Events in Sport
Sports History
Dec 2 Chicago Bears' head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan almost come to blows at halftime in a 38-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl, Miami; Chicago's only loss of the NFL season
Sports History
Dec 2 NFL quarterback legends Dan Marino and John Elway (Denver Broncos) face each other for the first time, a 30-26 win for Marino's Miami Dolphins (390 yards and 3 TDs)
Sports History
Dec 4 Slobodan Živojinović of Yugoslavia upsets No. 2 seed John McEnroe 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the Australian Open quarter finals; leaves McEnroe without a major singles title for the first time since 1978
Heisman Trophy
Dec 7 51st Heisman Trophy Award: Bo Jackson, Auburn (RB)
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Dec 7 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 for her 3rd and final Australian singles crown
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Dec 8 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stefan Edberg wins 1st career Grand Slam singles title; beats defending champion & fellow Swede Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Sports History
Dec 9 SF 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice begins NFL streak of 274 consecutive games with a reception in a 27-20 loss to LA Rams at Candlestick Park
- Dec 11 NHL Record 62 points scored, Edmonton (36) beats Chicago (26) 12-9 & ties record of 21 goals
Cricket History
Dec 13 Australian cricketer David Boon's 1st Test century, 123 v India at Adelaide
- Dec 13 Test debut of cricketers Merv Hughes, Geoff Marsh and Bruce Reid (v India)
Sports History
Dec 20 Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)
- Dec 20 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
- Dec 22 74th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Germany in Munich (3-2)
Ballon d'Or
Dec 24 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 3rd consecutive time; beats Verona striker Preben Elkjær and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster
- Dec 26 Test Cricket debut of Steve Waugh, v India at the MCG
Birthdays in Sport
- Dec 2 Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer (Olympic gold 4x100m freestyle relay 2012; WR 100m freestyle short course – 44.94s), born in Belfort, France
- Dec 3 László Cseh, Hungarian swimmer (World C'ship gold 400m medley 2005, 200m butterfly 2015; 7 x Olympic medals), born in Budapest, Hungary
- Dec 4 Carlos Gómez, Dominican baseball outfielder (MLB All Star 2013-14; Gold Glove Award 2013; hit for cycle 2008, 2017), born in Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Dec 5 Josh Smith, American basketball player (New Orleans Pelicans), born in College Park, Georgia
- Dec 5 Nico Verdonck, Belgian racing driver, born in Brussels, Belgium
- Dec 6 R. P. Singh, Indian cricketer, born in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Dec 8 Dwight Howard, American basketball player (Charlotte Hornets), born in Atlanta, Georigia
- Dec 10 T. J. Hensick, American ice hockey player
- Dec 14 Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer, born in Truskolasy, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
- Dec 14 Tom Smith, Welsh rugby union footballer, born in Bristol, Somerset
- Dec 19 Gary Cahill, English soccer defender (61 caps; Chelsea, Bolton), born in Dronfield, Derbyshire
- Dec 19 Neil Kilkenny, English-born Australian footballer
- Dec 21 Bubba Stewart, American motocross racer (FIM World Supercross Champion 2009; FIM World Supercross GP Champion 2006, 07), born in Bartow, Florida
- Dec 24 David Ragan, American race car driver, born in Unadilla, Georgia
- Dec 27 Logan Bailly, Belgian football goalkeeper
- Dec 27 Paul Stastny, Canadian ice hockey center (NHL All-Rookie 2007; NHL All-Star 2011; Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, LV Golden Knights), born in Quebec City, Quebec
Weddings in Sport
- Dec 14 "The Cosby Show" actress Phylicia Rashad (37) weds former NFL wide receiver and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad (36)
Deaths in Sport
- Dec 6 Burleigh Grimes, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1931 St. Louis Cardinals; NL wins leader 1921, 28; NL strikeout leader 1921 Brooklyn Robins, Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 92
- Dec 14 Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard & coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93
Roger Maris (1934-1985)
Dec 14 American baseball right fielder (7-time MLB All Star, 61 HRs 1961), dies of cancer at 51
- Dec 16 Dick Pollard, cricketer (England fast-medium bowler 1946-48), dies
- Dec 16 Merv Waite, cricketer (2 Tests for Aust 1938, 1 wkt avg 190), dies
- Dec 27 Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player, coach (Davis Cup captain 1939-67, won 16), dies of a heart attack at 79
- Dec 31 Mal Matheson, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (2 Tests) and rugby union Test referee (Australia v NZ 1946), dies at 79
