Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cricket 6 Cycling 7 Figure Skating 8 Football (Soccer) 9 Football (American) 10 Canadian Football League 11 Golf 12 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 13 Harness Racing 14 Ice Hockey 15 Skiing 16 Tennis 17 General sporting events 18 Births 19 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty
• USAC Racing was supplanted by the Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc
• Indianapolis 500 - Rick Mears
• CART Racing: Rick Mears won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Jody Scheckter of South Africa
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Klaus Ludwig / Bill Whittington / Don Whittington win driving a Porsche 935
• Rally racing - the team of Bernard Darniche / Alain Mahe win the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Lancia Stratos HF
• Drag racing:
  • Rob Bruins won the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship.
  • Don Garlits won "Top Fuel" at the NHRA World Finals

• World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Series MVP was Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • Michigan St. wins 75-64 over Indiana St.

• NBA Finals:
  • Seattle Supersonics won 4 games to 1 over the Washington Wizards

• September 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Larry Holmes retains his World Heavyweight title with an 11th round TKO of Earnie Shavers.

• November 3 also in Las Vegas, dual world championship undercard: Vito Antuofermo retains his world Middleweight title with a 15 round draw (tie) against Marvin Hagler, and Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first word title, beating WBC world Welterweight champion Wilfredo Benitez by knockout in round 15.

• Giro d'Italia won by Giuseppe Saronni of Italy
• Tour de France - Bernard Hinault -France
• World Cycling Championship: Jan Raas of Netherlands

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Wladimir Kowalew, (Soviet Union)
  • Women's champion: Linda Fratianne, (United States)
  • Pairs champions: Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner, (United States)

• England - FA Cup: Arsenal won 3-2 over Manchester United

• Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers won 35-31 over the Dallas Cowboys

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos won 17-9 over the Montreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup: Acadia Axmen won 34-12 over the Western Ontario Mustangs

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Fuzzy Zoeller
  2. June - US Open - Hale Irwin
  3. July - British Open - Seve Ballesteros
  4. August - PGA Championship - David Graham

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Tom Watson - $462,636

• Ryder Cup: United States won 17-11 over Europe in the first Ryder Cup to feature a side representing all Europe.

• US Women's Open - Jerilyn Britz
• LPGA Championship - Donna Caponi
• Nancy Lopez: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $189,213.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Hyperno
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Steady Growth
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Three Troikas
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Troy

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Tap On Wood
  2. Epsom Derby - Troy
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Son of Love

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Spectacular Bid
  2. Preakness Stakes - Spectacular Bid
  3. Belmont Stakes - Coastal

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Happy Motoring
  2. Little Brown Jug - Hot Hitter
  3. Messenger Stakes - Hot Hitter

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Legend Hanover
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Rondel
  • Trotters: No Response

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the New York Rangers

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

• Alpine Skiing
  • The men's overall season champion: Peter Luescher, Switzerland
  • The women's overall season champion: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Guillermo Vilas
  2. French Open - Bjorn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships - Bjorn Borg
  4. US Open - John McEnroe

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Barbara Jordan
  2. French Open - Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships - Martina Navratilova
  4. US Open - Tracy Austin

• Davis Cup: United States wins 5-0 over Italy in world tennis.

• Embassy World Snooker Championship:
  • Terry Griffiths won 24-16 over Dennis Taylor

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

• September 7 - The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its debut.

Deaths