SPORTS CALENDAR
December 1-3
Davis Cup final (tennis)
To the surprise of some, perhaps, Moscow is the location of this year's final between the US and Russia. The traditional format of four singles matches and a doubles match determine the world's top men's team. In a competition that dates to 1900, Russia lost last year's final to Sweden, which fell to the US in semifinal play this time. Jim Courier (subbing for the injured Andre Agassi in singles) joins Pete Sampras, Richey Reneberg, and Todd Martin on the US squad, which last won the cup in 1992.
December 8 and 10
Division I Men's NCAA soccer finals
Quarterfinal matches Dec. 3 will determine which teams make the Final Four in Richmond, Va. The University of Virginia's Cavaliers are aiming for their fifth-straight title and need to knock off Brown University to advance. The women's championship playoff wraps up when the University of North Carolina, Southern Methodist U., the University of Portland (Ore.), and Notre Dame meet in Chapel Hill, N.C., starting today. UNC seeks its fourth team title.
December 9
World Professional Figure Skating Championships
The sport's longest-running pro event celebrates its 16th consecutive year. NBC will capture all the moves in Landover, Md., by such skaters as Brian Boitano, Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi, and the dance team of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, but won't air the show until Jan. 26 and 27.
Heisman Trophy announcement
New York's Downtown Athletic Club honors this season's outstanding college football player. Quarterbacks Tommy Frazier of Nebraska and Danny Wuerffel of Florida and running back Eddie George of Ohio State are the leading candidates.
December 12
National Football Foundation awards dinner
Twelve new members of the College Football Hall of Fame, inducted at a new facility in South Bend, Ind., in August, will be honored at the foundation's New York awards dinner. Jim Brown of Syracuse and Paul Robeson of Rutgers (and later singing and acting fame) should have entered the hall long ago; various nonfootball considerations kept them out. Other honorees include Oklahoma's Billy Sims and Baylor's Mike Singletary.
December 14 and 16
Women's college volleyball championship
After basketball, volleyball is the biggest sport for women collegians, a fact underlined when nearly 80,000 spectators saw last year's NCAA tournament. This time, four finalists converge on Amherst, Mass., to celebrate the sport's 100th anniversary near its birthplace. Stanford is the defending national champion.
December 16
Division I-AA football championship
Huntington, W. Va., hosts the highest-level official title game in college football. And while it may be a notch below the National Collegiate Athletic Association's major-college ranks, the contestants will have the satisfaction of knowing they won a bona fide playoff, not just a one-shot bowl game. Eight teams advance to on-campus quarterfinal games this weekend.
December 30-31
World Championship of Golf
There's the Players Championship, the World Series of Golf, the Tour Championship, and the World Cup of Golf before you even come to this new men's event, the richest in golf with $3.65 million in prize money. The finale to this global, match-play playoff, begun in February, is in Scottsdale, Ariz. Four players will tee it up.
