Events in Sport
Football Awards
Dec 2 Ballon d'Or: Manchester United's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins his first award as best football player in the world; Barcelona forward Lionel Messi 2nd, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres 3rd

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi
Event of Interest
Dec 5 Former NFL star O.J. Simpson is sentenced to 33 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery

O.J. Simpson
NBA Record
Dec 25 Phil Jackson becomes the sixth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games

Phil Jackson
- Dec 28 Detroit Lions crash to a 31-21 loss to Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field; first team in NFL history to go winless in a 16-game season
Event of Interest
Dec 30 NFL head coach Mike Shanahan is fired by the Denver Broncos

Mike Shanahan
Deaths in Sport
- Dec 2 Ted Rogers OC, Canadian entrepreneur and MLB team owner (Toronto Blue Jays), dies of heart failure at 75
- Dec 8 Kerryn McCann, Australian athlete, dies at 41
- Dec 9 Ibrahim Dossey, Ghanaian football player (b. 1972)
- Dec 13 John Drake, New Zealand rugby union footballer (b. 1959)
- Dec 17 Dave Smith, American baseball player (b. 1955)
Sammy Baugh
Dec 17 Sammy Baugh, American football player, dies at 94

Sammy Baugh
- Dec 19 Dock Ellis, American baseball pitcher (b. 1945)