2001 at a glance

January February March

April May June

July August September

October November December

December

 Dec. 1 -- Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El became the first major college player to record four consecutive seasons with 2,500 yards in total offense, passing for 194 yards and running for 43 in the Hoosiers' 26-15 victory over Kentucky.

 Dec. 2 -- Cameron Hall, a 2-year-old trotting filly, became the first standardbred to bring more than $1 million at auction during the Tattersalls' December Mixed Sale in Lexington, Ky. Erkki Laakkonen, of Georgetown, Ontario, paid $1.1 million for Cameron Hall, the 2001 Breeders Crown champion. The previous record price for a standardbred was $800,000, paid in 1986 for the 6-year-old trotting mare Winkys Gill.

 Dec. 2 -- Nicolas Escude gave France its ninth Davis Cup, defeating Australian Wayne Arthurs 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 in the deciding fifth match.

 Dec. 3 -- Seventeen-year-old Ty Tryon became the youngest player to earn his PGA Tour card when he posted a bogey-free 66 and finished tied for 23rd at qualifying school. Tryon, a junior in high school, finished at 18-under 414 at Bear Lakes Country Club.

 Dec. 6 -- The Atlanta Falcons were sold by Taylor Smith, one of late Rankin Smith's five children, to Arthur M. Blank, a co-founder and former Home Depot chairman, for $535 million.

 Dec. 8 -- Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch was awarded the Heisman Trophy. Crouch won college football's top individual prize by 62 points, 770-708, over Florida quarterback Rex Grossman. He's one of only three major college quarterbacks to run for 3,000 yards and pass for 4,000 yards in a career. Crouch's winning point total was the smallest since Oregon State's Terry Baker won in 1962.

 Dec. 9 -- Jerry Rice became the first NFL receiver to amass more than 20,000 yards receiving in his career during the Oakland Raiders' game against Kansas City. Rice passed 20,000 yards on a 9-yard catch late in the second quarter. He later caught an 8-yard touchdown pass, giving him an NFL-record 195 TDs -- 184 on receptions.

 Dec. 9 -- Bode Miller became the first American since 1983 to win a World Cup giant slalom race. Miller was third after the opening leg, then had an excellent second run to win in a combined time of 2 minutes, 36.02 seconds. in Val D'Isere, France.

 Dec. 9 -- Australia's Geoff Huegill broke the world short-course record in the 50-meter butterfly at a World Cup meet in Melbourne, Australia. Huegill's time of 22.84 seconds in a 25-meter pool took three-hundredths of a second off the mark set by Britain's Mark Foster in Sheffield, England, in January.

 Dec. 10 -- Bode Miller won his second race in two days, dominating the field for the first U.S. men's slalom World Cup victory since 1983. Notching the best times in both runs, Miller followed up his giant slalom victory with a winning slalom time of 1 minute, 36.01 seconds in Madonna Di ampiglio, Italy. It was the first time in 18 years that an American man had won consecutive World Cup technical races -- the slalom and GS -- and the first back-to-back wins for a male U.S. skier in almost two years.

 Dec. 10 -- Buffalo Bills wide receiver Peerless Price was fined $30,000 by the NFL for striking an opponent after the end of Buffalo's game against San Francisco on Dec. 2.

 Dec. 14 -- George O'Leary resigned as Notre Dame football coach five days after being hired, admitting he lied about his academic and athletic background.

 Dec. 14 -- U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III ordered major league baseball to rehire nine of the 22 umpires who lost their jobs following a failed mass resignation two years ago.

 Dec. 14 -- Houston Rockets forward Maurice Taylor received a five-game suspension from the NBA for using marijuana.

 Dec. 14 -- Germany's Thomas Rupprath broke his third world record in two days, winning the 100-meter butterfly at the European short course championships. Rupprath finished in 50.26 seconds to shave 0.18 seconds off the mark held by Sweden's Lars Froelander. He twice helped break the 200 medley relay with the German team yesterday.

 Dec. 15 -- Chuck Moore ran for 273 yards and three touchdowns as Mount Union won its sixth NCAA Division III title, beating Bridgewater 30-27 in the Stagg Bowl. Mount Union has won 82 of its last 83 games, including the six championships under coach Larry Kehres.

 Dec. 15 -- Evander Holyfield was denied a fifth heavyweight championship when his third fight against John Ruiz was called a draw after 12 rounds of mostly mauling and clutching. Ruiz kept the WBA title.

 Dec. 15 -- Stanford won its record fifth NCAA women's volleyball title, sweeping previously undefeated Long Beach State 31-29, 30-28, 30-25.

 Dec. 16 -- Cleveland Browns fans threw thousands of bottles on the field, hitting Jacksonville and Cleveland players and forcing them to run for cover after officials overturned a last-minute call that helped the Jaguars win 15-10. The game was stopped for about a half-hour with 48 seconds to play because of the violence, and it resumed only after NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue insisted.

 Dec. 19 -- In the highest-scoring bowl game in history, Marshall rallied past the Pirates 64-61 in double overtime to win the GMAC Bowl behind Byron Leftwich's 576 yards passing. The Thundering Herd stormed back from a 38-8 halftime deficit, tying it at 51 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Marshall wasted a chance to win in regulation when it missed the extra point.

 Dec. 20, 2001 -- The Boston Red Sox were sold by the Yawkey family for $700 million to John Henry and Tom Werner.

 Dec. 22 -- Water dripping from the roof of the UNI-Dome forced officials to suspend the men's basketball game between Central Michigan and Northern Iowa. Central Michigan was leading 57-53 when play was stopped with 8:15 left.

 Dec. 23 -- Chris Chandler threw for a career-high 431 yards, his first 400-yard game, and two touchdowns in Atlanta's 33-30 victory over Buffalo.

 Dec. 23 -- Marshall Faulk rushed for 202 yards and two TDs, including a 70-yarder, in St. Louis' 38-32 victory at Carolina.

 Dec. 23 -- Baltimore blanked Cincinnati 16-0 at PSINet Stadium, marking the first time an NFL team has shut out an opponent at home over three seasons since the Oakland Raiders did it to San Diego from 1975-77.

 Dec. 26 -- Steve Nash scored 27 points and made a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining in overtime as the Dallas Mavericks overcame a 53-point effort by Tim Duncan and beat the San Antonio Spurs 126-123.

 Dec. 26 -- Colorado's Patrick Roy became the first NHL goalie to win 500 games as he recorded his seventh shutout of the season, a 2-0 win over Dallas.