This Day in Sports History: December 15
Sports in December include the NBA and NHL seasons, NFL teams pushing for the playoffs, the end of the college football season, F1, UFC Fight Nights, and college basketball tournaments….
Sports in December include the NBA and NHL seasons, NFL teams pushing for the playoffs, the end of the college football season, F1, UFC Fight Nights, and college basketball tournaments. Over the years, Dec. 15 has witnessed many notable moments and stories involving sporting legends. Here are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sports history from Dec. 15 included:
- 1925: The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Americans 3-1 in the first hockey game at Madison Square Garden.
- 1935: The Detroit Lions defeated the New York Giants 26-7 to win their first NFL Championship.
- 1946: The Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 24-14 in the final NFL title game at the Polo Grounds.
- 1959: Real Madrid's Alfredo Di Stefano won his second Ballon d'Or award.
- 1970: Stan Smith and Rod Laver finished with 4-1 records at the end of the first season of the ATP Grand Prix tennis standings.
- 1973: In a low-scoring NCAA basketball game, Tennessee beat Temple 11-6.
- 1974: Guillermo Vilas won his first and only season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis final.
- 1980: Outfielder Dave Winfield got a 10-year, $16 million contract with the New York Yankees. At the time, he was the highest-paid player in the history of team sports.
- 1982: Los Angeles Kings' forward Marcel Dionne became the ninth player in NHL history to score 500 career goals.
- 1984: Wayne Gretzky scored five goals in a game against the St. Louis Blues.
- 1992: Arthur Ashe won the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award.
- 1997: The San Francisco 49ers retired Joe Montana's number 16 jersey.
- 2002: USC quarterback Carson Palmer won the 68th Heisman Trophy Award.
- 2008: Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford won the 74th Heisman Trophy Award.
- 2019: The U.S. defeated the International team to win golf's Presidents Cup for the eighth consecutive time.
- 2019: The Raiders played their final NFL game in Oakland.
Three athletes who stood out on Dec. 15 were Marcel Dionne, Arthur Ashe, and Joe Montana.
Dionne is a Hockey Hall of Famer (1992) with 731 career goals (5th all-time) and 1,771 points (6th all-time). Ashe was a groundbreaking Black tennis champion who won three Grand Slams, while Montana played for 16 seasons in the NFL and is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
