Year 1991 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Events 1 - 100 of 344

• Jan 1 77th Rose Bowl: #8 Washington beats #17 Iowa, 46-34
• Jan 1 57th Sugar Bowl: #6 Tennessee beats Virginia, 23-22

• Jan 1 20th Fiesta Bowl: #18 Louisville beats #25 Alabama, 34-7
• Jan 1 57th Orange Bowl: #1 Colorado beats #5 Notre Dame, 10-9

• Jan 4 12 year old Chinese diver Fu Mingxia wins 10m platform gold medal at World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia; youngest world champion in the history of any aquatic event
• Jan 4 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Goran Prpić beats American David Wheaton 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 for an unassailable 2-0 lead, (ends 2-1) and Yugoslavia's first title
• Jan 5 Kevin Bradshaw of US Intl scores NCAA Div 1 record 72 pts
• Jan 6 Portland Trail Blazers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 114-111 before a sellout crowd at the Portland Memorial Coliseum; marks the Blazers' 600th consecutive sellout at home
• Jan 8 Tamas Darnyi swims world record 400m medley (4:12.36)

• Jan 9 Dean Smith of NC is 6th to win 700 career coaching basketball games

• Jan 11 Ben Johnson's 1st race after being stripped of his 1988 Olympic Gold medal for steroid use, he finishes 2nd
• Jan 12 Largest crowd to watch Atlantic Coast Womens Basketball game (11,520)
• Jan 12 Melvin Stewart swims world record 200 m butterfly (1:55.69)


• Jan 13 Football fans of the Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates clash in Orkney, South Africa leading to a riot and 42 deaths in the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster
• Jan 15 Dean Jones (76) and Mark Taylor (71) lead Australia to 7 wicket win over New Zealand in cricket's World Series Cup 2nd Final in Melbourne; win series, 2-0
• Jan 17 Andy Van Hellemond sets NHL record for most games worked by a referee when he appears in his 1,173rd regular season encounter as the St. Louis Blues host the Montreal Canadiens
• Jan 18 WLAF's NY Knights become NY-NJ Knights

• Jan 19 42nd NHL All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL: Campbell beats Wales, 11-5; Vincent Damphousse, Toronto Maple Leafs, C
• Jan 20 AFC Championship, Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY: Buffalo Bills beat Los Angeles Raiders, 51-3
• Jan 20 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: New York Giants beat San Francisco 49ers, 15-13
• Jan 21 Sacramento's Dick Motta coaches in his 1,648th regular season game, a 97-94 Kings' victory over Houston; at the time an NBA record for the most regular-season coaching appearances

• Jan 25 Mark Waugh scores ton in 1st Test Cricket innings, v England Adelaide
• Jan 26 Houston guard Vernon Maxwell is 4th NBAer to score 30 pts in a quarter
• Jan 26 Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame

• Jan 26 Houston guard Vernon Maxwell becomes 5th player in NBA history to score 30 points in a quarter in Rockets' 103-97 home win over Cleveland; joins Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, George Gervin & Michael Jordan
• Jan 27 Super Bowl XXV, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL: New York Giants beat Buffalo Bills, 20-19; MVP: Ottis Anderson, NY Giants, RB
• Jan 27 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Boris Becker of Germany wins his 1st Australian title; beats Ivan Lendl 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Jan 31 Denver Nuggets Michael Adams becomes shortest NBAer to get a triple-double
• Feb 1 Australian cricket fast bowler Craig McDermott sets up a 9 wicket, 5th Test win over England with a career best 8-97 in Perth
• Feb 3 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 23-21; MVP: Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills, QB


• Feb 4 Baseball's Hall of Fame board of directors vote 12-0 to bar Pete Rose, due to his betting on games while a player and manager

• Feb 5 LA King Dave Taylor becomes 29th NHler to score 1000 points

• Feb 15 Troy State sets NCAA Div II record with 103 points in 2nd half routing DeVry Institute 187-117
• Feb 17 33rd Daytona 500: Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports coasts to win after challengers crash on finals laps

