Dec. 10
1939 — The Green Bay Packers register the first shutout in an NFL championship game by beating the New York Giants 27-0.
1961 — Billy Cannon of the Houston Oilers rushes for 216 yards, catches five passes for 114 yards and scores five touchdowns in a 48-21 victory over the New York Titans. Cannon finishes with 373 combined yards.
1971 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores a career-high 55 points in Milwaukee’s 120-104 victory over the Boston Celtics.
1982 — Michael Dokes knocks out Mike Weaver in the first round to capture the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1985 — The Indiana Pacers hits only 19 field goals in an 82-64 loss to the New York Knicks, setting an NBA record for the fewest field goals made by one team since the inception of the shot clock.
1986 — Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins scores 57 points to lead the Hawks to a 123-95 rout of the Chicago Bulls.
1992 — The NHL awards expansion franchises to Anaheim and Miami. The newcomers, scheduled to begin play in the 1993-94 season, bring the NHL to 26 teams.
1994 — Art Monk sets an NFL record for consecutive games with a reception on New York’s first play in the Jets’ 18-7 loss to the Detroit Lions. Monk’s 5-yard catch gives him 178 consecutive games with a reception, breaking Steve Largent’s NFL mark.
1999 — Laffit Pincay Jr. guides Irish Nip to a two-length victory in the sixth race at Hollywood Park for his 8,834th victory, breaking Bill Shoemaker’s 29-year-old record and making him the world’s winningest jockey.
2006 — LaDainian Tomlinson breaks Shaun Alexander’s NFL single-season touchdown record of 28 when he scores three times in the San Diego Chargers’ 48-20 victory over the Denver Broncos. Tomlinson has 26 TDs rushing and three receiving.
2006 — Marvin Harrison of Indianapolis is the fourth player in NFL history with 1,000 receptions, joining Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Cris Carter.
2008 — Carmelo Anthony matches George Gervin’s NBA record for points in a quarter with 33 in the third and finishes with a season-high 45 points in Denver’s 116-105 victory over Minnesota.
2010 — George Karl earns his 1,000th coaching victory, the seventh coach in NBA history, as Al Harrington scores a season-high 31 points and Nene adds 26 to help the Denver Nuggets hold off the Toronto Raptors 123-116.
2016 — 82nd Heisman Trophy Award: Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals (QB), youngest player to win at 19.
2016 — Army ends a 14-year run of frustration against Navy, using an overpowering running game and opportunistic defense to carve out a long overdue 21-17 victory.
2016 — Roman Torres scores in the sixth round of penalty kicks to give the Seattle Sounders their first MLS Cup title, 5-4 over Toronto FC after 120 scoreless minutes. It’s the first MLS Cup final to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a dramatic tiebreaker.
2017 — Ben Roethlisberger completes 44 of a franchise-record 66 passes for 506 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to top 500 yards passing three times and leading Pittsburgh past Baltimore 39-38. Antonio Brown caught 11 passes for 213 yards for Pittsburgh.
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Dec. 11
1938 — New York Giants beats the Green Bay Packers 23-17 to win the NFL championship.
1946 — The Chicago Stags and Cleveland Rebels play an experimental game featuring 15-minute quarters, instead of the usual 12-minute quarters. The Stags beat the Rebels 88-70.
1949 — Johnny Lujack of the Chicago Bears passes for 468 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-21 rout of the Chicago Cardinals.
1951 — Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement from baseball.
1959 — Richie Guerin scores 57 points, at the time the most ever by a Knick, as New York defeats Syracuse 152-121. His team record was broken by Bernard King 25 years later.
1971 — The Los Angeles Lakers set an NBA record with 21 straight wins by beating the Atlanta Hawks 104-95, breaking the record of 20 set by the Milwaukee Bucks the previous year.
1972 — Joe Namath of the New York Jets passes for 403 yards and Don Maynard sets an NFL record for career receptions in a 24-16 loss to the Oakland Raiders. Maynard, with seven catches, breaks Raymond Berry’s record of 631 by one catch.
1977 — Philadelphia’s Tom Bladon scores four goals and collects four assists to set a record for defensemen with eight points in the Flyers’ 11-1 victory over the Cleveland Barons.
