Events in Sport
- Dec 3 48th Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 23-20 in Birmingham
- Dec 3 49th Heisman Trophy Award: Mike Rozier, Nebraska (RB)
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Dec 10 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova wins 8th career Grand Slam singles event; beats Kathy Jordan of the US 6-2, 7-6
- Dec 10 Last NFL game at Shea Stadium; Steelers beat NY Jets 34-7
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Dec 11 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Mats Wilander of Sweden wins 2nd career Grand Slam title; beats Ivan Lendl 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Sports History
Dec 16 Yogi Berra named New York Yankees manager for 2nd time
Sports History
Dec 17 In his 352nd NHL game, Wayne Gretzky scores a goal & 5 assists in 8-1 rout of Quebec Nordiques to record his 800th point and 500th assist; averages 2.27 points, 1.42 assists, 0.85 goals per game to start career
Sports History
Dec 20 Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens, becomes 10th NHLer to score 500 goals
- Dec 20 NY Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pitts Penguins
- Dec 21 NCAA rules rescinded last 2-minute men's basketball free throw rule
- Dec 22 Indiana Pacers win, 133-132 in Denver to end a 28 NBA game losing streak on the road
- Dec 22 NHL NY Islanders score 3 shorthanded goals against Washington Capitols
- Dec 26 Test Cricket debut of Gregory Richard John Matthews, v Pakistan at the MCG
Ballon d'Or
Dec 27 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini claims first of 3 trophies for Europe's best football player ahead of Liverpool midfielder Kenny Dalgleish and Vejle BK striker Allan Simonsen
Sports History
Dec 29 Indian cricket opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar scores an unbeaten 236 in drawn 6th Test v West Indies at Chennai; his 4th Test double century and 30th century, surpassing Don Bradman's record of 29
Birthdays in Sport
Aaron Rodgers (39 years old)
Dec 2 American NFL quarterback (NFL MVP 2011, 14; Super Bowl MVP 2010; Green Bay Packers), born in Chico, California
- Dec 2 Chris Burke, Scottish soccer winger (7 caps; Rangers F.C., Kilmarnock), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Dec 3 Stephen Donald, New Zealand rugby union fly-half/centre (25 caps; Chiefs, Bath), born in Papakura, New Zealand
- Dec 8 Liu Song, Chinese snooker player, born in Beijing, China
- Dec 8 Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver, born in Rorschach, Switzerland
- Dec 9 Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer, born in Kostrzyn, Poland
- Dec 9 Jermaine Beckford, English footballer, born in London, England
- Dec 10 Habib Mohamed, Ghanaian footballer
- Dec 10 Zé Kalanga, Angolan footballer
- Dec 13 Otylia Jędrzejczak, Polish swimmer (Olympic gold 2004), born in Ruda Śląska, Śląskie, Poland
- Dec 15 Wang Hao, Chinese table tennis player (World C'ship gold 2009; Olympic silver, 2004, 08, 12), born in Changchun, Jilin Province, China
- Dec 16 Kelenna Azubuike, English basketball player
- Dec 19 Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
- Dec 20 Darren Sammy, St. Lucian West Indies cricketer, born in Micoud Quarter, Saint Lucia
- Dec 23 Hanley Ramírez, Dominican baseball player, born in Samaná, Dominican Republic
- Dec 23 Michael Chopra, English footballer, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Dec 27 Cole Hamels, American baseball player
Weddings in Sport
Hulk Hogan
Dec 18 Wrestler Hulk Hogan (30) weds Linda Claridge
Deaths in Sport
- Dec 2 Atholl Mckinnon, South African cricket spin bowler (8 Tests, 26 wickets), dies from a heart attack at 51
- Dec 3 Al Watrous, American golfer (British Open 1926 runner-up), dies at 84
- Dec 4 Bruce Drake, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Oklahoma 1938-55, 200-181), dies at 77
- Dec 17 Erik Christensen, NHL player
Jimmy Demaret (1910-1983)
Dec 28 American golfer (US Masters 1940, 47, 50), dies of a heart attack at 73
- Dec 31 Bill Hunt, cricketer (Test for Aust, out 0, took 0-25 & 0-14), dies
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions