1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, The first game
In the top of the ninth, Vuckovich retired Jorge Orta on a ground ball. Vuckovich then struck out Richie Zisk. For the day, Zisk had four hits in five at bats. With one out to go for the win, Jim Spencer hit a line drive to left field but Scott dropped the ball for a two-base error. Oscar Gamble subsequently grounded out to the shortstop, and the Blue Jays had won their first game in franchise history. Jerry Johnson picked up the win while Vuckovich earned the save.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, The first game
The heroes of opening day would not have a future with the Jays. Jerry Johnson retired after the '77 season and would end up in Hollywood working as a stuntman. At the 1977 Winter Meetings, Toronto traded Vuckovich to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Tom Underwood. After seeing sporadic playing time in 1978, Doug Ault spent all of 1979 in the minors.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, April
The Blue Jays finished their first homestand with a 5–2 record, sitting in first place in the American League East by 0.5 games, as the team took two of three against the Chicago White Sox and three of four from the Detroit Tigers. Pitcher Jerry Garvin picked up two of Toronto's five wins.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, April
The Blue Jays struggled on their first road trip, as they were swept in a three-game series by the Chicago White Sox and split a four-game series with the New York Yankees, returning home with a 7–7 record.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, April
On April 27, the Blue Jays were involved in their first extra innings game, defeating the Cleveland Indians 6–5 in 12 innings.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, April
The Jays finished the month in fifth place with a 10–11 record, three games out of first place. Jerry Garvin had an impressive 4–0 record with a 2.14 ERA. Outfielder Otto Vélez hit .442 with five home runs and 18 RBI and was named American League Player of the Month.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, May
On May 4, the Blue Jays scored 10 runs in a game for the first time in team history, thumping the Milwaukee Brewers 10–3 at Exhibition Stadium. The team would score 10 runs again five nights later on May 9 in a 10–4 win over their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, May
On May 14, the Jays allowed double digits in runs for the first time, losing 13–3 to the Minnesota Twins.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, May
Toronto struggled during the month of May, posting a record of 8–17. Following a 6–5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on May 25, the Blue Jays fell into last place in the American League East for the first time.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, June
After losing their first two games in June, the Blue Jays would win five of their next six, the only blemish being a 2–1 loss in 13 innings  to the California Angels. Following that, Toronto would win only two of their next 14 games.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, June
On June 27, Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees was carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning when he walked the bases loaded, then gave up a grand slam to light-hitting Hector Torres, which vaulted the Jays to a 7–6 victory. During the month, Toronto had a 10–17 record, bringing their overall record to 28–45, seventh place in the American League East.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, July
The Blue Jays played their first Canada Day game on July 1, losing to the Texas Rangers 11–8 at Exhibition Stadium.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, July
They went into the All-Star break with a 34–58 record, 19 games out of first place. At the 1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game held at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 19, first baseman Ron Fairly was the only Blue Jays representative. He struck out in his only at-bat against Tom Seaver.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, July
After the All-Star break, the Blue Jays' struggles continued, losing eight games in a row before ending the month with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Toronto went 7–21 in July, bringing their overall record to 35–66; 24 games out of first place.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, August
On August 9, the Blue Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 6–2 in front of 23,450 fans at Exhibition Stadium, as the franchise broke the single-season record for attendance by an expansion team. Despite that, August proved to beanother tough month for the club. Toronto went 10–18, bringing their record to 45–84 for the season, 32.5 games out of first place. The Blue Jays lost their last five games in August.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, September/October
Toronto began September with six losses in a row, bringing their overall losing streak to 11 games, before defeating the Boston Red Sox 3–2 on September 7.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, September/October
On September 10, Roy Howell drove in a club record nine runs in a 19–3 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. This marked the Yankees worst home loss in over 50 years.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, September/October
At home on September 15, the Blue Jays earned a 9–0 forfeit victory over the Baltimore Orioles when, in the fifth inning, Orioles manager Earl Weaver removed his club from the field in a dispute over a tarp on the bullpen mounds. It marked the first (and still the only) time since 1914 that an MLB team has deliberately forfeited a game.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, September/October
The Blue Jays inaugural season came to a close on October 2, as they split a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in front of 27,789 fans at Exhibition Stadium, bringing their total attendance to 1,701,052, an MLB record for an expansion team.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, September/October
Toronto finished the year in last place in the American League East with a 54–107 record, 45.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees. The Jays also finished 9.5 games worse than their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners, who went 64–98. That said, over the long haul the Blue Jays attained success far sooner than the Mariners; Toronto's first winning season took place in 1983, while Seattle failed to post a winning season until 1991.


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


1977 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


1977 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2nd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 18, 1977. Retrospective of Quebec cinema was introduced and also Greek cinema was emphasized. J.A. Martin Photographer directed by Jean Beaudin was selected as the opening film.


1977 Toronto International Film Festival
Chantal Akerman's film Je, tu, il, elle was pulled out of the festival by the Ontario Censor Board, over the objections of festival organizers, because of a scene featuring a kiss between two women.


1977 Tour de France
The 1977 Tour de France was the 64th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between 30 June and 24 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over 4,096 km (2,545 mi).


1977 Tour de France
Lucien Van Impe, the winner of the previous year, wanted to repeat his victory and going into stage 16 Van Impe along with Eddy Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk were all within about 1:00 of Bernard Thevenet who had just taken the Maillot Jaune from Dietrich Thurau.


1977 Tour de France
Merckx fell off the back near the end of the tour, Zoetemelk was penalized ten minutes and Van Impe had his bike damaged when he was hit by a car on Alpe d'Huez where Kuiper won the stage but was unable to break Thévenet, who won the Tour with the smallest margin since the 1968 Tour de France.


1977 Tour de France, Teams
To ride the Tour, teams had to pay money. The other Grand Tours, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, paid the teams money to start. For financial reasons, some teams chose to avoid the Tour, and only 100 cyclists started the race, divided in ten teams of ten cyclists each. One of the notable absentees was Michel Pollentier.


1977 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Bernard Thévenet, the winner of 1975, was considered the main favourite, because the course of the race was considered suited to his talents. In March 1977, Thévenet had been penalised for a positive doping test in Paris–Nice.


1977 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
The winner of the 1976 edition, Lucien Van Impe, was specialized in climbing, so his chances in the 1977 edition with less mountains were slimmer. Two other contenders were teammates Raymond Delisle and Joop Zoetemelk, fourth and second in the 1976 edition. Hennie Kuiper, the reigning world champion, was also a favourite.


1977 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Five-time winner Eddy Merckx was also competing, and was still considered an outsider for the victory, but he was no longer as dominant as before.


1977 Tour de France, Route and stages
The 1977 Tour de France started on 30 June, and had two rest days, in Bordeaux and Freiburg. The 1976 Tour had been focused around the mountains, with five hilltop finishes. In 1977, the climbing was de-emphasized, with only two hilltop finishes, and more emphasis on the time trials. The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,115 m (6,939 ft) at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 2.


