Year in Sports Review: 1984 – Who was watching who?

Andy Kious

1984, the mid-80’s were upon us. Though we may not have known it the Cold War was coming to an end. Apple computers started doing it’s thing. Big Brother was watching. There was a book written about 1984, 31 years before the 80’s even started. Van Halen released an album in 1984, simple called 1984. With that we all definitely became “Hot for Teacher.”

The year 1984 is so popular, in fact, that is has become practically ingrained into the identity of the 80’s. Here are some pop culture references about 1984:

The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, published in 1949, is set in this year.
Rock band Van Halen releases an album titled “1984“
The video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories takes place in 1984.
The Transformers franchise starts in 1984 with the Transformers toy line.
The first season of Voltron, featuring the “Lion Force Voltron” premiered. It was adapted from the Japanese anime series Beast King GoLion.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain takes place in this year.
The Terminator takes place in May of this year.
The Saturday school detention of The Breakfast Club takes place on March 24, 1984.
Season two of the Netflix original television show Stranger Things takes place in 1984.
The upcoming sequel of Wonder Woman (2017 film) Wonder Woman 1984 takes place in 1984

Then there was the sports that started to define the decade…

Here’s some athletes that were born in 1984:

Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
Megan Quann-Jendrick, American swimmer
Cassie Hager, American basketball player
Makoto Hasebe, Japanese footballer
Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
Carlos Tevez, Argentinian football player
Peter Vanderkaay, American Olympic swimmer
Oussama Mellouli, Tunisian Olympic swimmer
AB de Villiers, South African cricketer
Ben Lovejoy, American hockey player
Alicia Hollowell, American softball pitcher
Cullen Jones, American Olympic swimmer
Julia Mancuso, U.S. Olympic medalist
Chris Bosh, American basketball player
Kris Britt, Australian cricketer
Kevin Owens, Canadian professional wrestler
Alex Smith, American football player
Prince Fielder, American baseball player
Carmelo Anthony, African-American basketball player
Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
Rick Nash, Canadian hockey player
Takeshi Matsuda, Japanese swimmer
J. J. Redick, American basketball player
Raymond Felton, American basketball player
Deron Williams, American basketball player
Diana Mocanu, Romanian swimmer
Brandon Roy, American basketball player
Antoine Bethea, American football player
Ali Krieger, American soccer player
Zach Parise, American hockey player
Ryan Lochte, American swimmer
Melky Cabrera, American baseball player
Clay Buchholz, American Major League Baseball pitcher
Garrett Wolfe, American NFL player
Charlie Villanueva, American basketball player
Ryan Kesler, American ice hockey player
Igor Maksymenko, Ukrainian kickboxer
Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lankan cricketer
Dwayne Bowe, American football player
Ben Wildman-Tobriner, American Olympic swimmer
Matt Kemp, American baseball player
Ryan Zimmerman, American baseball player
Hollie Dunaway, American female boxer
Lindsey Vonn, American alpine skier
Sasha Cohen, American figure skater
Brady Quinn, American football player
Eric Staal, Canadian hockey player
Dustin Brown, American hockey player
Sebastian Schachten, German footballer
Joel Zumaya, American baseball player
Kendrick Perkins, American basketball player
Andrew Bogut, Australian basketball player
Marc-André Fleury, Canadian hockey player
Festus, American professional wrestler
LeBron James, African-American basketball player

Here are some of the athletes that died in 1984:

Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (b. 1903)
David Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
Ken Carpenter, American Olympic athlete (b. 1913)
Charley Lau, American baseball player (b. 1933)
Stan Coveleski, American baseball player and member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1889)
Vincent J. McMahon, professional wrestling promoter WWF (b. 1914)
Margaret Bennett, American figure skater (b. 1910)
Viktor Chukarin, Russian Olympic gymnast (b. 1921)
Waite Hoyt, American baseball player and member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1899)
Joe Cronin, American baseball player and member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1906)
Yvon Petra, French tennis player (b. 1916)
Walter Alston, American baseball player and manager (Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1911)
George Kelly, American baseball player (New York Giants) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1895)
Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1946)

