SPORTLIGHT

JAN. 2

1961 — George Blanda passes for three touchdowns and kicks a field goal and the extra points to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the 1st American Football League championship game.

1965 — The New York Jets sign Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000, the most lucrative rookie contract in football history.

1966 — Jim Taylor & Paul Hornung gain 201 yards on 4 inches of snow at Lambeau Field to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 23-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns and their 3rd championship in 5 years.

1977 — Atlanta Braves’ owner Ted Turner is suspended 1 year by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering in the free-agent signing of Gary Matthews.

1982 — Rolf Benirschke’s 29-yard field goal at 13:52 of overtime ends one of the wildest & highest-scoring playoff games as the San Diego Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins 41-38. San Diego’s Dan Fouts completes 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards & 3 TDs. Miami quarterback Don Strock completes 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards & 4 TDs.

1984 — Miami defeats Nebraska 31-30 in the Orange Bowl to win the national championship.

1985 — Nevada-Las Vegas beats Utah State 142-140 in triple overtime as both teams set an NCAA record for total points. The Runnin’ Rebels score a record 93 points in the 2nd half, and coach Jerry Tarkanian gets his 600th victory.

1986 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders becomes the 11th NHL player to score 500 goals. Bossy scores No. 500 on an empty netter with 17 seconds remaining to clinch a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum. Bossy reaches the milestone in 647 games, less than anyone in NHL history at that time.

1987 — No. 2 Penn State beats No. 1 Miami 14-10 in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

1989 — Notre Dame beats West Virginia 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish the season at 12-0. The Irish are named national champion in the polls.

1996 — No. 1 Nebraska demolishes No. 2 Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl, making them the first repeat champions in 16 years.

2001 — Jose Theodore becomes the 6th NHL goalie to score a goal in a regularseason game & stops 32 shots as Montreal blanks the New York Islanders 3-0.

2002 — Carolina’s Ron Francis becomes the 5th player in NHL history to record 500 goals & 1,000 assists when he scores in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 loss to Boston.

2009 — Utah finishes 13-0 with a convincing 31-17 win over No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes are the 1st team from a non-BCS conference to win 2 BCS bowls.

2009 — Doug Weight has a pair of assists for the New York Islanders in a 5-4 loss to Phoenix to become the 8th U.S.-born player to reach the 1,000-point mark.

2011 — Seattle becomes the 1st sub-.500 division champ in league history with a 16-6 win over St. Louis. The Seahawks finish as champs of the NFC West at 7-9, the 1st playoff team with a losing record — sans the 1982 strike-shortened season — since the merger in 1970.

2018 — Marc-Andre Fleury stops 29 shots in his 2nd shutout of the season, leading Vegas past Nashville 3-0. Vegas wins its 8th straight & earns at least 1 point in 13 consecutive games, both NHL records for a 1st-year team.