Today in Sports - Week Ahead, December 22 - 28
Thu, Dec 21, 2023
NCAAF News (AP)
Dec. 22
1894 - The United States Golf Association is founded, becoming the governing body for the game in the country.
1915 - The Federal League folds. Owners of the American and National Leagues buy out half of the owners (Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, and Brooklyn) of the Federal League teams. Phil Ball, owner of the St. Louis Terriers, is allowed to buy the St. Louis Browns of the AL, and Charles Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales, buys out the Chicago Cubs of the NL.
1924 - Babe Dye of the Toronto St. Patricks scores five goals in a 10-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
1946 - The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Yankees 14-9 in the first AAFC championship game.
1969 - Pete Maravich sets an NCAA record by hitting 30 of 31 foul shots, and scores 46 points to lead LSU to a 98-89 victory over Georgia.
1974 - Boston's Phil Esposito scores two goals, including his 500th goal, to lead the Bruins to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Boston Garden.
1990 - Paul Coffey becomes the second NHL defenseman to record 1000 points. Coffey reaches the milestone with an assist on Kevin Stevens' goal in second-period of a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders.
1996 - Brett Hull becomes the 24th player in NHL history to score 500 goals, with a hat trick in the St. Louis Blues' 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Brett and his father, Bobby Hull, are the first father-son tandem to each score 500 goals.
2003 - Brett Favre passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns a day after his father dies, moving into second place in NFL history for career TD passes while leading the Green Bay Packers to a 41-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Favre passes Fran Tarkenton on the NFL's career list with his 343rd career TD throw.
2005 - Reggie Campbell of Navy ties the NCAA bowl record with five touchdowns and had 290 all-purpose yards, leading the Midshipmen to a 51-30 win over Colorado State in the Poinsettia Bowl.
2006 - Peter Bondra scores his 500th NHL goal early in the third period to snap a 1-all tie and lead Chicago past Toronto 3-1.
2007 - Eathyn Manumaleuna blocks a field goal as time expires to give BYU a 17-16 victory over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
2009 - Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh becomes the first defensive player voted The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, winning the award after his dominant performance against Texas in the Big 12 title game.
2013 - Peyton Manning finishes 32 for 51 for 400 yards and four touchdown passes to set the single season touchdown mark in Denver's 37-13 win over Houston. Manning, with 51 touchdown passes, passes Tom Brady (50 in 2007) for the most in a single season in NFL history.
2013 - Tom Brady leads the Patriots to a 41-7 win at Baltimore as New England clinches the AFC East. It's the 11th division title for Brady, the most by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
2016 - Matt Linehan throws for 381 yards and four touchdowns and runs for a another score to help Idaho beat Colorado State 61-50 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. It's the third-highest scoring game in bowl history. Idaho (9-4) matches its highest victory total since moving to FBS in 1996.
2020 - Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi scores his 644th goal for FC Barcelona during 3-0 win over Real Valladolid to break Pele's record for most goals for one club; Pele, 643 goals for Santos 1956-74
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Dec. 23
1933 - Montreal's Howie Morenz scores his 251st goal to become the NHL's career goal-scoring leader. Morenz's goal caps the Canadiens' 3-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
1951 - Norm Van Brocklin's 73-yard touchdown pass to Tom Fears in the fourth quarter gives the Los Angeles Rams a 24-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns for the NFL title.
1962 - Tommy Brooker kicks a 25-yard field goal 17:54 into overtime, giving the Dallas Texans a 20-17 victory over Houston for the AFL title.
1972 - The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 on Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception," in an AFC Divisional playoff game. On 4th-and-10 on their own 40-yard line with 22 seconds remaining and no time outs. Terry Bradshaw, under pressure, throws a pass over the middle to Oakland's 35-yard line which is deflected by Oakland's Jack Tatum. Running back Franco Harris catches the deflection at the Raiders' 43-yard line and runs down the left sideline for a touchdown.
1978 - Bryan Trottier has five goals and three assists to lead the New York Islanders to a 9-4 victory over the Rangers. Trottier sets an NHL record with three goals and three assists in the second period.
1982 - Chaminade, an NAIA school, beats top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson, 77-72, for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history. The game is played at Honolulu's International Center in front of 3,383 fans.
1996 - Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions rushes for 175 yards in a 24-14 loss to San Francisco to finish with 1,553 yards for the season. It's Sanders' third straight season with at least 1,500 yards rushing, a first in the NFL.
2007 - The New England Patriots set an NFL record with their 15th win, the best start in league history, with a 28-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins 28-7.
2007 - Chris Johnson sets an NCAA bowl record with 408 all-purpose yards, and Ben Hartman kicks a 34-yard field goal as time expires to give East Carolina a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl.
2008 - The Boston Celtics set a franchise record with their 19th consecutive victory, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-91. The Celtics improve to 27-2 - the best start for a two-loss team in NBA history. The 19-game winning streak breaks the Celtics record set in 1981-82.