News of the Year:

February 8 through February 19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
United States researchers announce their discovery of the AIDS virus.
The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Chicago White Sox defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 in the longest game in Major League Baseball history: 25 innings totalling eight hours, six minutes.
Bruce Springsteen releases his 7th album Born in the U.S.A.
Tetris is officially released in the Soviet Union on the Electronika 60.
The world-renowned, critically acclaimed Canadian entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil is founded.
Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona is sold by FC Barcelona (Spain) to S.S.C. Napoli (Italy) for a world record fee at this date of $10.48M (£6.9M).
Vanessa L. Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign when she surrenders her crown, after nude photos of her appear in Penthouse magazine.
July 28 – August 12 – The 1984 Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles, California.
Barefoot South African runner Zola Budd, controversially granted British citizenship earlier in the year, and Mary Decker of the U.S. collide in the Olympic 3,000 meters final, neither finishing as medallists.
John DeLorean is acquitted of all eight charges of possessing and distributing cocaine.
Jeopardy! begins its syndicated version, with host Alex Trebek.
Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown‘s rushing record.
FIFA gives the right to host the 1990 FIFA World Cup to Italy
The North American Soccer League folds due to financial problems
Donald Sterling relocates the San Diego Clippers to Los Angeles.
Central Missouri State University won the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s basketball titles, becoming the first school ever in any division to accomplish the feat. The University of Connecticut would do the same in Division I in 2004.
A new era in the NBA is born on June 23 with the drafting of Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton.
Wilfredo Gómez defeats Juan Laporte by a decision in 12 rounds to conquer the WBC’s world Featherweight crown.
Oct. 26, 1984, a young basketball player named Michael Jordan stepped onto an NBA court for the first time. Jordan’s first game with the Chicago Bulls was a win over the Washington Bullets. Just over 2 months later, on December 30, a little baby named LeBron James was born. Jordan played in his final NBA game on April 16, 2003, in Philadelphia. Just over 2 months later on June 26, LeBron James was selected 1st overall in the NBA draft.

Championships:

MLB World Series – the Detroit Tigers defeated the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 1.
NFL Super Bowl XVIII – the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins, 38-9.
USFL– the Philadelphia Stars defeated the Arizona Wranglers, 23-3
NBA Finals – the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 3.
NHL Stanly Cup Final – the Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 2.
NCAA Baseball World Series – Cal State Fullerton defeated Texas, 3-1.
NCAA Softball World Series – UCLA defeated Texas A&M , 1–0.
NCAA Men’s Basketball – Georgetown defeated Houston, 84-75.
NCAA Women’s Basketball – University of Southern California defeated Tennessee, 72–61.
NCAA Division I-A Football – The Miami Hurricanes defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 31-30, to win the national championship in the Orange Bowl.
- The undefeated Brigham Young Cougars take a claim to the national championship following their victory in the Holiday Bowl over Michigan, despite never being in or facing an opponent in the AP Top 25.
CFL Grey Cup – Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 47-17.
European Championship – France defeats Spain, 2-0; Host was France
Champions’ Cup – Liverpool defeated A.S. Roma, 1-1; Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties after extra time.
UEFA Cup – Two legs; 1st leg Anderlecht 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur; 2nd leg Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Anderlecht; 2-2 on aggregate, Tottenham Hotspur won 4-2 on penalties
Cup Winners’ Cup – Juventus defeated Porto, 2-1
Super Cup – Juventus defeated Liverpool, 2-0
England – FA Cup – Everton defeated Watford, 2-0
Tour de France – Laurent Fignon of France

Tennis:

Grand Slam in tennis men’s results:

Grand Slam in tennis women’s results:

Australian Open – Chris Evert
French Open – Martina Navratilova
Wimbledon – Martina Navratilova
US Open – Martina Navratilova

Olympic Games:

1984 Summer Olympics takes place at Los Angeles
- USA wins the most medals (174) and the most gold medals (83)
1984 Winter Olympics takes place at Sarajevo
- USSR wins the most medals (25) and East Germany wins the most gold medals (9)