New Year's Day Sports Moments

New Year's Day is a time where everyone would like to start out the new year with success. It is a time where many of us begin our attempts at fulfilling our resolutions for the new year.

In sports, football has dominated the headlines during the first day of the year with many teams starting the year on the right foot with a bowl victory while other teams/programs have to wait until fall to play again. Some dreams ended to begin the year though.

January 1 is not only the first day of the year, but it has been a day where the notable firsts in sports began a trend of "resolutions" that would shape our society to what it is today.

Here's a look at some of the best New Year's Day sports moments in our history:

1897: Two African-American schools play a college football game which was the first of its kind. Atlanta University played against Tuskegee Institute in Atlanta. Atlanta University defeated Tuskegee 10-0 as both team's fulfilled a "resolution" of playing the first college football game involving African-American colleges. Atlanta University is now Clark Atlanta University after consolidating with Clark College in 1988. In 1925, Tuskegee became the first African-American college to have its own football stadium in what is now Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium.

1902: The first ever Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California at Tournament Park between Michigan Wolverines and Stanford. In those days, touchdowns and field goals counted for five points each. Michigan won in convincing fashion 49-0 as they scored six touchdowns and two field goals while rushing for a Rose Bowl record 503 yards in the game. Legendary coach Fielding H. Yost easily coached his Michigan team to a 49-0 victory to fulfill their "resolution" of not only winning the first ever Rose Bowl, but the national championship as well. As a result of the lopsided victory, the Rose Bowl held other events besides football until it resumed for good in 1916. Michigan has appeared in the game 20 times while Stanford has made 12 appearances.

1923: For the first time ever, the Rose Bowl takes place at Rose Bowl Stadium. Southern California makes their first ever appearance as does Penn State University. The Nittany Lions scored a field goal in the first quarter, but wouldn't score again for the rest of the game. The USC Trojans, who's only loss of the season came in the first ever game held at Rose Bowl Stadium to California, took control of this game as the defense held Penn State to just 105 total yards and five first downs. Roy "Bullett" Baker rushed for 123 yards and a third quarter touchdown as the Trojans' "resolution" of winning the first ever Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl Stadium was complete with a 14-3 victory over Penn State. USC has made a Rose Bowl record 33 appearances and Penn State wouldn't play again in this game until 1995. The two teams met in the 2009 Rose Bowl in a 38-24 victory for the Trojans.

1925: The Rose Bowl takes place as Notre Dame plays against Stanford in Pasadena. This was the first ever bowl game appearance for Notre Dame, and marked the final time that the famed "Four Horseman" of Jim Crowley, Elmer Layden, Don Miller, and Harry Stuhldreher would play a collegiate game together. Two legendary coaches in Knute Rockne of Notre Dame and Pop Warner of Stanford also faced off in this game. Despite Stanford All-American Ernie Nevers rushing for more yards than the "Four Horseman", they turned the ball over eight times leading to defeat. Layden scored three touchdowns for the Fighting Irish including two interception return touchdowns. The "Four Horseman" ended their careers together with a "resolution" of going out on top with a victory. Notre Dame hasn't returned to the Rose Bowl game since then, and wouln't play another bowl game until 1970. Today, Stanford and Notre Dame have played nearly every year since 1988 as they've become rivals on the football field.

1935: The first ever Orange Bowl game takes place in Miami as the event is originally called Palm Festival. The Miami Hurricanes played in the first ever game against the Bucknell Bison. The Bison defense was the story as they held Miami to only 28 total yards of offense and just four first downs in the entire game. Bucknell scored a touchdown in the second quarter and 19 more points in the second half as the Bison secured their "resolution" of a win in the first ever Orange Bowl beating Miami 26-0. This would be the only time Bucknell would play in the Orange Bowl, and Miami would make two more appearances in 1946 and 1951 before becoming one of college football's marquee programs in the 1980s.

1935: The first ever Sugar Bowl game takes place at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The Tulane Green Wave played against the Temple Owls, who were at the time coached by the legendary Pop Warner. Early on, it appeared that the Owls would spoil the Green Wave's chance at victory in the game on their own field when they held a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. But Tulane pulled off a big special teams play on a kickoff after quarterback John McDaniel threw a lateral pass to Monk Simmons, who returned the ball back for a 75-yard touchdown. Tulane tied the game in the third quarter before taking the lead for good in the last quarter though they missed the extra point. The Green Wave defense held the Owls scoreless in the second half, and fulfilled their own "resolution" by winning the first Sugar Bowl at their home stadium. Tulane made another appearance in the 1940 game, and Temple hasn't made it back to a game since.

