Events in Sport
- Dec 1 Canadian jockey Russell Baze becomes North American horse racing's all-time win leader when Butterfly Belle wins 4th race at Bay Meadows, San Mateo, California; 9,531 victories passes record of Laffit Pincay Jr
- Dec 2 15th SEC Championship Game: #4 Florida beats #8 Arkansas, 38-28
- Dec 2 2nd ACC Championship Game: #16 Wake Forest beats #23 Georgia Tech, 9-6
- Dec 2 11th Big 12 Championship Game: #8 Oklahoma beats #19 Nebraska, 21-7
- Dec 3 Davis Cup Tennis, Moscow: Marat Safin beats José Acasuso of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 to clinch Russia's 3-2 victory
Event of Interest
Dec 5 Greg Maddux signs a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres worth $10 million
Greg Maddux
- Dec 9 72nd Heisman Trophy Award: Troy Smith, Ohio State (QB)
Event of Interest
Dec 10 British Broadcasting Corporation gives Swedish tennis icon Björn Borg a Lifetime Achievement Award; presented by Boris Becker
Björn Borg
Boris Becker
- Dec 26 At 40 years, 268 days, Teddy Sheringham scores for West Ham United in a 2-1 loss to Portsmouth at Upton Park, London; becomes oldest goalscorer in EPL history
- Dec 31 The final contest at the old Lansdowne Road Stadium in Dublin is a rugby match with Leinster beating Ulster 20-12 in a Celtic League game
Weddings in Sport
- Dec 27 Supermodel Niki Taylor (31) weds NASCAR driver Burney Lamar (26) at The Grande Colonial Hotel in La Jolla, California
- Dec 30 Canadian pair figure skaters David Pelletier (31) weds partner Jamie Sale (28) at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in Alberta, Canada
- Dec 31 L.A. Galaxy soccer player Landon Donovan (24) weds actress Bianca Kajlich (29) at Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, California
Divorces in Sport
Divorce of Interest
Dec 29 NBA basketball star Michael Jordan (43) divorces Juanita Vanoy (47) due to irreconcilable differences after 17 years of marriage
Michael Jordan
Deaths in Sport
- Dec 5 David Bronstein, Ukrainian-born chess grandmaster (b. 1924)
- Dec 8 José Uribe, Dominican baseball player (b. 1959)
- Dec 12 Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
- Dec 13 Lamar Hunt, American sports executive and NFL owner (KC Chiefs), dies at 74
- Dec 15 Clay Regazzoni, Swiss Formula One driver, dies at 67
- Dec 17 Larry Sherry, American baseball player, dies at 71
- Dec 21 Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey (b. 1914)
- Dec 22 Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
- Dec 23 Johnny Vincent, English footballer for Birmingham City and Middlesbrough (b. 1947)
- Dec 30 Michel Plasse, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1948)
- Dec 31 George Sisler, Jr., baseball executive (b. 1917)
- Dec 31 Liese Prokop, Austrian pentathlete (Olympic silver 1968), dies at 65