Washington and Oklahoma each came to the 1985 Orange Bowl with hopes of getting a national championship if they won impressively and got some help. Even though that’s not how it turned out, the Huskies and Sooners gave the country a good game on New Year’s Night. Here’s a look back on the road they […]
In 1972, Lavell Edwards became head coach of a BYU football program that had never been to a bowl game. Over the next four years he averaged 6-plus wins per season. From 1976-78 it jumped to nine wins. In the five-year period of 1979-83, Edwards won 11 games four times. The 1984 BYU football team […]
The 1984 Final Four brought together two of the greatest big men to ever play the game, when Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown beat Akeem Olajuwon (he didn’t become “Hakeem” until he was in the NBA) and Houston in the NCAA final. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS Start reading today. They were joined by two other high-profile college big […]
The 1984 Boston Celtics won an NBA championship that filled in an important line on Larry Bird’s resume. Five years earlier, as a college senior at Indiana State, Bird lost the NCAA final to Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Even though Bird won an NBA crown in 1981 it came against a sub-.500 Houston Rockets team. […]
The 1983 New York Islanders were no longer a dominant team, like they had been so often their run of three straight Stanley Cups from 1980-82. But the Isles were plenty good enough in the regular season and they were still great when it counted, winning a fourth straight Stanley Cup. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS […]
The 1983 Final Four is a watershed moment in the history of the NCAA Tournament, remembered most for N.C. State’s stunning national championship. There was another Cinderella story in Georgia, along with powerhouses Houston and Louisville playing an electric semifinal. It was a great showcase for college basketball on every level, and here we look […]
The 1983 Los Angeles Raiders were on a mission in their second season since relocating from Oakland. The franchise had won its second Super Bowl in a five-year period in 1980, but then slipped to 7-9 a year late. In the strike-shortened year of 1982, they were the AFC’s top playoff seed before being upset […]
After a surprise run to win the Super Bowl in 1981, the San Francisco 49ers slipped back to 3-6 in the strike-shortened year of 1982. The possibility that the championship year was a fluke appeared a real possibility. The 1983 San Francisco 49ers didn’t win it all, but by reaching the NFC Championship Game they […]
The 1983 Detroit Lions were a steadily improving team with one of the star running backs in the NFL, Billy Sims. The Lions drafted Sims following a 2-14 season in 1979 and immediately went 17-15 over the next two years. They made the playoffs at 4-5 in the strike-shortened year of 1982, and in 1983 […]
The 1983 Miami Dolphins began a great new era in franchise history, as they broke in a rookie quarterback named Dan Marino. In spite of changing quarterbacks mid-stream, the Dolphins rolled to a 12-win season and AFC East title before a disappointing playoff loss finally ended the run. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. David Woodley […]
The 1983 Pittsburgh Steelers won an AFC Central title and even though they weren’t one of the great playoff teams in franchise history, they provided memorable moments and marked the swan song of a legend, as quarterback Terry Bradshaw played his last game. GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTSStart reading today. Following 1979’s Super Bowl win, the fourth […]
The 1984 Cotton Bowl was one of the most memorable in the long history of the Dallas-based bowl game. Second-ranked Texas was upset by Georgia in a game that took on even greater significance by the time the night had ended. Here’s a look back on the road the Longhorns and Bulldogs took through the […]