January 1990 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Event of Interest

Jan 1 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Arantxa Sánchez Vicario beats American Pam Shriver 6-3, 6-3 to clinch 2-1 win for Spain's first title

Tennis Player Arantxa Sánchez Vicario — Tennis Player
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Jan 5 J Donald Crump appointed 8th Commissioner of CFL
Jan 9 Boston Celtics worst ever (6 pts in 2nd vs NJ Nets) & lose 87-78

Hall of Fame

Jan 9 Jim Palmer & Joe Morgan elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Baseball Player Jim Palmer — Baseball Player
Jim Palmer

Jan 10 NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players
Jan 11 Bobby Knight becomes basketball's Big 10 winningest coach (229)

Event of Interest

Jan 11 Pat LaFontaine sets NY Islander record of scoring goals in 11 straight

NHL Star Pat LaFontaine — NHL Star
Pat LaFontaine

AFC Championship

Jan 14 AFC Championship, Mile High Stadium, Denver: Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns 37-21

NFL Quarterback John Elway — NFL Quarterback
John Elway

Jan 14 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: San Francisco 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams, 30-3

Boxing Title Fight

Jan 15 42 year old former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman stops Gerry Cooney in 2 rounds in Atlantic City in a non-title bout; Cooney's last fight

Boxing Champ George Foreman — Boxing Champ
George Foreman

Jan 15 In a shrewd move, Detroit Tigers sign 1st baseman Cecil Fielder who spent previous season in Japan; hits 51 homers this MLB season and becomes a premier power hitter for most of the 1990s

Jan 15 Golden State coach Don Nelson becomes 2nd man in NBA history to appear in 1,000 games both as a player and coach (joining Lenny Wilkens) as the Warriors lose to the Indiana Pacers, 144-105
Jan 15 In a bizarre twist in the NHL, Washington Capitals fire coach Brian Murray, who had been head coach since 1981; replace him with his brother Terry, who had been coaching in the minors
Jan 19 Police break up protests in Johannesburg against the cricket players defying a boycott on playing in apartheid South Africa

NHL All-Star Game

Jan 21 41st NHL All-Star Game, Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA: Wales beats Campbell, 12-7; MVP: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins, C

NHL Legend and Owner Mario Lemieux — NHL Legend and Owner
Mario Lemieux

Jan 21 Bob Goodenow succeeds Alan Eagleson as NHL players association executive director

Event of Interest

Jan 21 John McEnroe becomes 1st ever player to be expelled from the Australian Open

Tennis Player John McEnroe — Tennis Player
John McEnroe

Jan 22 Will Clark, NL's MVP signs a $15M 4-year contract with SF Giants
Jan 23 Australian cricketer Dean Jones scores twin test tons vs. Pakistan at Adelaide Oval
Jan 24 LAs' Pat Riley becomes the 13th and fastest coach to reach the 500-victory plateau as the Lakers down the Indiana Pacers, 120-111; Riley (500-184) surpasses Don Nelson (500-317) to reach milestone
Jan 26 Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as asst GM (highest-ranking African American female in a major-league front office)

Australian Open Women's Tennis

Jan 27 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf beats American Mary Joe Fernández 6-3, 6-4 for her 3rd consecutive Australian singles crown

Tennis Player Steffi Graf — Tennis Player
Steffi Graf

Super Bowl

Jan 28 Super Bowl XXIV, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: San Francisco 49ers beat Denver Broncos, 55-10; MVP: Joe Montana, SF, QB

NFL Quarterback Joe Montana — NFL Quarterback
Joe Montana

Australian Men's Tennis Open

Jan 28 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American-based Czech star Ivan Lendl of wins 8th and last career Grand Slam title; beats Stefan Edberg 4-6, 7-6, 5-2; Edberg retires injured

Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion Ivan Lendl — Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion
Ivan Lendl

NHL Record

Jan 30 LA center Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record by scoring his 100th point of the season for the 11th straight season; milestone comes with an assist in a 5-2 Kings' win over visiting New Jersey Devils

Ice Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky — Ice Hockey Great
Wayne Gretzky

Jan 31 1st ever all-sports daily "National" begins publishing

Birthdays in Sport

Jan 3 Yoichiro Kakitani, Japanese soccer midfielder (18 caps; Cerezo Osaka), born in Osaka, Japan
Jan 4 Toni Kroos, German football player (Real Madrid, German national team), born in Greifswald, East Germany
Jan 7 Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater, born in Tbilisi, Georgia
Jan 7 Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper, born in Tyrol, Austria
Jan 10 Tao Li, Singaporean Olympic swimmer, born in Wuhan, China
Jan 12 Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player, born in Simferopol
Jan 15 Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer, born in Rosario, Argentina
Jan 18 Gift Ngoepe, South African-born baseball player, 1st black African to play in Major League Baseball, born in Pietersburg, South Africa