• Feb 23 NC is 1st NCAA basketball team to win 1,500 games
• Feb 24 End of World League of American Football's (WLAF) 1st draft
• Feb 25 Andrew Jones scores twin Test Cricket tons v Sri Lanka (122 & 100*)
• Feb 25 Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy buy CFL's Toronto Argonauts
• Feb 26 Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons v NZ (119 & 102)
• Feb 26 Bill Veeck & Tony Lazzeri elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
• Feb 26 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
• Feb 28 Don Mattingly named 10th NY Yankee Captain
• Mar 1 37 year-old Pat Day becomes the 6th jockey in history whose mounts earned $100 million when he rides Wild Sierra to 2nd-place in the 1st race at Oaklawn Park, Arkansas
• Mar 2 NC State point guard Chris Corchiani becomes 1st NCAA Div I player to record 1,000 career assists in a 89-84 loss to Wake Forest
• Mar 2 St. Louis right wing Brett Hull becomes a 70-goal scorer for the 2nd straight season and has 3 assists to help the Blues earn a 4-4 tie in Philadelphia; finishes season with NHL career-best 86 goals
• Mar 3 David Boon completes 10th Test Cricket century, 109* v WI at Kingston
• Mar 5 Reggie Miller (Indiana) begins NBA free throw streak of 52 games
• Mar 9 Joe Dumaars (Detroit) begins NBA free throw streak of 62 games
• Mar 10 Eddie Sutton is 1st NCAA coach to lead 4 schools into playoffs
• Mar 10 38th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #7 North Carolina beats #6 Duke, 96-74
• Mar 10 32nd SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Alabama beats Tennessee, 88-69
• Mar 10 12th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Seton Hall beats Georgetown, 74-62
• Mar 11 John Smith, US amateur wrestler, wins James E Sullivan Award
• Mar 11 Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf's streak of 186 weeks ranked as #1
• Mar 14 Ice Dance Championship at Munich won by Isabel & Phil Duchesnay (FRA)
• Mar 15 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record 6.14m (20 feet 1 3/4)
• Mar 16 NJ Net coach Bill Fitch is 4th coach to win 800 NBA games
• Mar 16 England beats France, 21-19 at Twickenham for it's 19th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship, 9th Grand Slam and 16th Triple Crown; fullback Simon Hodgkinson 4 penalties and a conversion

• Mar 18 Reggie Miller (Indiana) ends NBA free throw streak of 52 games
• Mar 19 KC Royals announce they are putting Bo Jackson on waivers
• Mar 19 Sacramento Kings set NBA record of 29 consecutive road loses
• Mar 19 St Louis Blues Brett Hull is 3rd NHLer to score 80 goals in a season

• Mar 23 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.12m)
• Mar 23 1st World League of American Football games, London beats Frankfurt 24-11, Sacramento beats Raleigh-Dur 9-3 & Mont beats Birmingham 20-5
• Mar 24 Barcelona Dragons beat NY/NJ Knights 19-7 in their 1st WLAF game
• Mar 24 NY Yankees beat NY Mets, 9-3
• Mar 25 Allan Border takes 5-68 v WI at Bourda (!), Georgetown
• Mar 26 Orlando Thunder beats San Antonio Riders in their 1st WLAF game 35-34
• Mar 26 Victoria beat NSW by 7 wickets to win Sheffield Shield Final
• Mar 27 NCAA bans U of Minn football team from postseason play in 1992
• Mar 28 Mike Tyson admits paternity to Kimberly Scarborough's son
• Mar 30 1st exhibition baseball games at Joe Robbie Stadium (Yanks-Orioles)
• Mar 30 Northern Michigan wins its 1st NCAA hockey title
• Mar 31 10th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Virginia, 70-67; first overtime win in the NCAA's 10-year history
• Mar 31 St. Louis Blues' future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Brett Hull scores his 86th goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Minnesota North Stars; 3rd best total in NHL history

• Mar 31 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Amy Alcott breaks her own scoring record to win her 3rd DS by 8 strokes over Dottie Pepper; her 5th major title, and 29th & final LPGA Tour win
• Apr 1 53rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke beats Kansas, 72-65; Blue Devils' first title; power forward Christian Laettner MOP
• Apr 3 Bo Jackson signs 1-year contract with Chicago White Sox
• Apr 5 Joe Dumaars (Detroit) ends NBA free throw streak of 62 games

• Apr 6 145th Grand National: In Canadian distillery Seagram's final year of race sponsorship, New Zealand-bred chestnut gelding Seagram wins, ridden by Nigel Hawke