1977 Tour de France, Route and stages
The first stage from Fleurance to Auch was split in two parts: 140 km from Fleurance to Lectoure, directly followed by 97 km from Lectoure to Auch. It was the first time a "flying stage" was used. The stage was split in two parts, but there was no stop in between. After the riders reached the finish line of the first part, they immediately continued for the next part; if a group was ahead of the rest, they kept this advantage. The first riders to reach the finish of the flying stage were given prizes and points for the points classification as if it was a normal stage; the general classification was not changed.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
The prologue was won by Dietrich Thurau, who made his debut in the Tour. Thurau wanted to be the leader when the Tour would enter his native Germany in stage 13. In the second stage, big mountains were scheduled, unusually early in the race, and Thurau saw this as the biggest threat to this goal. When Van Impe, Thévenet and Kuiper were away leaving Thurau behind, Thurau worked together with Merckx, and they were able to reach the leaders, and Thurau was able to win the sprint. The second part of the fifth stage was a time trial. Eddy Merckx, at that moment only 8 seconds behind Thurau, was expected to win enough time on Thurau to become the new leader, but surprisingly Thurau won the time trial, and extended his lead.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Thurau was able to keep control of the race for the next stages, and when the Tour entered Germany, he was still leading the race, 51 seconds ahead of Merckx.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Prior to the start of the second part of stage 15, an individual climbing time trial, Thurau was 0:51 ahead of Merckx with Thévenet in third place at 1:22, Kuiper in fourth at 1:40, in fifth was Alain Meslet, Van Impe was in sixth at 2:31 and Zoetemelk clinging to the Top 10 at 3:40. This quick, but difficult hill climb up the Avoriaz would separate the handful of riders with a legitimate chance winning the general classification from the rest of the field as the Tour entered its third, final, and by far most grueling week.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
The stage was won by Zoetemelk, with Van Impe being placed second as Thévenet claimed third twenty seconds behind Van Impe. Merckx finished nearly two minutes behind Zoetemelk in tenth place and while Thurau finished outside the Top 10, he, perhaps surprisingly, did not fall out of contention as he now was in second place in the general classification, 0:11 behind the new leader Bernard Thévenet.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
With a difficult hilly stage, and then two major mountain stages over the next three days, which would decide the 1977 Tour de France, Merckx was now in third place at 0:25 back, Van Impe was fourth at 0:33, Kuiper was fifth at 0:49 and Zoetemelk moved from 10th place nearly four minutes behind the leader, up to 6th place just over one minute behind Thévenet. With four of the most dominant general classification riders and the two outsiders of Kuiper and Thurau within about a minute, it was clear the Tour was not decided yet and the upcoming mountains were going to be exciting, vicious and attack after attack after attack would be coming.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
In stage 16, these attacks blew apart the entire Peloton as the elite contenders separated themselves from everybody else in the field. Initially Didi Thurau was dropped with the domestiques, breakaway hopefuls and sprinters but he was able to fight his way back to the point where he could see the group of elite riders at the base of the final climb.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
From there he would rejoin the group on the descent, maneuver his way to the front and actually beat everybody in the sprint to gut out an impressive stage win all while keeping himself in contention for the overall lead.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Anyone not in this front group of elite riders pretty much lost their chance at winning the Tour, with the exception of Eddy Merckx, as he was dropped, but was still within about three minutes of Thévenet in seventh place overall and while for most any other rider a gap of more than three minutes this late in the race would be all but impossible to overcome with six riders ahead of him, for Merckx nothing was impossible and nobody would have been surprised if he somehow found a way to win this Tour. The new sixth place rider Francisco Galdos was able to stay with the other main contenders and moved ahead of Merckx.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
The overall situation between Thévenet, Thurau, Van Impe, Kuiper and Zoetemelk remained the same headed into stage 17, which included a grueling finish atop Alpe d'Huez. Well into stage 17 Lucien Van Impe saw an opportunity to attack and took it separating himself from the general classification contenders building more than a minute gap to the point that he was virtually leading the general classification by the time he reached the bottom of the climb on Alpe d’Huez. This put Thévenet in the position where he now had to give chase or lose the lead.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Raymond Martin, Merckx, Thurau, Raymond Delisle, Michel Laurent, Sebastian Pozo and Joaquim Agostinho were among the elite group of riders when the counterattack against Van Impe came. While these riders finished considerably ahead of the rest of the field it was only Kuiper, Galdos and Zoetemelk who were able to go with Thévenet as he rode away from everyone else in pursuit of Van Impe. These riders made Thévenet defend his first position in the general classification, and do all of the work while riding in his slipstream, at no time coming to the front to take a pull of the heavy climbing work.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Thévenet was determined to win his second Tour de France, just as Van Impe showed his determination to repeat as champion when he launched his early attack, although for Van Impe it was out of the ordinary, being as ordinarily he would be racing for the mountains classification points.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Fortunately for Thévenet his hard work was paying off as the gap between Van Impe and the first chase group began to close, but as he was reeling in one opponent he was also bringing two other opponents along with him and not just bringing them along but putting them in position to attack his position in the general classification as he was the one doing all the work. Naturally Kuiper and Zoetemelk were both determined to earn their first ever Tour victory so they didn't think twice about forcing Thévenet to lead the way in chasing down Lucien Van Impe.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Before long the gap had become small enough that the television and official cars riding behind Van Impe had to move out of the way as it was beginning to look as though this hard charging chase group would catch the leader before the finish line. One of these cars ended up hitting Van Impe severely damaging his bike in the process and while he tried to continue riding it just wasn't possible.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
As a result, he was stuck waiting and watching for the team car to appear around the corner to repair his wheel or get him a new bike but unfortunately two of the riders closest to him in the standings appeared before his team car did and raced right on by.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
By the end of the stage Zoetemelk and Francisco Galdos had been dropped when Hennie Kuiper launched an attack as Thévenet was digging deeper and pushing harder than he ever had in his whole life, not so much to take advantage of Van Impe's misfortune, although this certainly worked to his benefit, but to chase down Hennie Kuiper who was up the road by himself headed for the finish line so close to him in the standings that he could take over the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Thévenet was enraged with Kuiper for making him to do all the work chasing down Van Impe and then attacking in an attempt to take the first place in the general classification and had to push himself to his absolute breaking point in order to cross the finish line second place to Kuiper 0:41 behind.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Despite being hit by a car, Van Impe ended up 2:06 behind Kuiper while still finishing ahead of everybody else in the race. Galdos crossed at 2:59, Zoetemelk crossed more than four minutes later as the second level of the top tier riders including Laurent, Pozo, Martin and Pedro Torres started filtering across the line more than eight minutes behind Kuiper.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
By the end of the day the devastation wrought on the peloton was complete as 30 riders were thrown out of the race for finishing outside the time limit set by Thévenet, Zoetemelk, Kuiper, Galdos and especially Van Impe for forcing the pace. At this point these five riders were the only ones with a realistic chance at victory as Thévenet kept his lead by a minuscule 0:08 over Hennie Kuiper while Lucien Van Impe was still in contention in third place 1:59 behind as Galdos and Zoetemelk were about four and five minutes behind respectively.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
While all the main contenders passed the doping controls following stage 17 it was later learned that Zoetemelk had tested positive following his time trial victory in the second part of stage 15. Doping was appearing to be a bit more commonplace than officials or fans realised, which contributed to a more relaxed rider culture on the subject. After he retired Thévenet would admit that he doped when he won the 1975 Tour de France as well as in other editions just as numerous other riders had.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
In stage 18, Joaquim Agostinho initially won the day after launching a breakaway that finished about eight minutes ahead of everyone else in the field except for Antonio Menéndez, who finished 3:17 behind him, and Eddy Merckx who finished 3:20 back. Agostinho and Menendez both failed doping controls while Merckx was not tested (the testing protocol tested the stage winner, runner up, race leader and two other randomly selected cyclists). Agostinho's penalty would cost him in the end as he would finish outside the top 10 because of it. There were no major changes at the top of the general classification as all attacks and counterattacks were answered by the group and they all finished with the same time.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Typically after the final mountain stage there is one last chance to gain time in the overall classification with an individual time trial, but in this year's edition there were two ITT's to decide the final winner of the general classification. One typical incredibly challenging 50 km course around Dijon in stage 20 and one similar to an initial prologue during the split stage 22A which was around the Champs Elysees prior to the circuit finish in 22B.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
During the stage 20 time trial only seven riders of the decimated main field were able to finish within three minutes of eventual stage winner Bernard Thévenet. Of these seven only fourth-place finisher Gerrie Knetemann and fifth place Joseph Bruyere were not in the top 10 of the general classification. Didi Thurau came in second 0:23 behind and while Hennie Kuiper put in an incredibly strong ride he was not able to outperform Thévenet as he was 0:28 slower in third place, but still firmly in command of second place in the general classification, now 0:36 back.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
While Agostinho, Merckx and Van Impe each put in a strong time trial by this point in the race Van Impe was in third at 3:22 back so realistically, with only one short time trial and one and a half flat stages remaining, only Kuiper had even the slightest chance of overtaking Thévenet and this didn't seem likely as Thévenet had just defeated Kuiper.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage 21 was a flat stage where three riders managed to either survive a breakaway, or launch a late break to stay away from the peloton and finish 0:19 ahead of the main field.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Being as Jacques Esclassan had a commanding lead in the points classification over Giacinto Santambrogio, Didi Thurau and sixth place sprinter Barry Hoban the escape made by Joop Zoetemelk, Michel Laurent and stage winner Gerrie Knetemann did nothing to change any of the classifications although it was another strong performance by Knetemann who would win ten Tour stages in his career and also be instrumental in helping Zoetemelk win the 1980 Tour de France along with ten time stage winner Jan Raas.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage 22A was the final opportunity to change the overall classification although in a time trial this short making up gaps of even over 0:20 was all but impossible, let alone the 0:37 Kuiper would need to overtake Thévenet. In the end Thévenet would add twelve seconds to his lead officially securing his overall victory in the 1977 Tour de France. Impressively in Stage 22B, Alain Meslet would survive a breakaway and finish nearly a minute ahead of the main field to win on the Champs Elysees.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview
The podium ended up with Bernard Thévenet winning his 2nd Tour de France, followed by Hennie Kuiper in 2nd and Lucien Van Impe, who also won another mountains classification.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
Every day, five cyclists were tested for doping: the leader in the general classification, the winner of the stage, the runner-up of the stage, and two randomly selected cyclists, for a total of 110 tests. Six cyclists tested positive for Pemoline: Joop Zoetemelk (15th stage), Sebastien Pozo (16th stage), Antonio Menendez (17th and 18th stage), Joaquim Agostinho (18th stage), Fernando Mendes (18th stage) and Luis Ocaña (18th stage). Pozo was unable to provide urine within two hours for the doping control after the prologue, which is treated as a positive result. All were fined with 1000 Swiss Francs, received one month of provisional suspension, were set back to the last place in the stage and penalised with 10 minutes in the general classification.


1977 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
Directly after the Tour, there were rumours about Thévenet and Kuiper having used doping. The Tour officials came together, and made a statement that Thévenet was officially the winner of the Tour. Some months later, when Thévenet was in hospital, he admitted having used cortisone. His popularity plunged after that, and Thévenet was never again able to compete for the general classification. Though he was able to stay near the second tier general classification riders approaching the end of his career as he finished in the top 20 of both the 1980 Tour de France and Vuelta.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were several classifications in the 1977 Tour de France, four of them awarding jerseys to their leaders. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Additionally, there was a points classification, where cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Another classification was the young rider classification. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only neo-professionals were eligible, and the leader wore a white jersey.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The fifth individual classification was the intermediate sprints classification. This classification had similar rules as the points classification, but only points were awarded on intermediate sprints. In 1977, this classification had no associated jersey.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that led this classification were identified by yellow caps. There was also a team points classification. Cyclists received points according to their finishing position on each stage, with the first rider receiving one point. The first three finishers of each team had their points combined, and the team with the fewest points led the classification. The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps.


1977 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition, there was a combativity award, in which a jury composed of journalists gave points after certain stages to the cyclist they considered most combative. The split stages each had a combined winner. At the conclusion of the Tour, Gerrie Knetemann won the overall super-combativity award, also decided by journalists. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Tourmalet on stage 2. This prize was won by Lucien Van Impe.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
Due to the relentless pace set by the top tier riders only 53 riders were able to finish the 1977 Tour de France. Never since have so few riders finished a Tour de France and the previous time fewer riders finished was the 1950 Tour de France when 51 riders finished.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
In years before and after this Tour riders like Merckx, Hinault, Zoetemelk, Van Impe, Thévenet, Luis Ocana and Laurent Fignon set such a high pace during mountain stages that as many as half the riders in the main field would have been expelled from the race, but exemptions were made and the time limit was altered to allow them to continue the Tour. No such exemptions were given in the 1977 edition.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
Due to doping infractions by another rider Meslet would go from 11th to 10th place overall, Raymond Delisle finished 9th, Zoetemelk ended up in 8th overall because of the ten minute penalty, which impressively enough would be the worst he would ever finish until his 13th participation in 1983. Michel Laurent moved up into 7th place overall as Merckx would finish his final Grand Tour a career worst 6th, with it also being one of the few Grand Tours he entered that he did not win.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
The immediate aftermath of this Tour was that it was the end of the Merckx era and the last time Thévenet and Van Impe would be in legitimate contention of winning the Tour de France while the 1978 Tour de France would be the beginning of three consecutive years where Joop Zoetemelk and Bernard Hinault would basically race against one another while everybody else fought for third place.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
Like Meslet this would be the finest Tour Dietrich Thurau would ever race finishing in 5th place overall. While Klaus-Peter Thaler would wear the yellow jersey in 1978 the next German to wear the yellow jersey and be in contention of winning the Tour de France would not come for nearly two decades with Jan Ullrich.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
Spaniard Francisco Galdos earned fourth place overall as he found a way to stay with the elite riders every single time it mattered. Due to a tough break Lucien Van Impe finished third and because he caught some breaks and wanted it more than anyone Hennie Kuiper made it a two-way race between himself and Thévenet by the end of the Tour.


1977 Tour de France, Aftermath
Hennie Kuiper would never win the Tour and the 1977 Tour was the closest he ever came, although he did finish second one additional time in the 1980 Tour. After retiring in 1988 he would go on to complete many more Tours from a team car and would work in public relations. In the early 1990s he was worked for Team Motorola and would end up giving a young Lance Armstrong very excited instructions in his formative professional years. After leaving Motorola in 1996 he would be hired by Team Rabobank.


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11
The 1977 Tour de France was the 64th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Fleurance with a prologue individual time trial on 30 June, and Stage 11 occurred on 12 July with a flat stage to Roubaix. The race finished in Paris on 24 July.


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Prologue
30 June 1977 - Fleurance to Fleurance, 5 km (3.1 mi) (ITT)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 1
1 July 1977 - Fleurance to Auch, 237 km (147 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 2
2 July 1977 - Auch to Pau, 253 km (157 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 3
3 July 1977 - Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Vitoria-Gasteiz, 248 km (154 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 4
4 July 1977 - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Seignosse le Penon, 256 km (159 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 5a
5 July 1977 - Morcenx to Bordeaux, 139 km (86 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 5b
5 July 1977 - Bordeaux to Bordeaux, 30 km (19 mi) (ITT)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 6
7 July 1977 - Bordeaux to Limoges, 225 km (140 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 7a
8 July 1977 - Jaunay-Clan to Angers, 140 km (87 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 7b
8 July 1977 - Angers to Angers, 4 km (2.5 mi) (TTT)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 7b
The times did not count for the general classification, but riders from the three fastest teams on the stage were awarded bonification seconds.


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 8
9 July 1977 - Angers to Lorient, 247 km (153 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 9
10 July 1977 - Lorient to Rennes, 187 km (116 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 10
11 July 1977 - Bagnoles-de-l'Orne to Rouen, 174 km (108 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 11, Stage 11
12 July 1977 - Rouen to Roubaix, 242 km (150 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b
The 1977 Tour de France was the 64th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Fleurance with a prologue individual time trial on 30 June, and Stage 12 occurred on 13 July with a mountainous stage from Roubaix. The race finished in Paris on 24 July.


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 12
13 July 1977 - Roubaix to Charleroi, 193 km (120 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 13a
14 July 1977 - Freiburg to Freiburg, 46 km (29 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 13b
14 July 1977 - Altkirch to Besançon, 160 km (99 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 14
16 July 1977 - Besançon to Thonon-les-Bains, 230 km (140 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 15a
17 July 1977 - Thonon-les-Bains to Morzine, 105 km (65 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 15b
17 July 1977 - Morzine to Avoriaz, 14 km (8.7 mi) (ITT)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 16
18 July 1977 - Morzine to Chamonix, 121 km (75 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 17
19 July 1977 - Chamonix to Alpe d'Huez, 185 km (115 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 18
20 July 1977 - Rossignol Voiron to Saint-Étienne, 199 km (124 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 19
21 July 1977 - Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans to Dijon, 172 km (107 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 20
22 July 1977 - Dijon to Dijon, 50 km (31 mi) (ITT)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 21
23 July 1977 - Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Versailles, 142 km (88 mi)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 22a
24 July 1977 - Paris to Paris, 6 km (3.7 mi) (ITT)


1977 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 22b, Stage 22b
24 July 1977 - Paris to Paris Champs-Élysées, 91 km (57 mi)


1977 Tour de Romandie
The 1977 Tour de Romandie was the 31st edition of the Tour de Romandie cycle race and was held from 10 May to 15 May 1977. The race started in Fribourg and finished in Geneva. The race was won by Gianbattista Baronchelli.


1977 Tour de Suisse
The 1977 Tour de Suisse was the 41st edition of the Tour de Suisse cycle race and was held from 15 June to 24 June 1977. The race started in Baden and finished in Effretikon. The race was won by Michel Pollentier of the Flandria team.


1977 Tour du Haut Var
The 1977 Tour du Haut Var was the ninth edition of the Tour du Haut Var cycle race and was held on 27 February 1977. The race started in Seillans and finished in Draguignan. The race was won by Bernard Thévenet.


1977 Tour of Flanders
The 61st running of the Tour of Flanders cycling race in Belgium was held on 3 April 1977. Belgian Roger De Vlaeminck won in a two-man sprint before Freddy Maertens, although the latter was later disqualified for an illegal bike change. The race started in Sint-Niklaas and finished in Meerbeke.


1977 Tour of Flanders, Race Summary
The race was one of the most peculiar in the history of the Tour of Flanders. Eddy Merckx, seeking a third win in his home classic, attacked early in the race and addressed the first climbs as frontrunner. Freddy Maertens punctured on the Koppenberg and was given a wheel by a spectator who pushed him all the way up. De Vlaeminck broke clear on the Koppenberg in pursuit of Merckx, but punctured shortly after and was caught by a returning Maertens. After the Taaienberg a three-man group with Belgian cycling icons De Vlaeminck, Maertens and Merckx was ahead of the peloton.


1977 Tour of Flanders, Race Summary
On the Varent climb, 70 km from the finish, a faltering Merckx was distanced by his companions and would not finish the race, spelling the end of his career. De Vlaeminck suddenly refused to work and cameras registered the two arguing. For the remaining 70 km Freddy Maertens rode to the finish with De Vlaeminck on his wheel and was easily beaten by the latter in the sprint. It was De Vlaeminck's first and only win in the classic. At two minutes, Walter Planckaert won the sprint for third place.


1977 Tour of Flanders, Controversy
During the podium ceremony, De Vlaeminck was booed off stage by angry spectators who were displeased with his "cowardly" ride. The two protagonists made contradictory statements about what happened. Maertens stated that the judges had told him during the race he would be disqualified for his illegal wheel-change on the Koppenberg and that De Vlaeminck had offered him 300.000 francs to keep riding to the finish. De Vlaeminck denied, saying that he tactically stayed on Maertens' wheel for 70 km, as he considered Maertens the better sprinter.


1977 Tour of Flanders, Controversy
Days after the race, the controversy heightened even more, when news broke that Maertens and third-place finisher Walter Planckaert had tested positive for amphetamines and were both disqualified. Organizers decided to keep second and third place blank for this edition, unique in the Tour of Flanders' history.


1977 Tour of the Basque Country
The 1977 Tour of the Basque Country was the 17th edition of the Tour of the Basque Country cycle race and was held from 28 March to 1 April 1977. The race started in Hondarribia and finished in Goiuria. The race was won by José Antonio González Linares of the Kas team.


1977 Tournament Players Championship
The 1977 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 17–20 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The fourth Tournament Players Championship, it was the first of five consecutive at Sawgrass, which had agreed a multi-year with the PGA Tour in 1976.


1977 Tournament Players Championship
Mark Hayes was the champion in windy conditions at 289 (+1), two strokes ahead of runner-up Mike McCullough. McCullough and Tom Watson were the co-leaders after the third round, with Hayes a stroke back. Defending champion Jack Nicklaus finished four strokes back, in a tie for fifth place.


1977 Tournament Players Championship
Bob Menne set the tour's 72-hole record for fewest putts with 99, but tied for 47th at 303 (+15). The record had been 102 putts, by Bert Yancey in 1966 at his victory in the final Portland Open Invitational.


1977 Tournament Players Championship, Venue
This was the first of five Tournament Players Championships held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982. The venues for the first three editions in Georgia, Texas, and south Florida were familiar to most of the participants as those courses had recently hosted multiple PGA Tour events; this was the first tour event at Sawgrass.


1977 Toyota Classic
The 1977 Toyota Classic, was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at Kooyong in Melbourne in Australia. The event was part of the AA category of the 1978 Colgate Series. It was the 15th edition of the tournament and was held from 21 November through 27 November 1977. Eighth-seeded Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the singles title and earned $14,000 first-prize money and 160 ranking points.


1977 Toyota Classic, Winners, Doubles
Evonne Goolagong Cawley /  Betty Stöve defeated  Patricia Bostrom /  Kym Ruddell 6–3, 6–0


1977 Toyota Tamaraws season
The 1977 Toyota Tamaraws season was the third season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).


1977 Toyota Tamaraws season, Summary
The Toyota Tamaraws were the top qualifier in the Group A standings with nine wins and five losses in the All-Filipino Conference. The Tamaraws missed out a finals stint for the first time in seven conferences and settled for a third-place finish via 3–0 sweep off Tanduay.


1977 Toyota Tamaraws season, Summary
In the Open Conference, the Tamaraws came up with the best imports seemingly - Bruce "Sky" King and John "Dr.I" Irving. Toyota wound up again with a 9-5 won-loss card after the two-round eliminations. In the semifinal round, Toyota forced a playoff game with arch rival Crispa for the second finals berth following a 104–92 victory, but fell short in the do-or-die game, 87–90. The Tamaraws clinch third place at the expense of Seven-Up.


1977 Toyota Tamaraws season, Summary
Toyota came back with a vengeance in the Invitational championship, snapping Crispa's dynastic rule while claiming the league's first three-game title-romp. The visiting Emtex Sacronels (a guest team composed of players from the Brazil national basketball team, including Oscar Schmidt) had a clean seven-game sweep in the elimination round and sealed a titular meeting with the Tamaraws. King and Irving displayed an overwhelming show of power in Toyota's three-game sweep over the Brazilians. The championship was the first for coach Dante Silverio in the third conference.


1977 Trans-Am Series
The 1977 Trans-Am Series was the twelfth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. Porsche swept the season. All races except for the Six Hours of Watkins Glen ran for approximately one hundred miles. With the revival of the Can Am Series that year, 1977 also began a resurgence of interest in SCCA events. Trans Am would contribute with a slight resurgence in the eighties.


1977 Trans-Am Series, Results
‡ - The Watkins Glen 6 Hours was a round of the World Championship for Makes. The overall winner was an FIA Group 5 Porsche 935.


1977 Transamerica Open
The 1977 Transamerica Open, also known as the Pacific Coast Championships, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California in the United States. The event was part of the 4 Star category of the  1977 Grand Prix circuit and Barry MacKay was the tournament director. It was the 87th edition of the tournament and was held from September 26 through October 2, 1977. The singles event had a field of 64 players. Unseeded Butch Walts won the singles title.


1977 Transamerica Open, Finals, Doubles
Dick Stockton /  Marty Riessen defeated  Fred McNair /  Sherwood Stewart 6–4, 1–6, 6–4


1977 Tripura Legislative Assembly election
The 1977 Tripura Legislative Assembly election took place in a single phase on 31 December 1977 to elect the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from each of the 60 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in Tripura, India.


1977 Tripura Legislative Assembly election
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), led Left front won  the election by 56 seats and formed a Government in Tripura.


1977 Tripura Legislative Assembly election, Highlights
Election to the Tripura Legislative Assembly were held on December 31, 1977. The election were held in a single phase for all the 60 assembly constituencies.


1977 Tripura Legislative Assembly election, Government Formation
The Left Front won a majority of the 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The LF was an alliance of left-wing political parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M). Nripen Chakraborty of the CPI-M formed a government as Chief Minister on January 5, 1978.


1977 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team
The 1977 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team represented the University of Tulsa in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Competing as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), the team was led by first-year head coach John Cooper and played its home games at Skelly Stadium. Tulsa finished the season with an overall record of three wins and eight losses, and a conference record of two wins and three losses.


1977 Turkish Senate election
Turkey held senate elections on 7 June 1977. In this election 50 members of the senate were elected. ( 50 members for 1/3 of the senate)


1977 Turkish general election
General elections were held in Turkey on 5 June 1977. Elections took place in the middle of a political race between the right-wing AP and the left-wing CHP. With the charismatic leadership of Bülent Ecevit, the CHP managed to beat one of the symbolic figures of conservative politics in Turkey, Süleyman Demirel. Voter turnout was 72.4%.


1977 Turkish general election
The CHP's victory was the zenith of left-wing votes in the history of the Republic of Turkey, but there were still no capable partners for the CHP to join forces to form government with since the remainder of parliament consisted of right-wing parties not eager to form a coalition with Bülent Ecevit. Finally, the CHP could not gain a vote of confidence. They would need to wait until 1978 to gain support from some smaller parties and independents to govern. The CHP could not retain power for long and soon government control passed on to the AP even as the rumblings of the 1980 military coup were beginning to be felt.


1977 Turkish local elections
Turkey held local elections on 11 December 1977. In the elections, both the mayors and the local parliaments (Turkish: İl Genel Meclisi) were elected. The figures presented below are the results of the local parliament elections.


1977 Tuvaluan general election
General elections were held in Tuvalu on 27 August 1977. As there were no political parties, all candidates ran as independents, with Toaripi Lauti remaining Chief Minister. Voter turnout was 78.8%.


1977 Tuvaluan general election, Background
Following a 1974 referendum, the Ellice Islands separated from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. The Tuvaluan Order 1975, which took effect on 1 October 1975, recognised Tuvalu as a separate British dependency with its own government. The second stage occurred on 1 January 1976 when separate administrations were created out of the civil service of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.


1977 Tuvaluan general election, Background
A new House of Assembly was established with eight members. Prior to the 1977 elections, the number was increased to twelve. The four islands with a population of over 1,000 elected two members and the other four islands elected one member.


1977 Tuvaluan general election, Aftermath
Following the elections, Toaripi Lauti was re-elected Chief Minister on 1 October. The House of the Assembly was renamed the Parliament of Tuvalu after independence in October 1978.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships
The 1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships was a tennis tournament that was part of the men's Grand Prix and women's Colgate Series circuits. It was held in Indianapolis in the United States and played on outdoor clay courts at the Indianapolis Racquet Club. It was the 9th edition of the tournament in the Open Era and was held from August 8 through August 14, 1977. Second-seeded Manuel Orantes won the men's singles title and the accompanying $17,500 first-prize money.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Patricio Cornejo /  Jaime Fillol defeated  Dick Crealy /  Cliff Letcher 6–7, 6–4, 6–3


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Linky Boshoff /  Ilana Kloss defeated  Mary Carillo /  Wendy Overton 5–7, 7–5, 6–3


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Men's Doubles
Brian Gottfried and Raúl Ramírez were the defending champions, but they played in the Buckeye Classic this year. Patricio Cornejo and Jaime Fillol claimed the title following victory over Dick Crealy and Cliff Letcher in the final. Crealy and Letcher were denied their prize money because their late appearance had caused the final to be delayed.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Men's Doubles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Men's Singles
Manuel Orantes won the title for the third time, defeating Jimmy Connors in the final.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Women's Doubles
Linky Boshoff and Ilana Kloss retained their title by defeating Mary Carillo and Wendy Overton in the final.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Women's Singles
Kathy May was the defending champion but was upset in her first match against Mary Hamm. Third-seed Laura duPont won the title beating Nancy Richey in the final.


1977 U.S. Clay Court Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


1977 U.S. National Indoor Championships
The 1977 U.S. National Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States that was part of the 1977 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was the eighth edition of the tournament was held from February 28 through March 6, 1977. First-seeded Björn Borg won the singles title and $24,500 first-prize money.


1977 U.S. National Indoor Championships, Finals, Doubles
Fred McNair /  Sherwood Stewart defeated  Bob Lutz /  Stan Smith 	4–6, 7–6, 7–6


1977 U.S. Open (golf)
The 1977 U.S. Open was the 77th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hubert Green won the first of his two major titles, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham, the 1975 champion.


1977 U.S. Open (golf)
Green began the final round with the lead, but 11 players were within three shots. Graham made a charge on the back nine, collecting birdies at 12, 14, 15, and 16 en route to a 68 (−2) and a 279 (−1) total. With four holes to play, Green needed to play even-par to win the championship. As he stepped off the 14th green, however, he was approached by tournament officials and a lieutenant with the Tulsa police, who told him that they had received a phone call threatening to assassinate Green while he played the 15th hole.


1977 U.S. Open (golf)
Green decided to play on, then proceeded to hit his drive into a tree--which probably saved it from going out of bounds. He managed to hit his approach to 35 feet (11 m) and two-putt for par without incident. Green birdied the 16th and took a two-stroke lead to the 18th tee. Although he struggled on the hole, he managed to make a 4-footer for bogey and the victory.


1977 U.S. Open (golf)
This year marked the final U.S. Open appearance by Sam Snead, two-time champion Julius Boros, and Tommy Bolt, who had won the 1958 Open at Southern Hills. All three received exemptions by the USGA, and all three missed the cut. This was the first time that the television broadcast of the U.S. Open covered all 18 holes of the final round.


1977 U.S. Open (golf)
It was the third major championship at Southern Hills; it previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1958 and the PGA Championship in 1970. The U.S. Open returned in 2001 and the PGA Championship in 1982, 1994, and 2007.


1977 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Miller (+6), Fought (+7), Zabel (+9), Sander (+14), Choate (+15), Sonnier (+15), Cook (+16), King (+16), Gregg (+20), Rheim (+29).


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor
The 1977 U.S. Pro Indoor was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts that was part of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit. It was played at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was the 10th edition of the tournament and was held from January 24 through January 30, 1977. Dick Stockton, who was seeded 12th,  won the singles title while Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan won the men's doubles. Total attendance for the tournament was 81,798.


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor, Finals, Singles
Dick Stockton defeated  Jimmy Connors 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor, Finals, Doubles
Bob Hewitt /  Frew McMillan defeated  Wojciech Fibak /  Tom Okker 6–1, 1–6, 6–3


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor, Finals, Doubles
It was Hewitt's 1st title for that year and the 31st of his career. It was McMillan's 1st title of the year and the 36th of his career.


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor – Doubles
Rod Laver and Dennis Ralston were the defending champions, but Ralston did not participate this year. Laver partnered Ken Rosewall, losing in the first round.


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor – Doubles
Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan won the title, defeating Wojtek Fibak and Tom Okker 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 in the final.


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor – Singles
Jimmy Connors was the defending champion but lost in the final this year.


1977 U.S. Pro Indoor – Singles
Dick Stockton won the title, beating Connors 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 in the final.


1977 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships
The 1977 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor green clay courts (Har-Tru) at the Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The event was categorized as a 4 Star tournament and was part of the 1977 Grand Prix circuit. It was the 50th edition of the tournament and was held from August 22 through August 30, 1977. Third-seeded Manuel Orantes won the singles title and the accompanying $32,000 first-prize money as well as 125 Grand Prix ranking points. First-seeded Jimmy Connors withdrew after the quarterfinals due to a back injury.


1977 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, Finals, Doubles
Bob Lutz /  Stan Smith defeated  Brian Gottfried /  Bob Hewitt 6–3, 6–4


1977 U.S. Women's Open
The 1977 U.S. Women's Open was the 32nd U.S. Women's Open, held July 21–24 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis.


1977 U.S. Women's Open
Hollis Stacy led wire-to-wire and won her first major championship and the first of her three U.S. Women's Open titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Nancy Lopez, who had recently turned professional. She began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Jan Stephenson, with Lopez a stroke back in third.


1977 U.S. Women's Open
Seven years earlier in 1970, Hazeltine had hosted the U.S. Open, which returned in 1991. The PGA Championship was played at the course in 2002 and 2009 and the Ryder Cup in 2016.


1977 UC Davis Aggies football team
The 1977 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis in the 1977 NCAA Division II football season. UC Davis competed in the Far Western Conference (FWC).


1977 UC Davis Aggies football team
The Aggies were led by head coach Jim Sochor in his eighth year. They played home games at Toomey Field. UC Davis finished the season as champion of the FWC for the seventh consecutive season and it was their 8th consecutive winning season. The Aggies finished the regular season undefeated, with a record of ten wins and no losses (10–0, 5–0 FWC). With the 5–0 conference record, they stretched their conference winning streak to 23 games dating back to the 1973 season.


1977 UC Davis Aggies football team
At the end of the season, the Aggies qualified for the Division II playoffs. They were ranked Number 3 in the final Division II poll. In the quarterfinal game they defeated Bethune–Cookman. In the semi-final Knute Rockne Bowl, they were defeated by Lehigh. That brought the Aggies final record to eleven wins and one loss (11–1, 5–0 FWC). The Aggies outscored their opponents 335–159 for the 1977 season.


1977 UC Davis Aggies football team, NFL Draft
No UC Davis Aggies players were selected in the 1978 NFL Draft.


1977 UCI Road World Championships
The 1977 UCI Road World Championships took place on 27 August 1977 in San Cristóbal, Venezuela.


1977 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
The men's road race at the 1977 UCI Road World Championships was the 44th edition of the event. The race took place on Sunday 4 September 1977 in San Cristóbal, Venezuela. The race was won by Francesco Moser of Italy.


1977 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 1977 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place in San Cristóbal, Venezuela in 1977. Twelve events were contested, 10 for men (3 for professionals, 7 for amateurs) and 2 for women.


1977 UCLA Bruins football team
The 1977 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season.


1977 UCLA Bruins football team, Schedule
Note: UCLA's 7 wins were forfeited due to ineligible players.


1977 UEFA Cup Final
The 1977 UEFA Cup Final was played on 4 May 1977 and 18 May 1977 between Italian side Juventus and Spanish side Athletic Club. Juventus won 2-2 on away goals.


1977 UEFA Cup Final
This is the only triumph for an Italian side in an official European tournament without foreign players in its first team squad. It also marked Juventus' first title in European football, as well as the first time the UEFA Cup was won by a Southern European club.


1977 UEFA European Under-18 Championship
The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1977 Final Tournament was held in Belgium. The team from Belgium defeated the team from Bulgaria in the Championship match to win the Championship.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year
The 1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 51st year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) released the annual returns, with totalisator turnover up, at £70,685,971 and attendances up, recorded at 6,685,491 from 5847 meetings.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Summary
Balliniska Band, a white and black dog trained by Eddie Moore was voted the Greyhound of the Year after winning the 1977 English Greyhound Derby.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Tracks
The Welsh Rugby Union required extended terracing at the National Stadium, which resulted in Cardiff City Council announcing a revamp of Cardiff Arms Park that did not include greyhound racing. The last Welsh Greyhound Derby was held on 9 July and the last meeting on 30 July. Instant Gambler won the last Derby and Lillyput Queen, owned by Cardiff butcher Malcolm Davies and trained by Freddie Goodman, won the last race to be held at the track. Cardiff City Council had taken less than ten minutes to reject a plan to switch greyhound racing to nearby Maindy Stadium.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Tracks
Only three flapping (unlicensed) independent tracks remained in Wales at Swansea, Bedwellty and Ystrad Mynach. Harry George secretary of Greyhound Company Cardiff failed in a bid for Oxford Stadium following Cardiff's closure and Denis Diffley a London businessman also failed in a 21 year lease bid leaving Oxford close to permanent closure.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Tracks
Coatbridge reopened and in the East of England a new consortium headed by Tom Stanley and Billy Davis took over Ipswich Stadium.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Tracks
Walthamstow Stadium's future was put in doubt, Charles Chandler Sr. had died the previous year, which resulted in Charles Chandler Jr. becoming Chairman and Percy Chandler becoming Managing Director. Victor Chandler Jr. had owned 20% stake in the track since 1974 but wanted to sell his share due to the fact that his side of the family was concerned with the bookmaking business. The Greyhound Racing Association (GRA) also held a third share in the track but had to sell to alleviate their debts in January.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Tracks
Suddenly it became apparent that an interested party could acquire a 52% stake in the track and have the controlling interest, it led to a clambering from major players looking to buy Walthamstow. Corals and Ladbrokes both expressed an interest but the Chandler family rallied round, Charles Jr., Percy and Frances (wife of Charles Sr.) spent over £400,000 to withstand the attempts from Corals and Ladbrokes and buy the track outright. Meanwhile another bookmaking firm Hills discussed the possibility of taking over GRA and its £18.4 million debt.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Competitions
A new competition was created called the Trainers Championship; this involved a series of races during one race meeting, between the top six trainers from the previous year. The selection criteria consisted of the leading open race winning trainers and in the inaugural event at Brough Park there was a tie between Natalie Savva and Geoff De Mulder.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, News
The GRA heavily in debt were forced to sell their 23% stake in Coral Leisure to alleviate the debt.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, News
Allied Breweries with their Skol and Britvic labels became major race sponsors. Eastville Stadium staged speedway with the bikes using the actual greyhound circuit to race on, it was then re-laid each time. Crayford staged their first meeting on sand, the cost and difficulty of obtaining the peat being the main reason for the switch to sand. Hurdler Try it Blackie, retired after 46 open race wins and 129 races, trained by Frank Melville he was bought for just 48 guineas at Hackney sales. The black dog had reached the 1975 Grand National final.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, News
Hall Green Racing Manager Jeff Jefcoate left the GRA for Northern Sports and the Ramsgate track also introduced a new race called The Thanet Gold Cup and a new tote system called Digico. Former Manchester United footballer Charlie Mitten was appointed Assistant Racing Manager at White City. Scurry Gold Cup finalist Fiano was killed in a vehicle accident on the way back to the Hook Estate and Kennels after the race.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, News
Trainer John Bassett retired from training for a second time to concentrate on breeding and rearing. John Gibbons persuaded Lewisham council to lease him space where the old New Cross Kennels used to exist. The site which was a mass of rubble was cleared by Gibbons and his team to make way for kennels and a schooling track. Trainer Peter Hawkesley passed away aged only 51.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Ireland
Dunmore Stadium was on the verge of closure due to continuing troubles in Northern Ireland, but was saved when a local consortium stepped in. The group including Jim Delargy and bookmaker Sean Graham acquired a majority shareholding in the Belfast Celtic Football & Athletic Company which also owned Celtic Park greyhounds. Investment at Dunmore was initiated with immediate effect and prize money was doubled and new kennels were built. Their attention was then turned to Celtic Park for the same reason.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Ireland
The Irish Derby trial stakes which were held all over Ireland, had failed to date to produce an ultimate winner of the Irish Greyhound Derby but in 1977 the Kilkenny trial stakes winner Lindas Champion won the 1977 Irish Greyhound Derby. He had entered the stake for just £5 and duly gained a free entry to the competition by winning the Kilkenny heat.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Ireland
The McKenna family training empire continued to build after Gay McKenna's daughter Paula married Fraser Black.


1977 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year, Ireland
Nine tracks in Ireland are closed for five weeks following a strike by staff over pay.


1977 UK Athletics Championships
The 1977 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Cwmbran Stadium, Cwmbran.


1977 UK Athletics Championships
It was the first edition of the competition limited to British athletes only, launched as an alternative to the AAA Championships, which was open to foreign competitors. However, due to the fact that the calibre of national competition remained greater at the AAA event, the UK Championships this year were not considered the principal national championship event by some statisticians, such as the National Union of Track Statisticians (NUTS). Many of the athletes below also competed at the 1977 AAA Championships.


1977 UK Athletics Championships
Ainsley Bennett and Sonia Lannaman won sprint doubles in the 100 metres and 200 metres in the men's and women's side, respectively. Sharon Colyear took the women's titles in 100 metres hurdles and long jump. Other athletes who performed well in multiple events were Andrea Lynch (double sprint runner-up), Allan Wells (100 m runner-up and 200 m third-placer), and Tessa Sanderson who won the javelin throw as well as placing top three in the 400 metres hurdles.


1977 UK Athletics Championships
The main international track and field competition for the United Kingdom that year was the 1977 European Cup. Distance runners Steve Ovett and Nick Rose won both the UK event and the European Cup title. Sanderson, Lannaman, Bennett were minor medallists there, as were women's 400 metres champion Donna Hartley and men's long jump runner-up Roy Mitchell.


1977 UK Championship
The 1977 UK Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Tower Circus in Blackpool between 26 November and 3 December 1977.


1977 UK Championship
Mike Watterson instituted this new championship with sponsorship from manufacturers of the Super Crystalate balls. The inaugural UK Championship was held in Blackpool, but the following year the tournament moved to the Guild Hall in Preston, where it remained for twenty years.


1977 UK Championship
The event was won by Patsy Fagan, a London-based Dubliner, who had been a professional for less than a year. The final was televised and shown on BBC One's Grandstand programme. Retired English snooker player Joe Davis presented Fagan with the trophy.


1977 UK Championship
Fagan earned £2,000 out of the £7,000 total prize money.


1977 UMass Minutemen football team
The 1977 UMass Minutemen football team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 1977 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Yankee Conference in Division II (NCAA). The team was coached by Dick MacPherson and played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts. The 1977 season was the last the Minutemen would play as members of Division II, as the Yankee Conference would be included in the newly formed Division I-AA in 1978. This season was also MacPherson's last as head coach of the team. UMass finished the season with a record of 8–3 overall and 5–0 in conference play.


1977 UNLV Rebels football team
The 1977 UNLV Rebels football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an independent during the 1977 NCAA Division II football season. In their second year under head coach Tony Knap, the team compiled an 9–2 record.


1977 US Open (tennis)
The 1977 US Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, in New York City, United States. The tournament ran from 29 August until 11 September. It was the 97th staging of the US Open, and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of 1977. This was the third and final year in which the US Open was played on clay courts. After 68 years it was the final time the championship was played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills before moving to Flushing Meadows for the 1978 tournament.


1977 US Open (tennis), Seniors, Men's doubles
Bob Hewitt /  Frew McMillan defeated  Brian Gottfried /  Raúl Ramírez 6–4, 6–0


1977 US Open (tennis), Seniors, Women's doubles
Martina Navratilova /  Betty Stöve defeated  Renee Richards /  Betty-Ann Stuart 6–1, 7–6


1977 US Open (tennis), Seniors, Mixed doubles
Betty Stöve /  Frew McMillan defeated  Billie Jean King /  Vitas Gerulaitis 6–2, 3–6, 6–3


1977 US Open – Men's Doubles
Tom Okker and Marty Riessen were the defending champions but lost in the quarterfinals to Syd Ball and Kim Warwick.


1977 US Open – Men's Doubles
Bob Hewitt and Frew McMillan won in the final 6–4, 6–0 against Brian Gottfried and Raúl Ramírez.


1977 US Open – Men's Singles
Fourth-seeded Guillermo Vilas defeated defending champion Jimmy Connors 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–0 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 1977 US Open. It was played on September 11, 1977 on outdoor clay courts at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. First-seeded Björn Borg retired from his fourth-round match due to a shoulder injury.


1977 US Open – Men's Singles
The event consisted of a draw of 128 players of which 16 were seeded. The format of the competition was best-of-three sets in the first four rounds followed by best-of-five sets from the quarterfinal onward.


1977 US Open – Men's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Guillermo Vilas is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1977 US Open – Mixed Doubles
Phil Dent and Billie Jean King were the defending champions but only Billie Jean King competed that year with Vitas Gerulaitis. Vitas Gerulaitis and Billie Jean King lost in the final 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 against Frew McMillan and Betty Stöve.


1977 US Open – Women's Doubles
Linky Boshoff and Ilana Kloss were the defending champions, but lost in the second round to Mima Jaušovec and Virginia Ruzici.


1977 US Open – Women's Doubles
Martina Navratilova and Betty Stöve won the title by defeating Renée Richards and Betty Ann Stuart 6–1, 7–6 in the final.


1977 US Open – Women's Singles
Two-time defending champion Chris Evert successfully defended her title defeating Wendy Turnbull, 7–6, 6–2, in the final to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 1977 US Open.


1977 US Open – Women's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Chris Evert is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


1977 US Open – Women's Singles Qualifying
Players who neither had high enough rankings nor received wild cards to enter the main draw of the annual US Open Tennis Championships participated in a qualifying tournament held over several days before the event.


1977 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 1977 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 9–10 at Drake Stadium on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, California. The decathlon took place on July 9–10 in Bloomington, Indiana. This meet was organized by the AAU.


1977 USAC Championship Car season
The 1977 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 6 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 29. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The schedule included a road course for the first time since 1970.


1977 USAC Mini-Indy Series season
The 1977 USAC Mini Indy Series season was the first season of the USAC sanctioned Formula Super Vee championship which would later be called Indy Lights. The season contested of four races which was held from the 30 April to the 29 October with all of them being support races for the 1977 USAC Championship Car season.


1977 USAC Mini-Indy Series season
The season would be won by two drivers, Tom Bagley who won the races in Trenton and Bowmanville. Herm Johnson was the other driver who got on the podium three times including a victory in the final round at Avondale.


1977 USC Trojans football team
The 1977 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California (USC) in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their second year under head coach John Robinson, the Trojans compiled a 7–4 record (5–2 against conference opponents), finished in a tie for second place in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8), and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 357 to 212. The team was ranked #12 in the final UPI Coaches Poll and #13 in the final AP Poll.


1977 USC Trojans football team
Quarterback Rob Hertel led the team in passing, completing 132 of 245 passes for 2,145 yards with 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Charles White led the team in rushing with 285 carries for 1,478 yards and seven touchdowns. Randy Simmrin led the team in receiving with 41 catches for 840 yards and five touchdowns.


1977 USSR Chess Championship
The 1977 Soviet Chess Championship was the 45th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 28 November to 22 December 1977 in Leningrad. Boris Gulko and Josif Dorfman shared the title after tying in the play-off. The qualifying tournaments took place in Bălți and Baku.


1977 USSR Chess Championship, Qualifying, Swiss Qualifying
The Swiss Qualifying was held in Bălți from 25 August to 14 September 1977 with 64 players. Lev Alburt won gaining a direct promotion to thefinal.


1977 USSR Chess Championship, Final
The final at Leningrad featured the qualifiers plus the players who entered directly for the historical performance in previous championships.


1977 UTEP Miners football team
The 1977 UTEP Miners football team was an American football team that represented the University of Texas at El Paso in the Western Athletic Conference during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Bill Michael, the team compiled a 1–10 record.


1977 Uganda Cup
1977 Uganda Cup was the third season of the main Ugandan football Cup.


1977 Uganda Cup, Overview
The competition has also been known as the Kakungulu Cup and was won by Simba FC who were awarded a walk-over after Nytil FC failed to appear for the final. At a time of the Idi Amin regime, the Army side, Simba FC, were eager to represent the country and forced the organisers to change the date of the final. Nytil learnt of the change via a radio-announcement and hence failed to show up. The results are not available for the earlier rounds


1977 Uganda National League
The 1977 Uganda National League was the tenth season of the Ugandan football championship, the top-level football league of Uganda.


1977 Uganda National League, Overview
The 1977 Uganda National League was contested by 13 teams and was won by Kampala City Council FC, while Gangama were relegated.


1977 Uganda National League, Overview
Express FC defeated the Army side Simba FC 2-0 in a crucial league match but were subsequently banned for allegedly being involving in anti-government activities, by the Governor of the Central Province, Col. Abdallah Nasur, who was unhappy about his side's loss. In 1979 the ban was lifted after the regime of Idi Amin had ended.


1977 Uganda National League, Leading goalscorer
The top goalscorer in the 1977 season was Denis Obua of Uganda Police FC with 24 goals.


1977 United Bank Classic
The 1977 United Bank Classic, also known as the Denver WCT, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts in Denver, Colorado in the United States that was part of the 3 star category of the 1977 Grand Prix circuit. It was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place from April 18 through April 24, 1977. First-seeded Björn Borg won the singles competition.


1977 United Bank Classic, Finals, Doubles
Colin Dibley /  Geoff Masters defeated  Syd Ball /  Kim Warwick 6–2, 6–3


1977 United Kingdom local elections
Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1977. The results were a major mid-term setback for the Labour government, and the Conservatives, the main opposition, comprehensively regained control of the Greater London Council with 64 seats against Labour's 28. Elections were also held in the county councils and in Northern Ireland.


1977 United Kingdom local elections
The Conservative Party gained 1,293 seats, bringing their number of councillors to 12,370. The Labour Party lost 1,098 seats, leaving them with 7,115 councillors. The Liberal Party lost 163 seats, leaving them with 950 councillors.


1977 United Nations Security Council election
The 1977 United Nations Security Council election was held on 24 October 1977 during the Thirty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The General Assembly elected Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Gabon, Kuwait, and Nigeria, as the five new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 1978. Gabon and Kuwait were elected to the Council for the first time.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Rules
The Security Council has 15 seats, filled by five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. Each year, half of the non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms. A sitting member may not immediately run for re-election.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Rules
In accordance with the rules whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats are allocated as follows:


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Rules
To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of those present and voting. If the vote is inconclusive after the first round, three rounds of restricted voting shall take place, followed by three rounds of unrestricted voting, and so on, until a result has been obtained. In restricted voting, only official candidates may be voted on, while in unrestricted voting, any member of the given regional group, with the exception of current Council members, may be voted on.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Result
The election was managed by then-President of the United Nations General Assembly Lazar Mojsov of Yugoslavia. The United Nations had 150 member states at this time (for a timeline of UN membership, see Enlargement of the United Nations). Delegates were to write the names of the five member states they wished elected on the ballot papers. Voting was conducted by secret ballots. Ballots containing more states from a certain region than seats allocated to that region were invalidated. There were no nominations prior the vote.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Result
In the first round of voting, Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Gabon, and Kuwait were elected, leaving one more seat to be filled in Africa. According to rule 94 of the rules of procedure, the next three rounds of voting would be restricted to the two countries that acquired the highest number of votes in this first round, namely Niger and Nigeria. Any ballots containing the names of other countries would be considered invalid. The second round of voting was inconclusive, so a third was ordered by the President. While the vote had begun, the President called on the representative of Niger.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Result
Mr. Djermakoye of Niger made a statement that was considered ambiguous by at least one member of the Assembly: "I should like to remind the entire Assembly that Niger's candidacy is that of an African country. We note that at this stage of the elections certain principles governing the various groups of States in the Assembly as a whole have not been respected. We note also that the African candidacy seems less and less to be borne in mind by the entire Assembly. Consequently, Niger does not insist that the election continues.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Result
We should like to add, however, that it is not Niger that has been beaten but the Organisation of African Unity." After this statement, the President declared that the representative of Niger has withdrawn his candidacy. Next to speak was Mr. Richard of the United Kingdom; he suggested that the current vote be discontinued and a new round started. Then Mr. Fall of Senegal rose to speak, asking whether a vote can be legally interrupted, as two countries have already voted. The President answered affirmatively to this question and the third round was finalised.


1977 United Nations Security Council election, Result
During the vote Mr. Garba of Nigeria also rose to speak, asking for clarification on the statement of Mr. Djermakoye: "Was he withdrawing his country's candidature or was he disassociatinghimself from the results of this present ballot?". Finally, Mr. Baroody of Saudi Arabia spoke, reminding that at such situations, on more than one occasion, one of the two contesting countries would withdraw, and there would be an understanding that this country would be elected at a later election. He also pleaded for the election not to drag on, as "That would not redound to our dignity or to our honour." Then the results of the fourth, again inconclusive round of voting were made known. Then the fifth and final round of voting was held, and Nigeria was elected. This fifth round was unrestricted - any nation could be voted for.


1977 United States Grand Prix
The 1977 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 2, 1977, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was the fifteenth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The event was also referred to as the United States Grand Prix East in order to distinguish it from the United States Grand Prix West held on April 3, 1977, in Long Beach, California. It was covered on American radio by Motor Racing Network.


1977 United States Grand Prix
The 59-lap race was won from pole position by James Hunt, driving a McLaren-Ford. In wet conditions, Hunt held off a late charge from Mario Andretti in the Lotus-Ford to take his second consecutive Watkins Glen victory. Jody Scheckter was third in the Wolf-Ford, while Niki Lauda clinched his second Drivers' Championship by finishing fourth in his Ferrari.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
For the first time, the American race was being held before the Canadian Grand Prix, which would follow a week later. Lauda led the championship with 69 points, while Jody Scheckter was second with 42 points. With nine points being awarded for a win, Lauda needed only to score one point in any of the final three races to clinch the title, while Scheckter needed to win them all to have a chance (both would be on 69 points, but Scheckter would have the tiebreaker on wins with 5, compared to Lauda's 3).


