• The Pittsburg Steelers beat the Raiders 16-10 and headed to Miami where they became the Super Bowl champions against the Dallas Cowboys 21-17. Dallas had beat the Minnesota Vikings to make it to the Super Bowl.

February
• Ben Crenshaw, who had been missing from the winner's circle since 1973, won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Carmel Bay. Nicklaus had been expected to win.

• After three mediocre seasons Marquette's Earl Tatum was hot and the Warriors had the formula for a national title.

• George Foreman overpowered Ron Lyle in a series of knock downs in Las Vegas.

• Franz Klammer of Austria upheld the Aurstrian position as the world capital of skiing winning the gold medal at the 12th winter Olympiad in Innsbruck.

March
• Indiana, UCLA, Michigan and Rutgers made up the final four in college basketball.

• Dick Deaver, who had been in competitive sailing all of his life, became the 12th consecutive Southern Californian to win the Congressional Cup.

• At 13, tennis prodigy Tracy Austin, who ranked first in the national girls' 14 and under division, graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.

• Heavily favored Iowa, led by 150-pounder Chuck Yagla, won its second straight NCAA wrestling championship.

• Buffalo's Bob McAdoo was the leading scorer in the NBA.

April
• Scott May of Indiana shot down Michigan to help Indiana win the NCAA title in college basketball.

• Leading the Masters from start to finish Ray Floyd tied Jack Nicklaus' tournament record.

• In winning his sixth straight stakes race Honest Pleasure turned Gulfstream Park's showcase into a profitable win for owner Bert Firestone, who walked away with $91,440 of the $152,400 purse.

• Evonne Goolagong beat out Chris Evert in the Virginia Slims Championship in Los Angeles.

May
• Phillie Mike Schmidt and Met Dave Kingman were leading in homers and whiffs.

• Angel Cordero graced the cover of Sports Illustrated after riding Bold Forbes to a 2 to 5 favorite win beating Honest Pleasure for $165,000 at the Kentucky Derby.

• Backstroker 6'6" John Naber was favored to win 3 gold medals at the Olympics.

• Right Wing Reggie Leach blitzed Boston and propelled the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals.

• Julius Erving aka Dr. J. had the right prescription for Denver and the Nets prospered in the first of four games of the ABA championships.

June
• Under Team Captain John Havlicek the Boston Celtics won an exciting three-overtime game at home then put the Phoenix Sunderellas away to take their 13th NBA title.

• The strongest man in the free world, 237 pound Mark Cameron had 28 inch thighs, a dragon tattooed on one hip and was expected to have a good shot at getting a medal at the Montreal Olympics.

• Johnny Rutherford won $250,000 in prize money for his second Indy victory when the rain finished the race just one lap past the point 252.5 miles.

• High jumper Dwight Stones set the world record, clearing 7'7" at the NCAAS.

• Beating Harold Solomn and Eddie Dibbs, Adriano Panatta won the French Open.

• Hitting a heroic iron out of the rough on the final hole, 22 year old Jerry Pate became the youngest man to win the US Open Championship since Jack Nicklaus in 1962.

July
• Nadia Comaneci, a 14 year old mechanic's daughter from Onesti, a factory town in the mountains of Romania, was the star of the Montreal Olympics with a score of seven 10's.

• Edwin Moses burned the field in 47.64 seconds in the 400-meter hurdle event setting a world record and winning the gold.

• A backstroker-freestyler who revels in the nickname snake, John Naber won four golds and one silver.

• Scotland's David Wilkie deprived the US of a gold sweep allowing Britannia to rule the waves in the 200 breast stroke.

• Sweden's Bjorn Borg defeated Ilie Nastase of Romania 6-4, 6-2, 9-7 at Wimbledon.

• Chris Evert beat Evonne Goolagong 6-3,4-6,8-6 at Wimbledon.

August
• Fifty nine year old Joe O'Brien fought off the pain from a spill in an earlier race to win $124,141 Adios with Armbro Ranger beating out Stanley Dancer.

• Jonty Skinner of South Africa set a world record winning the 100-meter freestyle in the AAU outdoor swimming championship at 49.44. He had been banned from the Montreal Olympics because of South Africa's apartheid policy.

• After slipping in the rain at the Montreal Olympics, Dwight Stones raised his own world record in the high jump bar to 7' 7 1/4" in Philadelphia's Frankling Field at the Bicentennial Meet of Champions.

• Bruce Jenner of the US won the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics with a world record performance.

• Reggie Jackson was one of 30 players who, if they remained unsigned, would be eligible for the unprecedented free-agent draft to be held in November. In preparation, front office men in both leagues were studying the technicalities trying to determine if it was the best hope for a failing franchise or a system that had gone mad.

September
• Ohio State Quarterback Rod Gerald was instrumental in giving Ohio State a heated 12-7 win over Penn State.

• Bill Shoemaker rode Forego to victory in the the $173,200 Woodward handicap at New York's Belmont Park.

• Jimmy Connors beat Bjorn Borg, and Chris Evert walloped Evonne Goolagong to win the US open at Forest Hills.

• Jack Nicklaus won the new World Series of Golf in Akron pocketing $100,000.

• Billy Haughton, driving Steve Lobell, won the Hambletonian Trotting Classic and $131,762 in 90 degree weather. Haughton felt the four heats had been too much and had wanted to take the colt out of the race before the last heat. The colt collapsed afterwards, instigating a growing sentiment that the format of the race be changed.

• Michigan was slated as the No.1 team to beat in College Football with Quarterback Rick Leach.

October
• The Cincinnati Reds twice sped past Philly, while the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals played to an American standoff.

• The Cincinnati Reds were off to a booming start in opening the World Series with 5-1 and 4-3 wins over the New York Yankees.

• James Hunt pulled closer to Niki Lauda with a victory in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

• Bobby Orr and his $3 million knees survived week one with the Chicago Black Hawks.

• After a lackluster performance against Ken Norton, Ali maintained he had fought his last fight. Norton, confident he had beaten Ali and taken the title, was all smiles until he heard the judge's verdict. It was a disputed victory.

• Replacing the injured Ken Stabler, Mike Rae beat the Houston Oilers 14-13 to keep the Oakland Raiders undefeated.

November
• Tony Dorsett of Pittsburg gained 241 yards to become the all time leading college rusher.

• Quarterback Bert Jones had Baltimore on target a top of the AFC East.

• David Thompson and the Denver Nuggets were the stars of the NBA and featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

• Chicago's Walter Payton of the Bears was one of the NFL's new stars for the second year, leading the NFL in rushing.

December
• Chris Evert was named Sportswoman of the year by Sports Illustrated.

• With 75 year old Adolph Rupp on center stage Kentucky's undefeated Wildcat's celebrated the dedication of the new arena in the old coach's name with a win over Kansas 90-63.

• A 2 year old named Royal Ski got out of a tough trap to win the prestigious Remsen stakes.

• The Pittsburg Steelers beat the Cincinatti Bengals in 26ºF weather and snow flurries to keep their hopes alive.