• Apr 8 Jockey Bill Shoemaker paralyzed in a car accident

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Birthdays in Sport

• Jan 1 Peter Burling, New Zealand sailor (Olympic gold 49er class 2016; helmsman America's Cup 2017; ISAF World Sailor of the Year 2015, 17), born in Tauranga, New Zealand
• Jan 6 Nikola Saric, Danish footballer, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Jan 7 Eden Hazard, Belgian football player (Chelsea, Belgian national team), born in La Louvière, Belgium
• Jan 7 Caster Semenya, South African runner (Olympic Gold 2016), born near Polokwane, South Africa
• Jan 19 Tommy Fleetwood, British golfer (US Open runner-up 2018; Ryder Cup 2018), born in Southport, England
• Mar 21 Antoine Griezmann, French football player (Atlético Madrid, French national team), born in Mâcon, France
• Apr 21 Max Chilton, British racing driver, born in Redhill
• May 1 Marcus Stroman, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2019; Gold Glove 2017; Toronto Blue Jays, NY Mets), born in Medford, New York
• May 9 Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar-Albanian judoka (Olympic gold 2016), born in Peć, SFR Yugoslavia
• May 27 Beauden Barrett, New Zealand rugby union utility back (83 caps; World Male Rugby Player of the Year 2016, 17; Hurricanes 125 games), born in New Plymouth, New Zealand
• May 28 Alexandre Lacazette, French soccer player, born in Lyon, France
• Jun 19 Pontus Ekhem, Swedish hockey player
• Jun 29 Kawhi Leonard, American basketball forward (NBA champion, Finals MVP 2014), born in Los Angeles, CA
• Jul 1 Michael Wacha, American MLB pitcher (All Star 2015), born in Iowa City, Iowa
• Jul 8 Virgil van Dijk, Dutch footballer (Liverpool FC, Netherlands national team captain), born in Breda, Netherlands
• Jul 12 James Rodríguez, Colombian footballer (Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Colombia national team), born in Cúcuta, Colombia
• Aug 18 Liz Cambage, Australian basketball center (WNBA single game record 53), born in London, England
• Sep 21 Jordan Hasay, American track and field athlete
• Sep 27 Adam Chicksen, English Football Player
• Sep 27 Simona Halep, Romanian tennis player (French Open 2018, Wimbledon 2019), born in Constanța, Romania
• Oct 10 Mariana Pajón, Colombian BMX rider (Olympic gold 2012, 16), born in Medellin, Colombia
• Nov 1 Jiang Yuyuan, Chinese gymnast (Olympic teams gold 2008), born in Liuzhou, Guangxi
• Nov 27 Nur Atikah Nabilah, Singaporean gymnast, born in Singapore
• Dec 1 Sun Yang, Chinese swimmer (Olympic gold 400m, 1,500m 2012, 200m freestyle 2016), born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
• Dec 6 CoCo Vandeweghe, American tennis player (US Open doubles 2018; US Federation Cup 2017), born in Rancho Santa Fe, California

Weddings in Sport

Deaths in Sport

• Jan 3 Luke Appling, American Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop, (7-time MLB All Star; AL batting champion 1936, 43; Chicago White Sox), dies of abdominal aortic aneurysm at 83
• Jan 7 Joe Hicks, baseball coach, dies of cancer at 64
• Jan 20 Bill Riordon, American tennis promotor (Jimmy Connors), dies
• Jan 25 Hoot Evers, American MLB player, dies at 69

• Feb 1 Phil Watson, Canadian NHL right wing (Stanley Cup 1940 [NYR], 1944 [Montreal Canadiens]) and coach (NY Rangers), dies at 76
• Feb 8 Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricketer (2 Tests for Pakistan 1954-55), dies at 47
• Feb 13 Ronald "Ron" Pickering, British athletics coach and BBC sports commentator, dies after a heart bypass operation at 60
• Feb 15 Gary Gears, Chicago disk jockey, dies at 46 of a heart attack
• Feb 24 Héctor Rial, Spanish soccer striker (Real Madrid, 5 straight Euro Cup C'ships 1956-60), dies at 62
• Mar 3 Johnny Revolta, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1935; 18 PGA Tour titles), dies at 79

