1978 US Sporting Winners Trivia Quiz

Answer: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees were originally founded as the "Baltimore Orioles" in 1901 but moved to New York in 1903 under the name "New York Highlanders". They soon acquired the nickname "Yankees", and in 1913 adopted it as their official name. They soon became one of the most famous and successful baseball teams in the USA.

They first won the World Series in 1923, and in 1978 they beat the LA Dodgers four games to two to win it for the 23rd time.

Answer: Pittsburgh Steelers

For those who don't follow American football, the Super Bowl is the traditional conclusion of the National Football League (NFL) season, to decide the NFL champions. Teams compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after a famous NFL coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XIII by a score of 35-31, and by doing so became the first team to win three Super Bowl trophies. Well done, guys.

Answer: Montreal Canadiens

The National Hockey League is actually a misnomer, as it contains 32 teams from two different nations: 25 from the USA and seven from Canada. It was founded in 1917 with just four teams, all Canadian, but later expanded to include teams from the USA. The Boston Bruins were the first US team to join, in 1924.

Teams compete for the Stanley Cup, which dates back to 1893 and thus actually predates the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens are one of the founder member teams of the NHL. In 1978 they won the Stanley Cup by beating the Boston Bruins 4-2, their third victory in a row.

Answer: Washington Bullets

NBA is the National Basketball Association, which was founded in New York in 1946. It consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are based in the USA and one - the Toronto Raptors - is Canadian. The team known in 1978 as the Washington Bullets has had numerous changes of both hometown and name. It was founded in 1961 in Chicago and known as the Chicago Packers, becoming the Chicago Zephyrs twelve months later. In 1963 it moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Bullets, before moving yet again in 1973 to Washington DC, when they became the Capital Bullets, then the Washington Bullets. In 1997 they changed their name once more, to the Washington Wizards.

In 1978, when the team was still the Bullets, they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics to win the NBA title for the first time.

Answer: Kentucky Wildcats

The 1978 US College Basketball Tournament was contested by 32 schools. The championship game was played on 27 March in St. Louis, Missouri, in which Kentucky beat Duke by 94-88. This was a fifth title win for Kentucky.

Answer: Gary Player

Gary Player (b. 1935) won nine Major Championships between 1959 and 1978 during his regular career, plus another nine on the Senior/Champions Tour (1986-1997). His career included wins at all four Major Championships (the British and US Open Championships, plus the Masters and the PGA), known as the Career Grand Slam.

His 1978 Masters win was the last of his regular tour wins and came four years after his previous victory at a Major - the (British) Open Championship in 1974. He achieved his win despite being seven strokes down going into the final round, and won by a single stroke (277) over three players tied in second place on 278 - Rod Funseth, Hubert Green and Tom Watson.

Answer: Affirmed

The so-called "Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing" is the name given to three races for three-year old thoroughbred horses raced in the USA in May and June each year. These are the Kentucky Derby (first raced in 1875), the Preakness Stakes (1873) and the Belmont Stakes (1867). A horse which wins all three is awarded the "Triple Crown" trophy.

The first horse to win all three races was Sir Barton, in 1919. Affirmed was the eleventh to achieve this feat, the third to do so in the 1970s, although it wasn't until 2015 that another horse (American Pharoah) managed all three.

Answer: Al Unser Sr.

The "Indianapolis 500" is a motorsports event that takes place every year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Illinois. As the name indicates, it is raced over 500 miles, being 200 laps of the track. It first took place in 1911, and the 100th race took place in 2016 (the two World Wars having caused some cancellations). In the 62nd race in 1978, Al Unser Sr. narrowly beat Tom Sneva to take his third victory in the race.

For those of you not so hot on wordplay, his surname is an anagram of "nurse".

Answer: Chris Evert

Chris Evert (b. 1954 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) won a total of 18 Grand Slam titles: the US Open six times, Wimbledon three times, the French Open seven times and the Australian open twice. Her 1978 win at the US Open (in which she beat Pam Shriver in two sets, 7-5, 6-4.) was her fourth consecutive win at that tournament. During her career she played in a record 34 Grand Slam singles finals, between 1973 and 1988.

Answer: Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors (b. 1952 in East St Louis, Illinois) won the US Open five times (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983), as well as Wimbledon in 1974 and 1982 and the Australian Open in 1974, making eight Grand Slam titles in total. Interestingly, his first three US Open titles were each on a different surface - 1974 on grass, 1976 on clay and 1978 on hard.

His victory in 1978 was against Björn Borg, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.