December 1984 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Dec 1 49th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 17-15 in Birmingham

Heisman Trophy

Dec 1 50th Heisman Trophy Award: Doug Flutie, Boston College (QB)

Dec 1 American boxer Greg Page KOs home town favourite Gerrie Coetzee in 8th round to win WBA heavyweight title in Sun City, South Africa

Sports History

Dec 1 American tennis icon Chris Evert wins her 1,000th career professional match; beats Pascale Paradis of France 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open; Evert goes on to win the event

Dec 2 Australian Test cricket spin bowler Bob Holland takes a career best 9-83 for NSW in the Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Sydney

Sports History

Dec 2 Miami quarterback Dan Marino breaks NFL single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 37th in the Dolphins' 45-34 loss to the Raiders; finishes season with 48 TD passes

Sports History

Dec 5 A's trade Rickey Henderson to Yankees for Jay Howell & Jose Rijo

Dec 5 New York Yankees trade catcher Rick Cerone to Atlanta Braves for pitcher Brian Fisher

Sports History

Dec 6 Helena Suková snaps Martina Navratilova's 74-match winning streak 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semi finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne; ends Navratilova's hopes of completing the Grand Slam

Cricket History

Dec 7 Allan Border's 1st Test Cricket match as captain (v WI Adelaide)

Dec 8 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert-Lloyd beats Helena Suková 6-7, 6-1, 6-3; continues streak of winning at least 1 major per year since 1973

Australian Men's Tennis Open

Dec 9 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Sweden's Mats Wilander wins 2nd straight Australian title; beats Kevin Curren of South Africa 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2

Sports History

Dec 9 LA Ram Eric Dickerson rushes 215 yards for season record 2,105 yards

Dec 9 PGA Seniors' Championship Men's Golf, PGA National GC: Australian Peter Thomson wins his lone Champions Tour major title by 3 strokes from Don January
Dec 18 73rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats USA in Gothenburg (4-1)

Sports History

Dec 19 Scotty Bowman wins his 691st regular season game, the most wins by any coach in NHL history

Sports History

Dec 19 Wayne Gretzky, 23, is 18th & youngest NHL-er to score 1,000 points

Dec 21 Brigham Young University (BYU) beats Michigan, 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego to remain undefeated and secure their first ever NCAA Division I-A football title
Dec 22 Test Cricket debut of Craig McDermott, v WI at the MCG

Cricket History

Dec 23 West Indies batsman Viv Richards scores 208 vs Ausatralia in test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Ballon d'Or

Dec 25 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 2nd consecutive time; beats Bordeaux midfielder Jean Tigana and Verona striker Preben Elkjær

Dec 25 Knicks basketball forward Bernard King scores 60 points, but New York loses, 120-114 to the New Jersey Nets on Xmas Day at Madison Square Garden
Dec 27 Padres' free agent pitcher Ed Whitson signs with NY Yankees
Dec 29 Blues took 27 shots against Islanders in 1 period
Dec 29 Wayne Gretzky scores his NHL career 32nd hat trick & adds 3 assists in Edmonton's 6-3 win over Detroit Red Wings for his 100th point in just 35 games; 2nd fastest in history - recorded 100 points in 34 games in 1983
Dec 31 Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, v England at Calcutta

Birthdays in Sport

Dec 4 Joe Thomas, American College/Pro Football HOF offensive tackle (University of Wisconsin; 10 x Pro Bowl; 6 × First-team All-Pro; Cleveland Browns), born in Brookfield, Wisconsin
Dec 5 Chris Solinsky, American distance runner, born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Dec 7 Aaron Gray, American NBA basketball player, 2007-14 (Chicago Bulls and 3 other teams), born in Tarzana, California
Dec 7 Luca Rigoni, Italian footballer, born in Schio, Italy
Dec 7 Robert Kubica, Polish race car driver (1st Pole to compete in Formula One), born in Kraków, Poland
Dec 8 Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dec 8 Greg Halford, English footballer, born in Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Dec 11 Leighton Baines, English soccer left back (30 caps; Wigan Athletic, Everton 348 games), born in Kirkby, England
Dec 12 Daniel Agger, Danish footballer, born in Hvidovre, Denmark
Dec 14 Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer, born in Belfast
Dec 14 Edward Rainsford, Zimbabwean cricketer, born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe
Dec 15 Martin Škrtel, Slovakian soccer defender and captain (104 caps; Liverpool FC 242 games), born in Handlová, Slovakia
Dec 17 Andrew Davies, English footballer
Dec 19 Ian Kennedy, Major League Baseball pitcher
Dec 21 Darren Potter, Irish football player, born in Liverpool, England
Dec 25 Alastair Cook, English cricket batsman and captain (161 Tests, 33 x 100s, HS 294, 175 catches; Essex CCC), born in Gloucester, England
Dec 26 Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker, born in Sterzing, Italy
Dec 27 Gilles Simon, French tennis player (world #6 2009; Davis Cup 2017), born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Dec 28 Alex Lloyd, British racing driver, born in Manchester, United Kingdom
Dec 28 Beverly Mullins, American wrestler & model, born in Clearwater, Florida
Dec 28 Leroy Lita, Congolese football player, born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dec 28 Martin Kaymer, German golfer (PGA C'ship 2010, US Open 2014), born in Düsseldorf, Germany

LeBron James (38 years old)

Dec 30 American basketball forward (NBA C'ship & MVP 2012, 2013, 2016, 2020; 16 × NBA All-Star; Olympic gold 2008, 12; Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, LA Lakers), born in Akron, Ohio

Dec 30 Randall Azofeifa, Costa Rican footballer

Deaths in Sport

Dec 7 Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough, American race car (Nascar) driver, dies of head injury from a fall at 46
Dec 15 Jan Peerce [Jacob Pincus Perelmuth], American tenor (NBC Symphony, 1938-55; NY Metropolitan Opera, 1941-67; "Bluebird of Happiness"), dies at 80
Dec 16 Debs Garms, American baseball utility (World Series 1944 St. Louis Cardinals; NL batting champion 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 77
Dec 26 Tebbs Lloyd Johnson, English race walker (Olympic bronze 50k 1952; oldest Olympic medal-winning athlete; 48 years and 115 days), dies at 84