1981 — Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali’s 61st and last fight; loses to Trevor Berbick by unanimous decision in 10 rounds at Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Nassau, Bahamas.
1982 — Dan Fouts the San Diego Chargers passes for 444 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-37 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco’s Joe Montana passes for 356 yards to set an NFL record with five consecutive games of 300 yards or more passing.
1983 — John Henry becomes the first racehorse to surpass $4 million in career earnings when he wins the Hollywood Turf Cup with jockey Chris McCarron at Hollywood Park.
1985 — Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers registers seven assists in a 12-9 victory over the Chicago Black Hawks. The teams tie the NHL record for most total goals in a game.
1992 — Gary Bettman, the NBA’s senior vice president and general counsel, is named the NHL’s first commissioner.
1999 — Rowan ends Mount Union’s NCAA-record 54-game winning streak, beating the Purple Raiders 24-17 in overtime in a Division III semifinal game.
2002 — Danielle Dube becomes the third female goalie to start in a men’s professional hockey game, stopping 18 shots in the Long Beach Ice Dogs’ 4-1 loss to San Diego in the West Coast Hockey League.
2002 — Colorado’s Joe Sakic scores his 500th career goal in a 3-1 loss at Vancouver. Sakic is the 31st player in NHL history to reach the milestone.
2006 — Jerry Sloan becomes the fifth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games after Utah defeats Dallas 101-79.
2009 — Tiger Woods announces an indefinite leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage.
2010 — Carl Hagelin scores two goals in the Michigan’s 5-0 victory over Michigan State at Michigan Stadium. The announced attendance of 113,411 crowd sets a world attendance record for a hockey game.
2015 — The Golden State Warriors need two overtimes to remain perfect on a very imperfect night and improved to 24-0 this season by outlasting the Boston Celtics 124-119.
2021 – 87th Heisman Trophy Award: Bryce Young, Alabama (QB)
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Dec. 12
1937 — Rookie Sammy Baugh throws second-half touchdown passes of 55, 78 and 33 yards to overcome a 14-7 Chicago lead and give the Washington Redskins a 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears for the NFL championship.
1953 — Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens becomes the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with a goal and two assists in a 7-2 victory against the New York Rangers. Richard finishes the game with 611 points, one more than injured linemate Elmer Lach, who has held the record since February 1952.
1965 — Chicago’s Gale Sayers scores six touchdowns with 336 combined yards to lead the Bears to a 61-20 rout of the San Francisco 49ers. The six TDs give Sayers an NFL-record 21 for the season. Sayers’ first touchdown is a reception, the next four rushing and the final, an 85-yard punt return.
1968 — Arthur Ashe becomes 1st black person be ranked #1 in tennis.
1971 — Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks scores his 1,000th point with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota North Stars.
1977 — NBA Commissioner Larry O’Brien fined Kermit Washington $10,000 and suspends the Los Angeles Lakers forward for at least 60 days (26 games) for punching Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich during a game on Dec. 9. The suspension is the longest ever in NBA history and the fine is the maximum permissible under league rules.
1986 — James “Bonecrusher” Smith knocks out Tim Witherspoon in the first round to win the WBA heavyweight title in New York.
1987 — Guard Mookie Blaylock leads Oklahoma to an NCAA-record 33 steals with 13 in a 152-84 victory over Centenary.
1990 — Connecticut uses a stifling press and quickness to jump to a 32-0 lead en route to an 85-32 victory over New Hampshire. New Hampshire plays 11 minutes and 48 seconds before scoring its first point.
2015 — Keenan Reynolds ends his Navy career with a clean sweep against Army. Reynolds rushes for two touchdowns and throws for another score to lead the No. 21 Midshipmen to their 14th straight win over the Black Knights, 21-17. Reynolds is the first quarterback over the 116-game series to go 4-0.
2015 — The Golden State Warriors’ NBA-record start ends at 24 wins when the Milwaukee Bucks beat them 108-95.
2016 — Tom Brady connects with Chris Hogan for a 79-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to help the New England Patriots overcome a sloppy second half and claim a 30-23 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Brady throws for 406 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the fourth NFL quarterback with at least 450 career touchdown passes. He also throws just his second interception of the season.
2021 – Dutchman Max Verstappen wins Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship
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