium

Sergio García (43 years old)

Jan 9 Spanish golfer (US Masters 2017), born in Borriol, Castellón

Jan 10 Matt Roney, American baseball player, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 11 Mike Williams, American football player, born in South Carolina, United States
Jan 12 Bobby Crosby, American baseball player, born in Lakewood, California
Jan 13 Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
Jan 13 Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
Jan 13 Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
Jan 14 Byron Leftwich, American football player, born in Washington, D.C.
Jan 14 Clive Clarke, Irish footballer, born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Jan 14 Cory Gibbs, American soccer defender (19 caps; FC St.Pauli, Feyenoord, Colorado Rapids, NE Revolution, Chicago Fire), born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Jan 14 Ossama Haidar, Lebanese soccer player
Jan 15 Matt Holliday, American baseball player, born in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Albert Pujols (43 years old)

Jan 16 Dominican baseball 1st baseman (NL MVP 2005, 2008-09; 4th in history to 700 HRs; St. Louis Cardinals), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Jan 16 Seydou Keita, Malian footballer, born in Bamako, Mali
Jan 18 Julius Peppers, American football player (Carolina Panthers), born in Wilson, North Carolina
Jan 18 Robert Green, English footballer, born in Chertsey, United Kingdom
Jan 19 Jenson Button, English auto racer (World Formula 1 Drivers Champion 2009; Super GT 2018), born in Frome, England
Jan 20 Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka, born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jan 20 Federico Martín Aramburú, Argentine rugby union winger (22 Tests; 11 competitions Argentina Sevens; Biarritz Olympique, Perpignan, Glasgow Warriors), born in La Plata, Argentina (d. 2022)
Jan 21 Aubrie Rippner, tennis star (1995 USTA National Girls 18), born in Los Angeles, California
Jan 21 Dave Kitson, English footballer
Jan 22 Jake Grove, American NFL football player, 2004-10 (Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins), born in Johnson City, Tennessee
Jan 22 Jonathan Woodgate, English footballer, born in Nunthorpe, United Kingdom
Jan 23 Theresa Kulikowski, American gymnast (World-bronze-95, Olympics 1996), born in Tacoma, Washington
Jan 24 Rocky Boiman, American football player, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 25 Efstathios Tavlaridis, Greek footballer, born in Serres, Greece

Xavi (43 years old)

Jan 25 Spanish footballer, born in Terrassa, Spain

Jan 27 Marat Safin, Russian tennis player (US Open 2000, Australian Open 2005), born in Moscow, Russia
Jan 29 Ivan Klasnić, Croatian soccer striker (41 caps; FC St. Pauli, Werder Bremen, Nantes, Bolton Wanderers), born in Hamburg, Germany
Jan 30 Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer, born in Sergipe, Brazil

Weddings in Sport

Samuel L. Jackson

Jan 14 Actor Samuel L. Jackson (31) weds sports channel producer LaTanya Richardson (30)

Deaths in Sport

Jan 1 Frank Wykoff, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1928, 32, 36), dies at 70
Jan 3 Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (Tour de France 1926), dies at 87
Jan 7 Simonne Mathieu, French tennis player (French C'ships 1938-39; 11 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 71
Jan 10 Bo Rein, American college football coach (b. 1945)
Jan 12 Hans Ebeling, cricketer (Vict stalwart, bowled for Aust 1934), dies
Jan 31 Jacobus Petrus Duminy, South African cricket batsman (3 Tests; Western Province, Transvaal, Oxford University CC) and academic (principal & vice-chancellor University of Cape Town), dies at 82