• Mar 9 Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
• Mar 19 John Russell Thomas, NFL general manager (Detroit Lions), dies
• Apr 1 Frankie Gustine, American Major baseball infielder (MLB All-Star 1946, 47, 48; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 71
• Apr 4 Luc de Rijck, Belgian soccer player (Turnhout), dies
• Apr 4 Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)
• Apr 6 Bill Ponsford, cricketer (Test avg 48 22, 1st-class avg 65 18), dies
• Apr 9 Forrest Towns, American athlete (Olympic gold 110m hurdles 1936), dies at 77
• Apr 11 Walker Cooper, American baseball catcher (MLB All-Star 1942–44, 46–50; World Series 1942, 44; St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 76
• Apr 25 Theo Laseroms, [Tank], Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord), dies
• Apr 26 Lars Hall, Swedish pentathelete (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 63
• May 3 Don Whitmire, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Alabama, Navy - All American at both), dies at 68
• May 6 Chucky Mullins, US soccer player, dies
• May 14 Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (7 Olympic gold 1932, 36, 48, 52, 56, 60), dies at 81
• Jun 3 Thomas C Lasorda, American artist and son of Los Angeles Dodgers manager, dies of pneumonia at 33
• Jun 8 Mary Bacon, jockey, dying of cancer, commits suicide by gun at 43
• Jun 15 Happy Chandler, American politician and Commissioner of Baseball (b. 1898)
• Jun 28 Ernie McCormick, cricketer (12 Tests for Australia), dies
• Jul 3 Jimmy [James Henry] Van Alen, American tennis official who created Simplified Scoring System for tennis, dies at 88
• Jul 6 Muda Lawal, Nigerian footballer (b. 1954)
• Jul 18 Harold Butler, cricketer (2 Tests for England 1947-48, 12 wkts), dies
• Jul 21 Paul Warwick, English racing driver (b. 1969)
• Jul 24 Freddie Brown, cricketer (English Test captain 1950-51), dies
• Jul 27 Pierre Brunet, French figure skater pair (Olympic gold 1928, 32), dies at 89

• Aug 7 Shotzie, Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
• Aug 8 Julissa Gomez, American gymnast (b. 1972)
• Aug 11 J. D. McDuffie, American NASCAR driver (b. 1939)
• Aug 14 Alberto Crespo, Argentine racing driver (b. 1920)
• Aug 24 Abel Kivlat, US 1500m runner (Olympic silver 1912), dies at 99
• Sep 2 Concetto Lo Bello, Italian intl soccer judge, dies
• Sep 6 Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1922)
• Sep 10 Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles), dies at 83
• Sep 13 Metin Oktay, Turkish football player (b. 1936)
• Sep 13 Paul Thompson, Canadian ice hockey forward and coach (Stanley Cup 1928 [NY Rangers], 1934, 38 Chicago Black Hawks), dies at 84

• Oct 17 Piet van Est, The Vuurbal, cyclist (7x Tour de France), dies at 57
• Oct 28 George Treweeke, Australian Rugby League second rower (7 Tests, South Sydney), dies at 86
• Oct 30 William Shea, American lawyer (instrumental in NY Mets establishment; Shea Stadium), dies from a stroke at 84
• Nov 12 Howard Brunner, dies of AIDS at 51
• Nov 17 Adrian Quist, Australian tennis player, analyst (Australian C'ship 1936, 40, 48), dies at 78
• Nov 21 David "Sonny" Werblin, AFL owner (NY Jets), dies at 81
• Nov 21 Prior Jones, West Indian cricketer (WI pace bowler in 9 Tests 1948-52), dies at 74
• Nov 21 Sonny Werblin, NY sports impresario, dies at 81
• Nov 26 Bob Johnson, US hockey coach (Pittsburgh Penguins), dies at 60
• Nov 30 Zin [Parke Gerald Zinzan] Harris, New Zealand cricketer (9 Tests for NZ 1962-65), dies at 64
• Dec 2 George Lott, American tennis player (12 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 85
• Dec 5 Aad Mansfield, soccer player/trainer (ADO/Feyenoord/FC Utrecht), dies
• Dec 12 Ken Keltner, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians), dies at 75
• Dec 14 John Arlott, British cricket commentator & writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77
• Dec 15 Horatio Luro, American horse trainer (Decidedly, Northern Dancer), dies at 90
• Dec 18 George Abecassis, English Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)
• Dec 20 Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
• Dec 25 Mahmood Hussain, Pakistani cricket swing bowler (27 Tests, 68 wickets), dies at 59

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