On this Week

OJ Simpson's 1973 NFL record of 2,003 yards rushed in a single season was regarded as one of the strongest records in the sport.

Eric Dickerson (pictured) of the LA Rams had other ideas. After a stunning rookie season made him the hottest property in the game in 1983, Dickerson had an even better season the following year - and on December 9 he broke Simpson's record as he clocked up 215 yards against the Houston Oilers. He ended the season with 2,105 yards - a record that stands to this day.

Only the fact that Simpson set his record in a shorter, 14-game season (as opposed to 16) takes the shine off Dickerson's record. But the fact that Dickerson used to play while wearing shades puts that shine right back on again!

Steve Davis burst on to the world snooker scene in 1981 and, after winning the world championship that year, enjoyed a run of success in which he was all but unbeatable and included titles by the handful and the first televised 147.

Davis had been knocked out of the world championship in 1982 - which started talk of the 'Crucible Curse' on returning champions - but lifted the title in 1983 after a one-sided final, and headed to the UK Championships in Preston full of confidence.

Davis was looking for his third win at the event in four years, and when he raced into a 7-0 lead against Alex Higgins in the final it seemed as if he would coast to victory.

But Higgins had other ideas. He abandoned his usual flamboyant tactics and played Davis at his own game, grinding out frames to close the opening day just one behind Davis at 8-7.

Higgins squared things up early the next day and set a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the rest of the final: first one player edged ahead, then the other, but eventually Higgins came through to secure the final two frames of the match and claim one of the greatest wins of his career.

Last year, the USA won their first Davis Cup title in 12 years but their victory in 1995 was arguably the more thrilling of the two. Fielding an amazing team of Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Todd Martin, the US scraped past Russia 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

Hero-of-the-weekend Sampras got the Americans off to a winning start with a battling five-set victory over Andrei Chesnokov, before Yevgeny Kafelnikov struck back for Russia with a straight sets win over Courier. But Sampras returned to seal the tie for the States as he first combined with Martin to win the doubles rubber in straight sets, before taking his third match in as many days by beating Kafelnikov, again in straight sets.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered their worst home defeat for 62 years on this week back in 1997 when they were crushed 6-1 by Chelsea. Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo was the hero for the South-West Londoners as he netted a hat-trick. The match was Christian Gross's first home game in charge and ended the optimism his opening 2-0 victory at Everton had created. In less than a year he would be dismissed.

Granted, £1 million may seem like a relatively trivial amount in an era when Tiger Woods could become sport's first billionaire, but back in 1987 it was a huge amount of money to win in the space of one year. Woosnam was the first to do so largely because of his win at the Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City in South Africa.

Arguably the most famous water polo match in history, the clash between Hungary and the USSR at the Melbourne Olympics was played out against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution. With USSR tanks rolling into Budapest to quash the uprising, defending Olympic champions Hungary took to the water with the intention of "playing for the whole country".

Hungary won 4-0 and the final's physical nature saw it dubbed the 'Blood in the Water' match after Hungarian Ervin Zador emerged from the water at the end of the game with claret pouring from a cut under his right eye following a punch from a Soviet player.

Newcastle United won the title in 1908-09, but despite that success one amazing game left a bitter aftertaste on the whole season. In the Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland at St James' Park, Newcastle were beaten 9-1 by their fierce rivals in front of a sell-out 56,000 crowd.

What makes the whole event even more extraordinary is that the match was 1-1 with 28 minutes to go, but Sunderland went on a late goal spree that included five in the last eight minutes.

It is still Newcastle's record home defeat.