BOATING—Ted Turner skippered COURAGEOUS to four straight victories over Australia to successfully defend the America's Cup (page 26).
Mickey Remund averaged 100.156 mph in MISS BUDWEISER on San Diego's Mission Bay to win the final race of the season and the unlimited hydroplane championship.
BOXING—Titles were at stake in arenas throughout the world, and in each case the champion prevailed. In Merida, Mexico, WBC flyweight champion MIGUEL CANTO won a 15-round decision over Martin Vargas of Chile. EDDIE GAZO of Nicaragua successfully defended his WBA junior middleweight title in Tokyo, taking a 15-round decision from Kenji Shibata of Japan. In Los Angeles, welterweight CARLOS PALOMINO retained his WBC championship by decisioning Italy's Everaldo Azevedo, and WBC featherweight champion DANNY LOPEZ of Alhambra, Calif. scored a knockout over Jose Torres of Mexico when Torres could not answer the bell for the eighth round. ROBERTO DURAN of Panama fought off a strong challenge by Edwin Viruet to retain his WBA lightweight title in Philadelphia. In Rome, VICTOR GALINDEZ of Argentina kept his WBA lightweight championship on an unpopular decision over Alvaro Lopez of Stockton, Calif.(page 22).
PRO FOOTBALL—Super Bowl champion Oakland looked stronger than ever as it rolled over San Diego 24-0, limiting the high-powered Charger offense to just 121 yards. Quarterback Kenny Stabler, who led the NFL with 27 touchdown passes last season, got two more, completing 13 of 20 for 139 yards. New England had a tougher time than expected before putting away Kansas City 21-17. The Chiefs had taken a 14-0 lead before Darryl Stingley scored two touchdowns and Jess Phillips one. A 30-yard field goal by Joe Danelo with three seconds remaining enabled the Giants to upset Washington 20-17. The Giants had tied the game with 1:56 remaining on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Jerry Golsteyn to Tight End Gary Shirk. Chicago downed Detroit 30-20 as Steve Schubert scored on a 70-yard punt return in the second quarter to break a 7-7 tie. Walter Payton scored twice and rushed for 160 yards, including a 73-yard run, the longest of his pro career. Green Bay saw a 24-point first-half lead dwindle to four as New Orleans scored twice in the third period on two- and three-yard runs by Chuck Muncie and once more in the fourth. Final score: 24-20. Favored Cincinnati's explosive offense failed to explode and its defense was riddled by Quarterback Brian Sipe, who completed 15 of 22 passes for 198 yards in a 13-3 Cleveland victory. A strong Miami defense and a sore ankle held O. J. Simpson to 71 yards in 21 carries as the Dolphins beat Buffalo 13-0. Fullback Norm Bulaich ran 20 yards for a third-quarter touchdown set up when Norris Thomas recovered a Bills' fumble, one of seven in the game. In his Los Angeles debut, Joe Namath completed 15 of 30 for 141 yards and a touchdown, but this was far from enough as Atlanta, under Leeman Bennett, who was making his head coaching debut, upset the Rams 17-6. Ron Jaworski threw two touchdown passes and the Philadelphia defense allowed Tampa Bay only 152 yards of total offense as the Eagles beat the Buccaneers 13-3. Baltimore downed Seattle 29-14, a 10-yard touchdown run by Roosevelt Leaks in the second period putting the Colts ahead to stay. The Cardinals couldn't seem to do anything right as they lost to Denver 7-0 before 75,002, the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event in Colorado. Minnesota hadn't lost a season opener in 13 years, Dallas in five. It took a sudden-death overtime to decide whose streak would be broken. It was the Vikings'—Roger Staubach running in from four yards out to give the Cowboys a 16-10 victory (page 18). Houston routed the Jets 20-0.
GOLF—The U.S. retained the Ryder Cup at the Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club in England, beating the British-Irish team 12½-7½ despite a disappointing performance by Jack Nicklaus and a loss by Tom Watson to 20-year-old Nick Faldo. Dave Hill clinched the victory for the Americans by defeating Tommy Horton five and four.
Joanne Carner and Judy Rankin, the circuit's two leading money winners, won the LPGA National Team Championship in Portland, Ore. in sudden death over Pam Higgins and Betty Burfeindt as Carner sank an eight-foot birdie on the first extra hole.
HARNESS RACING—Hambletonian winner GREEN SPEED ($2.80), driven by Billy Haughton, won the $118,495 Colonial Trot at Liberty Bell in Philadelphia by 3½ lengths over Texas in a stakes-record 1:58[4/5]. The purse raised the colt's season earnings to $542,771, the most ever for a trotter.
HORSE RACING—FOREGO ($5.80) broke a three-race losing streak by winning the $175,000 Woodward Handicap at Belmont Park for the fourth straight time. The 7-year-old gelding, carrying 133 pounds, covered the mile and an eighth over a sloppy track in 1:48, a length and a half ahead of Silver Series (page 78).
Elmendorf Farm's TEXT ($6.60), Marco Castaneda up, took the $121,900 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park by 3½ lengths over perennial runner-up Run Dusty Run. Text's time for the 1[1/16]-mile race, which was switched to the dirt because of the rain-soaked turf, was 1:42.
MOTOR SPORTS—BENNY PARSONS held off fast-closing David Pearson to win the Delaware 500 Grand National by 25 seconds. Parsons, whose Chevrolet shot into the lead on the 251st lap, averaged 114.708 mph.
POCKET BILLIARDS—JEAN BALUKAS, 18, of Brooklyn won a record sixth straight women's title in the U.S. Open in Daytona by defeating Gloria Walker of Ithaca, N.Y. 100-34.
TENNIS—The third-seeded team of TOM OKKER and MARTY RIESSEN defeated unseeded twins Tim and Tom Gullikson 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to win the $127,000 U.S. professional doubles championship in Houston.
It took 25-year-old HAROLD SOLOMON five sets, including a 13-point tie breaker, to beat 42-year-old Ken Rosewall 6-5, 6-2, 2-6, 0-6, 6-3 in the $200,000 Tournament of Champions in New York. Solomon's first-place check of $60,000 was the largest of his career.
Virginia Wade defeated top-seeded Martina Navratilova 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, to win the $100,000 Toray Sillook women's championship in Tokyo.
TRACK & FIELD—NADYEZHDA TKACHENKO of the Soviet Union set a world record of 4,839 points in the pentathlon, an event restricted to women, at the European Cup meet in Lille, France. The previous record of 4,823 was held by Eva Wilms of West Germany.
MILEPOSTS—SOLD: The Connecticut Bicentennials of the North American Soccer League, to Milan Mandaric, who plans to move the club to Oakland and rename it the Stompers, in honor of California's wine industry.
