Jan. 6
1951 - The Indianapolis Olympians beat the Rochester Royals 75-73 in six overtimes, the longest game in NBA history.
1976 - Ted Turner, a millionaire communications executive and internationally known yachtsman, buys the Atlanta Braves for a reported $10-to-12 million.
1980 - The Los Angeles Rams, behind three field goals by Frank Corral, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-0 to win the NFC Championship. This is the first conference championship game in NFL history without a touchdown being scored.
1980 - The Pittsburgh Steelers advance to their fourth Super Bowl appearance since 1974 by eliminating the Houston Oilers for the second consecutive year with a 27-13 triumph in the AFC title game.
1981 - John Tonelli ties a New York Islanders record with five goals in a 6-3 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum. Mike Bossy gets an assist on all six goals to set an Islanders record. Tonelli scores once in the first period, once in the second and three times in the third.
1985 - Dan Marino passes for a record 421 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 45-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game.
1985 - The San Francisco 49ers holds the Chicago Bears to 186 yards and sacks quarterback Steve Fuller nine times to win the NFC Championship 23-0.
1994 - Nancy Kerrigan is attacked after practice at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Shane Stant clubs Kerrigan on the knee and flees the scene. Later that evening, Scott Davis wins the men’s U.S. Figure Skating title.
1995 - Lenny Wilkens becomes the winningest coach in NBA history as the Atlanta Hawks post a 112-90 victory over the Washington Bullets. Wilkens, with his 939th win, surpasses Red Auerbach’s record. Wilkens reaches the record in his 22nd year as an NBA coach, including four as a player-coach.
2005 - For the first time in NBA history, a player leads his team in scoring without making a field goal. Detroit’s Richard Hamilton scores 14 points despite missing all 10 of his field goal attempts in a 101-79 loss to Memphis.
2011 - Miami of Ohio caps a historic season with a 35-21 win over Middle Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The RedHawks (10-4) are the first team in Football Bowl Subdivision history to win 10 games one season after losing 10. Miami finished a dismal 1-11 in 2009.
2014 - Patrick Maher of Division III Grinnell College breaks the NCAA record with 37 assists in a 164-144 victory over College of Faith.
2014 - Jameis Winston throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left and No. 1 Florida State beat No. 2 Auburn 34-31 to win the last BCS national championship game.
2015 - Patrik Elias has a goal and two assists to reach 1,000, NHL points, and the New Jersey Devils beat the struggling Buffalo Sabres 4-1. The goal is the 399th for Elias.
2016 - Ken Griffey Jr. is elected to the baseball Hall of Fame with the highest voting percentage ever, and Mike Piazza makes it in his fourth year on the ballot. Griffey is on 437 of 440 votes in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. His 99.3 percentage tops Tom Seaver’s 98.84 in 1992.
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Jan. 7
1920 - Joe Malone of Quebec scores two goals to become the NHL’s career leader with 59 and leads the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Arenas.
1925 - Harry Broadbent of the Montreal Maroons scores five goals in a 6-2 triumph over Hamilton.
1928 - Howie Morenz scores three goals to lead Montreal to a 9-1 road victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His first goal is his 100th in the NHL. The Canadiens become the first NHL team to allow two goals or fewer in 20 consecutive games.
1951 - One day after playing in the longest game in NBA history, a 75-73 win over the Rochester Royals in six overtimes, the Indianapolis Olympians are defeated by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, 83-79, with each of the Olympians’ five starters playing all 48 minutes.
1961 - Detroit’s Dick Lane blocks Sam Baker’s extra-point kick to save a 17-16 win for the Lions over the Cleveland Browns in the NFL’s first Playoff Bowl.
1972 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Atlanta Hawks 134-90 for their 33rd straight victory, an NBA record.
1979 - The Pittsburgh Steelers win their third AFC championship by beating the Houston Oilers 34-5 in a cold, steady rain at Three Rivers Stadium.
1979 - The Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams 28-0 to win the NFC title.
1981 - Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings scores his 1,000th point with a goal in a 5-3 triumph over the Hartford Whalers.
1992 - Pitchers Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Seaver receives the then-highest percentage of votes in baseball history.
1997 - Rutgers-Camden snaps its NCAA-record 117-game losing streak with a 77-72 victory over Bloomfield College. The Division III Pioneers were winless since beating Ramapo 74-73 on Jan. 18, 1992.
1999 - Luc Robitaille of Los Angeles becomes the 27th NHL player to reach 500 goals. Robitaille scores in the first and third periods against goaltender Dwayne Roloson to help the Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2.
2008 - Second-ranked LSU turns the BCS national championship game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State. Matt Flynn throws four touchdown passes in a 38-24 win. LSU (12-2) becomes the first two-loss team to play for the title and wins its second BCS crown in five seasons.
2010 - Alabama knocks Texas quarterback Colt McCoy out of the BCS title game early, and goes on to a 37-21 victory for the Crimson Tide’s first national title since 1992.
2012 - Jarome Iginla scores his 500th career goal, leading the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
2013 - Alabama rolls to its second consecutive BCS championship, and third in four seasons, beating No. 1 Notre Dame 42-14 in a BCS championship game.
Jan. 8
1944 - Toronto’s Babe Pratt becomes the first NHL defenseman to get six assists in a game as the Maple Leafs pound the Boston Bruins 12-3 at the Maple Leaf Gardens.
1947 - Howie Meeker sets an NHL single-game record for goals by a rookie when he scores five times in Toronto’s 10-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Maple Leaf Gardens.
1955 - Georgia Tech ends Kentucky’s 129-game home basketball winning streak with a 59-58 win at Memorial Coliseum.
1972 - The NCAA announces freshmen will be eligible to play on varsity football and basketball teams starting in the fall.
1973 - David Vaughn of Oral Roberts grabs 34 rebounds in a 123-95 win over Brandeis.
1984 - Mark Moseley’s 25-yard field goal with 40 seconds remaining gives the Washington Redskins a 24-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.
1984 - The Executive Committee of the NCAA votes to expand the championship basketball field to 64 teams starting in 1985.
1994 - Dino Ciccarelli becomes the 19th NHL player to score 500 career goals in the Detroit Red Wings’ 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
2003 - Utah guard Mark Jackson becomes the third NBA player to reach 10,000 career assists in the Jazz’s 99-93 win over the Phoenix Suns. Jackson joins career assists leader and teammate John Stockton (15,425) and Magic Johnson (10,141).
2007 - Second-ranked Florida dominates Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and No. 1 Ohio State for a 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Bowl. The Gators become the first Division I school to hold football and basketball titles at the same time.
2009 - Tim Tebow wins the matchup of Heisman winners as No. 1 Florida beats No. 2 Oklahoma and this year’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford, 24-14, in the BCS National Championship Bowl.
2011 - The Seattle Seahawks stun the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints 41-36 to open the NFL playoffs. Seattle, the first division winner with a losing record at 7-9, advances behind four touchdown passes by Matt Hasselbeck and a brilliant 67-yard run by Marshawn Lynch.
2012 - Denver’s Tim Tebow connects with Demaryius Thomas on an electrifying 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime and the Broncos stun the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-23 in a AFC wild-card game. The play, the longest to end a playoff game in overtime, takes 11 seconds and is the quickest ending to an overtime in NFL history.
2016 - Oakland’s Khalil Mack makes history earning a selection at two positions on the 2015 Associated Press All-Pro Team, an NFL first. The second-year Raiders defensive end and outside linebacker draws enough support from a panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league to make the squad both spots.
2018 - Alabama beats Georgia 26-23 in overtime to win its fifth national championship since 2009 under Nick Saban.
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