1977 in sports - Definition and Overview

See also: 1976 in sports, other events of 1977, 1978 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Auto racing

• Stock car racing:
  • NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough
  • Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500
• USAC Racing - Tom Sneva wins the season championship
  • Indianapolis 500 - won by A.J. Foyt. Janet Guthrie became first female qualifier
• Formula One Champion - Niki Lauda of Austria
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Jean-Pierre Laussaud / Didier Pironi won, driving a Renault-Alpine 442
• Rally racing - the team of Sandro Munari / Silvio Maiga won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
• Drag racing:
  • Shirley Muldowney won the NHRA Top Fuel championship.
  • Dennis Baca won Top Fuel at the NHRA World Finals

Baseball

• January 19: Ernie Banks is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He won back-to-back MVP awards, but is best remembered for his famous line, "Let's play two".
• Sparky Lyle breaks Ron Perranoski's major league record for left-handers of 179 career saves.
• The Major League Baseball expansion Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays make their debuts (both are American League teams).
• World Series: The New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the Series in which Reggie Jackson becomes known as "Mr. October."

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship:
  • Marquette wins 67-59 over North Carolina

• NBA Finals:
  • Portland Trail Blazers won 4 games to 2 over the Philadelphia 76ers

Boxing

• After 13 years and 82 contests, including 14 title defences, World Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzon retired undefeated.

Cricket

• 12 March-17 March, Melbourne - Centenary Test played between Australia and England to commemorate 100th anniversary of first Test match. Australia won by 45 runs, exactly the same margin as the first Test match.
• World Series Cricket begins playing games in competition to official International Cricket Council sanctioned matches.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Michel Pollentier of Belgium
• Tour de France - Bernard Thévenet of France
• World Cycling Championship: Francesco Moser of Italy

Field Hockey

• March 5 - In an international women's field hockey match at Wembley Stadium,England. New Zealand beat England 1-0.

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Vladimir Kovalev, Soviet Union
  • Women's champion: Linda Fratianne, United States
  • Pairs champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev, Soviet Union

Football (American)

• Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders won 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings

Football (Australian Rules)

• Victorian Football League
  • North Melbourne wins the 81st VFL Premiership (North Melbourne 9.22 (76) drew Collingwood Football Club 10.16 (76), replay North Melbourne 21.25 (151) d Collingwood 19.10 (124))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Graeme Teasdale (South Melbourne)

Football (Canadian Football League)

• Grey Cup: Montreal Alouettes won 41-6 over the Edmonton Eskimos
• Vanier Cup: Western Ontario Mustangs win 48-15 over the Acadia Axmen

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Manchester United won 2-1 over Liverpool
• October 1 - Pelé played the final game of his storied career at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He played the first half for his current club, the New York Cosmos, and the second half for his old Brazilian club Santos.

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Tom Watson
  2. June - US Open - Hubert Green
  3. July - British Open - Tom Watson
  4. August - PGA Championship - Lanny Wadkins

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $310,653

• Ryder Cup: United States won 12½ -7½ over Britain & Ireland in world team golf. This was the last Ryder Cup to feature a side exclusively from the British Isles; the U.S. opponents in the next Ryder Cup, held in 1979 at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, would be drawn from all of Europe. The U.S.-Europe format has continued ever since.

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Hollis Stacy
• LPGA Championship - Chako Higuchi
• Judy Rankin:leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $122,890.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Gold and Black
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Sound Reason
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Alleged
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - The Minstrel

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Nebbiolo
  2. Epsom Derby - The Minstrel
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Dunfermline

• Seattle Slew, ridden by jockey Jean Cruguet, wins the United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Seattle Slew
  2. Preakness Stakes - Seattle Slew
  3. Belmont Stakes - Seattle Slew

Harness Racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Jade Prince
  2. Little Brown Jug - Governor Skipper
  3. Messenger Stakes - Governor Skipper

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Green Speed
  2. Yonkers Trot - Green Speed
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Texas

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Stanley Rio

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Guy Lafleur, Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Guy Lafleur - Montreal Canadiens

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens defeat the Boston Bruins 4 games to 0.

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Czechoslovakia defeated Sweden
  • Junior Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Canada

Skiing

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden
  • The women's overall season champion: Lise-Marie Morerod, Switzerland

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: John Spencer beats Cliff Thorburn 25-12
• World rankings: Ray Reardon remains world number one for 1977/78.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - January: Roscoe Tanner - December: Vitas Gerulaitis
  2. French Open - Guillermo Vilas
  3. Wimbledon championships - Bjorn Borg
  4. US Open - Guillermo Vilas

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open: January: Evonne Goolagong - December: Kerry Reid
  2. French Open - Mima Jausovec
  3. Wimbledon championships - Virginia Wade
  4. US Open - Chris Evert

• Davis Cup: Australia won 3-1 over Italy in world tennis.

General sporting events

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion:
  • Rick Swenson won with lead dogs: Andy & O.B. (Old Buddy)

Births

• February 11 - Jessica Carlson, United States archer
• February 11 - Stephanie Richardson, Canadian swimmer
• February 13 - Randy Moss, NFL star
• April 24 - Carlos Beltran, American baseball player
• May 13 - Denise Marston-Smith, British field hockey international
• May 23 - Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skating champion
• June 9 - Peja Stojakovic, Serbian NBA star
• June 27 - Raúl, Spanish football star
• July 23 - Gail Emms, badminton star
• July 28 - Emanuel Ginobili, Argentine basketball player
• August 17 - Thierry Henry, French football star
• November 7 - Melanie Twitt, Australian field hockey international
• November 19 - Kerri Strug, gymnast
• November 27 - Laura Newton, English cricketer
• November 29 - Younis Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• December 3 - Adam Malysz, Polish ski jumper
• December 6 - Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer
• December 7 - Fernando Vargas, boxer
• December 30 - Laila Ali, boxer, daughter of Muhammad Ali

Deaths

• March 19 - Jose Carlos Pace, Brazilian champion race car driver