2012 - New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints' 34-31 overtime win at Dallas. Brees, with 4,781 passing yards, becomes the first player in NFL history to record at least 4,500 yards in three consecutive seasons.
2013 - Andrew Luck throws for 205 yards to break a single-season rookie record, and his touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter puts Indianapolis in the playoffs with a 20-13 win over Kansas City. Luck, with 4,183 yards, surpasses Cam Newton's year-old record of 4,051 yards passing by a rookie in the second quarter.
2022 - Washington Capitals center Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets.
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Dec. 24
1950 - Cleveland's Otto Graham throws four touchdown passes, despite icy footing in Municipal Stadium, and Lou Groza kicks a 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to give the Browns a 30-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL title in their first year in the league.
1961 - George Blanda's 35-yard touchdown pass to Billy Cannon gives the Houston Oilers a 10-3 victory over the San Diego Chargers for their second AFL title.
1967 - New York's Joe Namath becomes the first player to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Namath passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 42-31 win at San Diego. Namath finishes the year with 4,007 yards.
1997 - In one of the biggest upsets in college basketball, Division II American-Puerto defeats the No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks 64-59 in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
2000 - Marshall Faulk breaks Emmitt Smith's NFL record for touchdowns, scoring three times to give him 26 for the St. Louis Rams. Faulk's three touchdowns and 220 yards fuels a 26-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
2003 - Steven Jackson ties a bowl game record with five touchdowns, and Oregon State's defense overwhelms mistake-plagued New Mexico in a 55-14 win at the Las Vegas Bowl.
2006 - Colt Brennan sets the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes at 58, throwing five in the second half to lead Hawaii to a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Brennan, 33-of-42 for 559 yards, breaks the previous mark of 54 set by Houston's David Klingler in 1990.
2011 - David Akers kicks his way into the NFL record book and the San Francisco 49ers hold off Seattle for a 19-17 win. Akers makes four field goals to give him 42 this season, breaking the NFL mark of 40 set by Neil Rackers in 2005 with Arizona.
2014 - Western Kentucky holds on to defeat Central Michigan 49-48 in a wild inaugural Bahamas Bowl. Central Michigan trails 49-14 entering the fourth quarter before Cooper Rush engineers a comeback. He throws four touchdown passes in the final minutes, and the Chippewas get the ball back at their own 25 with one second remaining. Rush completes a pass to Jesse Kroll, and the ball is lateraled three times before Titus Davis dove into the pylon for a touchdown with no time remaining. CMU elects to go for two, only to have the pass drop incomplete.
2016 - With a 41-3 rout of the New York Jets, Bill Belichick earns his 200th regular-season victory in New England, making him the fifth coach in NFL history to reach the milestone with one team.
2016 - Cleveland survives a last-second field-goal attempt and gets its first victory after 14 losses by beating the San Diego Chargers 20-17. When San Diego's Josh Lambo misses a 45-yard field-goal attempt as time expires, the Browns (1-14) win for the first time in 377 days.
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Dec. 25
1956 - Corky Devlin of Fort Wayne goes 0-for-15 from the field against the Minneapolis Lakers to tie an NBA record.
1971 - Garo Yepremian's 37-yard field goal at 7:40 of the second overtime gives the Miami Dolphins a 27-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the AFC playoffs. At 82:40, it's the longest game in NFL history.
1984 - Bernard King of the New York Knicks scores 60 points in a 120-114 loss to the New Jersey Nets.
1995 - Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys scores his 25th touchdown of the season in a 37-13 win over Arizona, breaking the record for most TDs in a season. Smith passes John Riggins of Washington, who scored 24 in 1983.
1999 - Hawaii beats Oregon 23-17 in the Oahu Bowl to cap a remarkable turnaround for the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii improves from 0-12 in 1998 to 9-4 - the greatest single-season improvement in NCAA history.
2002 - Katie Hnida becomes the first woman to play in a Division I football game when she attempts an extra point following a New Mexico touchdown in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hnida, a walk-on junior, has her kick blocked in the 27-13 loss to UCLA.
2008 - New Orleans guard Chris Paul has his NBA-record steals streak end at 108 games in the Hornets' 88-68 loss to Orlando.
2012 - The Los Angeles Clippers extend their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games with a 112-100 win over the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers claim the NBA's best record at 22-6 in the finale of a Christmas Day doubleheader at Staples Center. In the first game, Kobe Bryant scores 34 points in his NBA-record 15th Christmas Day game to lead the Lakers to a 100-94 win over the New York Knicks 100-94.
2016 - Ben Roethlisberger shakes off a pair of interceptions to throw two late touchdowns, including a 4-yard strike to Antonio Brown with 9 seconds remaining to lift the Steelers to a 31-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The win is the 600th regular-season victory in franchise history. Roethlisberger also becomes the 10th player in NFL history to throw for at least 300 career touchdowns.
2020 - New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara equals Ernie Nevers 1929 NFL record of 6 touchdowns in a match in the Saints' 52-33 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.