I Remember the 80s--Sports Style

This week, I'd like to talk about the time I grew up, the 80s. I'm not talking about the 80s that gave us parachute pants, one-hit-wonder bands, and the Brat Pack. I'm talking about the sports. The 80s featured some of the best players the respective sports have ever seen. Who can forget the defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears and a team I think was every bit their defensive equal, the 1986 New York Giants? The NFC dominated the 1980s with the exception of a couple of Raiders' Super Bowl wins. The NFL also had Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, and Mike Ditka all in their primes as coaches. The players were phenomenal as well. Walter Payton, Joe Montana, and Lawrence Taylor were superstars. The business side of the NFL was different also. You knew the nucleus of your team would be together every year. It was before free agency and salary caps were common everyday terms. The NBA was starting to blossom as well, with stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson taking the game to new heights. There were only 23 teams at the time and the cream generally stayed at the top, particularly Magic's Lakers, who only missed two finals in the eighties. They dominated the Western Conference, with the exception of 1981 and 86 when the Houston Rockets managed to slip in to the finals. The sport grew into what it is today in the 80s. As I've mentioned before, baseball had what I thought was one of its more dominant teams, the 1984 Detroit Tigers. There were some great World Series also. St. Louis played in three classics: in 1982 against the Milwaukee Brewers, 1985 against in state rival Kansas City, and in 1987 against the Minnesota Twins. Hockey saw the end of one dynasty on Long Island and the beginning of another in Edmonton, with probably the greatest team sport athlete leading the way, Wayne Gretzky. I know people think Michael Jordan is the greatest team sport athlete but for my money it's The Great One. He won four Stanley Cups in Edmonton, beating the Flyers and my Bruins, twice each. He held or tied 61 records when he retired in 1999, half a dozen or so will probably NEVER be broken. One of the great stats in sports is his 2,857 points, however if you take away Gretzky's 894 goals, he is STILL the NHL's all time scoring king with 1,963 assists. When Edmonton traded him to Los Angeles in the summer of 1988, he brought the game to warm weather markets in the southern US. We have teams in Florida, Dallas and Arizona now, because of this trade. Finally this week, there are all the moments. Villanova and North Carolina State pulling off huge upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament. Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson willing the Dodgers over Oakland in 88. Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters a 6th time at age 46 in 1986. That February day in 1980 when we believed in miracles. Larry Bird stealing the ball and the game from the Pistons in 87. John Riggins breaking a 43 yard run off tackle in Super Bowl XVII after the 49ers fantastic goal line stand, the previous Super Bowl. Michael Jordan scoring at will against the Celtics in the 86 playoffs. Bob Knight leading the last all-amateur basketball team to Olympic gold in 1984. The Will Clark-Mark Grace one on one battle in the 1989 NLCS. There are too many to mention. I hope some of you enjoyed this history lesson and the older readers got t a trip down memory lane. Until next week, keep learning.