1937: The Cotton Bowl Classic is played for the first time at the Texas State Fairgrounds in Dallas, Texas. Over 17,000 fans came to watch Texas Christian University play against Marquette. TCU star quarterback Sammy Baugh led his team to a 16-6 over Marquette in the first ever game. The game lost money, but that didn't stop Texas Oil Executive J. Curtis Sanford, who fully financed the first Cotton Bowl, from fulfilling his "resolution" of making this game an annual event. The Cotton Bowl Classic is now played at Cowboys Stadium since 2008.

1942: Due to an attack by Japan on Pear Harbor in December, the Rose Bowl is played in Durham, North Carolina at Duke Stadium instead of Pasadena, California. Originally, the game was to be canceled due to the possible attacks from Japan on the West Coast, but it was Duke University that sent an invitation out to have the game played at their venue against the Oregon State Beavers. An estimated 56,000 were on hand as Duke was the favorite by as many as 14 points. Don Durden kicked off the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter before Duke tied it on a Steve Lach 3-yard touchdown run. The two teams traded touchdowns in the 3rd quarter before Oregon State took the lead back for a good on a 68-yard touchdown pass Bob Dethman to Gene Gray though they missed the extra point. Duke managed a safety in the last quarter on Durden, but had two key turnovers in Beavers territory as well. The Oregon State Beavers fulfilled their "resoultion" after they won the Rose Bowl 20-16 over Duke, and are the only team to ever win a Rose Bowl outside of Pasadena. It is also the last the Beavers have won a Rose Bowl, too.

1965: For the first time ever, a bowl game is played at night as Miami was the sight of a classic Orange Bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide. As was the rules during that time, Alabama had finished the season No. 1 on the AP Poll thus securing a national championship. However, the game had it all as iconic Alabama head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant squared off against Texas legendary coach Darrell Royal. Texas struck first as Ernie Koy scored on a then-Orange Bowl record 79-yard touchdown run. The Longhorns added to their lead as George Sauer caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Hudson to take a 14-0 lead. Crimson Tide quarterback Joe Namath, who had an injured knee, came off the bench in hopes of leading his team back to victory. He led Alabama down the field by finishing off the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Trimble. But Texas responded with another touchdown before halftime on another Koy run after Pete Lammons recovered a fumble when Alabama tried to advance a blocked field goal attempt. With the Longhorns offense stalling throughout the second half, Namath took the spotlight as he threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ray Perkins. After a field goal that made it 21-17, Alabama had an opportunity to win the game, but Namath's QB sneak had been stopped by linebacker Tommy Nobis just short of a touchdown. Namath insists to this day that he scored on the play. Alabama had another chance with about three minutes to play, but Namath was intercepted by Lammons which sealed the victory for Texas. This would be the last season in which the final polls were released before the final bowl games were complete. The game itself attracted over 40 million viewers at home and was a "resolution" that changed television forever as Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl as well as the World Series would take advantage of large nighttime viewing audiences. It took until January of 2010 for Alabama to beat Texas for the first time as they won the BCS National Championship. As for Namath, he later took center stage in Super Bowl III for the New York Jets in his "guaranteed" victory along with teammates Jim Hudson, George Sauer, and Pete Lammons, who were on the opposing team for this game.

1967: The NFL & AFL Championship Games are played to decide who will play in what would become the first Super Bowl(then called the NFL-AFL World Championship Game) ever played. In Dallas, the Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the NFL Championship. Meanwhile in Buffalo, the Bills hosted the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFL Championship. "Resolutions" for the road teams came true as both the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs won to advance to the Super Bowl. Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr threw three touchdown passes as the Packers beat Dallas 34-27. The Chiefs handled Buffalo by not allowing a single second half point as rookie Mike Garrett scored two touchdowns in the last half as Kansas City won 31-7. Packer coach Vince Lombardi won the first Super Bowl by easily beating Kansas City 35-10. This "resolution" has helped shaped the NFL to what it is today as the merger has helped the league to worldwide popularity and the most watched event in sports today with the Super Bowl.

1974: In Major League Baseball, the American League has a new president as Lee MacPhail takes over for Joe Cronin. MacPhail, who comes from a family known for being baseball executives, would remain in his position until 1984 before Dr. Bobby Brown took over for him. Amongst the decisions made by MacPhail while in office included the "resolution" to the expand with the additions Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners franchises. Also, he played a big role in the 1981 MLB strike as he handled negotiations in place of owners. Perhaps his most famous decision came during the famous "Pine Tar Game" between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium when he ruled in favor of George Brett's home run in that game.

Sources:
USA Today College Football Encyclopedia
1965 Orange Bowl article
wikipedia.org
Today in baseball history
2010 ESPN Almanac