Basketball
Basketball was an important sport in society during the 1970s. It was divided up into two different leagues. The ABA (American Basketball Association) and the NBA (National Basketball Association), and by the end of the 70s, there were 22 teams in all. These teams were divided equally, each league consisting of 11 teams. The players would wear sleeveless shirts and had socks that were just above their knees, and shirts and shorts were improved to be more tight and snug. The 70s also brought fashion trends into basketball, such as headbands and tube socks. No team was consistently dominant in pro basketball, with the Boston Celtics being the only team to win the Playoffs twice during the 70s. One famous shot would perhaps be the 60-foot buzzer-beater by Los Angeles Lakers player Jerry West, which helped his team tie up with the New York Knicks at game 3 of the 1970 NBA. This shot earned him the nickname "Mr. Clutch", but the Lakers still lost at the end of regulation. This shot would have won the game IF the 3 point system was implemented, but unfortunately this happened during the 79-80 season.
football
Football was one of the roughest sports during the 1970s, but was considered practically a religion as well. The equipment wasn’t as good as it is today, but got the job somewhat done. The helmet consisted of foam cells, and had optional air valves to get a custom fit. The shoulder pads were made of plastic, while the thigh pad had much thicker materials. The kneepads, like the helmets, had foam, and the hip and tailbone pads that were packed more heavy with foam. Lots of penalties were added into the game, such as unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, chopping, and many others. There were two teams that were close to dominant in the 70s. These teams were the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins. The Steelers won 3 of the Super Bowls, while Miami won 2. The Pittsburgh Steelers also formed the most exciting yet bizarre play to help them beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in the final 30 seconds of the game. This play is known to the present day as “The Immaculate Reception”. The quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, was regarded as a rather dumb character and was nicknamed “The Bayou Bumpkin”. But on that day, he hushed his critics and launched his team into the AFC Championship Game against the Miami Dolphins, which they lost.
Baseball players were arguably best known for their facial hair.
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Baseball
Baseball was an extremely popular sport in the 70s. The dominant teams were: The Oakland Athletics in the early 1970s, The Cincinnati Reds in the mid 1970s, and The New York Yankees in the late 1970s. The Reds and The Yankees both won twice, while the Athletics won thrice. Their uniform had collard shirts and shorts, which is a lot different from the attire the pro baseball players today wear. A famous player for the Athletics would be Catfish Hunter. He got this nickname when the owner of the Athletics made up a story about he would go fishing in backwoods creeks in North Carolina, his real name being James Augustus Hunter. He played for 500 games (15 seasons), had 2958 hits, 1380 runs, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
THE OLYMPICS ('72, '76)
The Olympics play a huge role in today's world, and still played a big role during the 1970s. The 1972 Olympics was held in Munich. During these Olympics, nine Israeli Olympics Athletes were kidnapped by Palestinians. These terrorists had already killed two athletes, and held the other nine as hostages. These hostages were eventually killed in a gunfight, along with five of the terrorists. Mark Spitz, an American swimmer, led all other Olympic athletes in gold medals (7). The Olympics in 1972 were held in Montreal, and Russian male gymnast Nikolay Adrianov gained the most medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze).