1 - As the process of jury selection begins, the 20-year-old woman who had accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault more than a year earlier decides not to go through with the trial in Eagle County, Colo. Prosecutors drop the case, Kobe says he's sorry, implying there was a misunderstanding. The woman says she intends to pursue a civil case against the Lakers star.

6 – Tiger Woods’ record run of 264 weeks at the top of the world golf rankings ends as Vijay Singh beats Woods by three strokes in a head-to-head showdown at the Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC of Boston. It is Singh’s sixth title of the year.

11 – With Serena and Venus Williams long since gone, having lost respectively to Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport, the final of the U.S. Open is an all-Russian affair between French Open champ Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova prevails in straight sets to become the third different Russian woman to win a 2004 Grand Slam.

12 – In the middle set of the U.S. Open final goes to a tiebreaker, but Roger Federer bagels Lleyton Hewitt in the first and third sets to win his third Grand Slam title of the year. Before he’s done hoisting the trophy, comparisons are being made between Federer and retired superstar Pete Sampras.

14 – Led by the goaltending of Martin Brodeur, who posts a 1.00 goals-against average in five games, Canada sweeps all opponents and wins the World Cup of hockey, beating Finland, 3-2, in the final game.

16 - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announces that the league is locking out its players.

17 - In the third inning of a 4-1 win over San Diego, Barry Bonds sends Jake Peavy’s second pitch 392 feet into the left-field stands for the 700th home run of his career. Bonds joins Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in baseball’s most exclusive club.

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images It was during September that Pedro Martinez uttered the immortal words: "Call the Yankees my Daddy."

19 – Pedro Martinez gives up eight runs to the Yankees in five-plus innings of what will be an 11-1 loss. Afterward, he utters the remark that would launch a thousand taunts: “Call the Yankees my Daddy.”

19 – Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins, who had collected every middleweight belt available and ruled the division for a decade but had never gained the popularity of flashier self-promoters, climbs in the ring against Oscar De La Hoya. In the eighth round, a Hopkins shot to the liver knocks Oscar out for the first time in his career.

26 – The legend that was Roy Jones, severely damaged in May by Antonio Tarver, is destroyed when Jones is knocked cold in the ninth round of his bout with little-known Glenn Johnson.

Month-by-month look at 2004 January February March April May June July August September October November December