Events in Sport
- Jan 1 86th Rose Bowl: #4 Wisconsin beats #22 Stanford, 17-9
- Jan 1 66th Orange Bowl: #8 Michigan beats #5 Alabama, 35-34
- Jan 2 29th Fiesta Bowl: #3 Nebraska beats #6 Tennessee, 31-21
- Jan 2 19,600 fans watch the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic, 111-103 in the first game at the Heat's new American Airlines Arena in Miami
Event of Interest
Jan 4 A day after accepting the head coaching position at the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigns and moves to the New England Patriots
Bill Belichick
- Jan 4 College Football, 2nd BCS National Championship, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: #1 Florida State beats #2 Virginia Tech, 46-29, at 66th Sugar Bowl
- Jan 4 American businessman and investor Mark Cuban purchases a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise for $285m from H. Ross Perot, Jr.
- Jan 8 "Music City Miracle", in AFC Wild Card Playoff, Tennessee Titans defeat Buffalo Bills 22-16 in last 16 seconds with Kevin Dyson, running length of the field for a game-winning touchdown
- Jan 8 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Amanda Coetzer & Wayne Ferreira wrap up South Africa's first title (3-0) with an abbreviated 8-1 mixed doubles win over Tamarine Tanasugarn & Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand
Event of Interest
Jan 9 Dan Marino wins his last career NFL game (20-17 vs Seattle)
Dan Marino
- Jan 15 Utah's Jerry Sloan becomes 12th coach in NBA history to reach the 700-victory plateau when the Jazz defeat the LA Clippers, 112-75 at the Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Event of Interest
Jan 19 Michael Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to 6 NBA championships as a player, returns to the NBA, joining the Washington Wizards as part owner and President of Basketball Operations
Michael Jordan
- Jan 23 AFC Championship, Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville: Tennessee Titans beat Jacksonville Jaguars, 33-14
- Jan 23 NFC Championship, Trans World Dome, St. Louis: St. Louis Rams beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11-6
- Jan 23 Dallas' Don Nelson becomes the 6th coach in NBA history to win 900 career games when the Mavericks defeat the Detroit Pistons, 99-91 at The Palace of Auburn Hills
Tennis Open
Jan 29 Australian Open Women's Tennis: American Lindsay Davenport claims her 3rd and final career Grand Slam title; beats Martina Hingis 6-1, 7-5
Martina Hingis
Event of Interest
Jan 29 Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz becomes the 3rd player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points; finishes with 35 in a 96-94 loss to Minnesota; behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Jan 30 Super Bowl XXXIV, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA: St. Louis Rams beat Tennessee Titans, 23-16; MVP: Kurt Warner, St. Louis, QB
Australian Tennis Open
Jan 30 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Andre Agassi beats defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Agassi makes 4 consecutive Grand Slam finals, 1st since Rod Laver (1969)
Andre Agassi
Weddings in Sport
- Jan 1 Dominican-American baseball player Albert Pujols (19) weds Deidre "Dee Dee" Corona (22)
Deaths in Sport
- Jan 4 Tom Fears, American football player (b. 1922)
- Jan 8 Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrianist (b. 1918)
- Jan 11 Betty Archdale, Anglo-Australian educationalist and cricketer (b. 1907)
- Jan 11 Robert Granville "Bob" Lemon, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians), dies at 79
- Jan 11 Phil Carrick, English cricketer (Yorkshire County Cricket Club), dies at 47
- Jan 12 Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
- Jan 26 Don Budge, American tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles, Grand Slam 1938), dies of cardiac arrest at 84
- Jan 27 Mae Faggs Starr, American athlete, 4x100m runner (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67