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
From the start of practice on Friday, Hunt's McLaren was dominant, setting a track record of 1:40.863. Brabham teammates Hans-Joachim Stuck and John Watson were a quarter of a second back, followed by Andretti, Ronnie Peterson and the Ferraris of Carlos Reutemann and Lauda. On Saturday morning there was rain just before the end of untimed practice, and so the afternoon session served only as practice for a possible wet race on Sunday, as Friday's times determined the grid.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
Sunday began cold but dry, with a crowd over 100,000. Before the warmup, however, it began to drizzle, and by the five-minute signal, it had picked up enough that only John Watson was willing to gamble on starting with slicks. At the flag, everyone got away from the grid and through the first turn without incident, but the spray was so heavy that nothing was visible after the first five cars. Stuck quickly jumped ahead of Hunt, and after one lap, they were followed by Andretti, Reutemann, Peterson, Lauda, Scheckter, Jacques Laffite and Gunnar Nilsson.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
Immediately, Scheckter began to take advantage of the others' uncertainty in the conditions and, by lap five had moved from ninth to fourth. Stuck was also going well in the wet, and, despite losing his clutch cable in the first few laps, pulled away from Hunt. Lauda passed his teammate Reutemann for fifth spot when the Argentine spun. On lap 15, with Hunt four seconds behind, Stuck, struggling to make gear changes without a clutch, popped out of gear entering a corner and went straight on. He retired with damage to the monocoque.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
Hunt now led Andretti by 10.5 seconds, with Scheckter 14 seconds further back in third. The rain stopped, and  drivers sought the wet sections of a drying track to cool their tires. With 10 laps remaining and the lead at 22 seconds, Hunt backed off in response to a pit signal. Lauda was coasting in fourth, a position sufficient to clinch the Championship. Scheckter had slowed in third to preserve his tires.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
With two laps to go, Andretti, who had been closing while Hunt cruised home, was only 6.7 seconds behind. As they began the last lap, the margin had closed to 1.5 seconds, but Hunt increased his lead slightly to win by just over two seconds. The McLaren pit had not informed him how close the Lotus was until the start of the final lap, when Teddy Mayer gave him a frantic wave to pick up the pace.


1977 United States Grand Prix, Report
Lauda thus took his second title, and Ferrari took their third consecutive Constructor's Championship. For Lauda, it was the culmination of a comeback from the life-threatening injuries he had sustained at the Nürburgring in 1976. Almost immediately, the Austrian quit Ferrari, having already announced his intention to move to Brabham for 1978.


1977 United States Grand Prix West
The 1977 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Long Beach Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on April 3, 1977 in Long Beach, California. It was the fourth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.


1977 United States Grand Prix West
The 80-lap race was won by Mario Andretti, driving a Lotus-Ford. Andretti held off Niki Lauda in the Ferrari to become the first American to win a Formula One race on home soil, while also giving the ground-effect Lotus 78 its first win. Jody Scheckter finished third in the Wolf-Ford.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
The Formula One circus arrived at Long Beach in mourning following the deaths of Tom Pryce at the South African Grand Prix and Carlos Pace in a light aircraft crash near São Paulo. The Shadow team signed Alan Jones as Pryce's replacement, while Pace's place at Brabham was taken by Hans-Joachim Stuck. Stuck had been expected to drive for the new ATS team with its old Penske car but changed his mind, meaning that ATS had to sign Jean-Pierre Jarier instead.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
The first practice session saw Jody Scheckter fastest in the Wolf with a time of 1:22.79, just ahead of Andretti in the Lotus 78. In the second session, Andretti went faster with a 1:22.06, but Ferrari's Niki Lauda took the pole position in final qualifying on Saturday with a 1:21.63. Scheckter was third, joined on the second row by the second Ferrari of Carlos Reutemann.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
On Sunday, it was 68 degrees °F (20 °C) and very pleasant as the cars formed on the starting grid. At the green light, Scheckter shot past both Lauda and Andretti, and led into the first turn. Reutemann pulled next to Andretti on the inside approach to the turn, but braked too late and slid straight on. Andretti avoided a T-bone by braking in time to duck behind him into the corner.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
James Hunt was allegedly pushed from behind, though no one knows for sure, and when he hit John Watson's right rear wheel with his left front, he was launched six feet in the air, showing Watson the entire underside of his McLaren. On landing, he slid past Reutemann and down the escape road. Hunt was able to make it back to the pits, and though his suspension was bent, he carried on, and ended up missing a point for sixth by just two seconds.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
Meanwhile, the trio of Scheckter, Andretti and Lauda continued the battle they had been waging all weekend, with Scheckter leading by 1.7 seconds after three laps. On lap 4, Lauda was pressuring Andretti and tried to pass in the hairpin at the end of the curving back straight. He locked the Ferrari's brakes, but kept his foot down hard to avoid hitting Andretti's Lotus. The resulting flat spots on Lauda's tires caused a serious vibration throughout the race, and probably took away his chance of winning.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
Scheckter maintained a consistent cushion over the battle for second; after 25 laps, Andretti was 2.5 seconds behind and Lauda was 4 seconds back. Even as they periodically worked their way through traffic, the three leaders never lost contact for more than half a lap. The Long Beach circuit was not particularly suited for cars that generate much downforce, and the new Lotus, with its higher aerodynamic drag, could not match the straight line speed of Scheckter's Wolf; Andretti continually closed in through the corners, but could not find a way past.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
"I was preparing for a real banzai under braking," Andretti later said. "I needed to go from fifth to first gear in order to do it, and the way the gearboxes were in those days, I had maybe one or two tries to do that. My objective was to do it if I was in a position at the end of the race. Then I saw a twitch and, obviously, he had a tire that was slightly deflating."


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
On lap 58, Scheckter's lap time suddenly increased by two seconds, and as he passed the pits, he pointed emphatically to the crew at his right front tire, which had developed a slow leak. The tire began locking up time and again under braking, but Scheckter decided he was going to stay out and go as far as he could. For 18 laps, he tenaciously fought a losing battle as he held off each of Andretti's desperate attempts to pass as his deflating tire got softer and softer.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
"It was not at the point that the tire was really going down, because it was the left side, not the right side, and it was not to the point that he really backed off any sooner because his braking point and turning point for the corner was the same."


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
On lap 77, Andretti outbraked the Wolf and pulled inside him entering the hairpin. "It's not that he went wide," he said afterwards, "I just got him clear at the braking point, and then after I went by him, I distanced myself." The frenzied crowd of 70,000 finally burst into rapturous applause as Andretti accelerated into the lead. Scheckter's despair was complete when Lauda also went by on the next lap. The crowd cheered Andretti home, deflecting considerable pressure from Lauda right to the flag, as he won by less than a second.


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
"It is one of the nicest moments of my career, even more satisfying than winning Indianapolis and really gratifying to have so many people pulling for me," Andretti said. "The car remained perfectly balanced throughout the race and the brakes were superb."


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
"It was not that I was given a break," Mario still insists. "I outbraked him clean. To me, it was just as satisfying a win. Jody tried to say that the only reason I passed him was because the tire was going down; but if that was the case, he would have had a lot of smoke and a lot of locking up, and there was none of that. So, it was a good, satisfying win."


1977 United States Grand Prix West, Summary
Scheckter held on for third place, and the scoring was completed by Patrick Depailler's Tyrrell, over a minute behind; Emerson Fittipaldi in the Copersucar; and Jarier in the ATS Penske-Ford.


1977 United States House of Representatives elections
There were four special elections in 1977 to the United States House of Representatives in the 95th United States Congress. Three of the elections were gains by the Republicans at the expense of Democrats.


1977 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held November 8, 1977, in two states and two territories.


1977 United States rugby union tour of England
The 1977 United States rugby union tour of England was a series of six matches played by the U.S.A. "Eagles" in England in September and October 1977. The United States team won two of the six matches, and lost the other four, including the international match against the England national rugby union team. England did not award full international caps for this match and the team was described as "An England XV" rather than simply "England".


1977 Upper Voltan constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in the Republic of Upper Volta on 27 November 1977. It followed a military coup in 1974, and would restore multi-party democracy. The new constitution retained the presidential system of government, and limited the number of political parties to three (the three with the highest number of votes in the forthcoming parliamentary elections would keep their status and other parties disbanded). It was approved by 98.70% of voters with a 71.6% turnout.


1977 Uruguayan Primera División, Overview
It was contested by 12 teams, and Nacional won the championship.


1977 Utah State Aggies football team
The 1977 Utah State Aggies football team was an American football team that represented Utah State University as an independent during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their second season under head coach Bruce Snyder, the Aggies compiled a 4–7 record and were outscored by opponents by a total of 249 to 117.


1977 Utah Utes football team
The 1977 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Head coach Wayne Howard led the team to a 2–5 mark in the WAC and 3–8 overall.


1977 Utah state route renumbering
In 1977, the Utah State Legislature changed its system of how state route numbers were used and assigned. Prior to 1977 Utah used a system where every U.S. Highway and Interstate Highway traversing the state was assigned a different Utah state route number. This state route number was not posted on signs, but was only used for legislative purposes, such as funding. There were many instances where having different route numbers for signing and legislative purposes could cause confusion. For example, the highway signed Interstate 15 in Utah was legislatively defined State Route 1, not route 15. State Route 15 also existed, but was a different route that passed through Zion National Park.


1977 Utah state route renumbering
In 1977, the state changed to a system where all highways would have the same legislative route number as its signed route number. For example, Interstate 15 would also be route 15 for legislative purposes. Many state routes were re-numbered to eliminate instances where a state route used the same number as a U.S. Highway or Interstate Highway traversing the state.


1977 Utah state route renumbering
In cases where two or more routes overlapped, only one of the route numbers sharing the same roadbed would be used in the legislative designation. The other routes in the overlap would have a discontinuity in the legislative description. For example, the stretch of highway between Green River and Crescent Junction is legislatively designated only Interstate 70. The other highways using this same pavement, U.S. Route 6, U.S. Route 50 and U.S. Route 191 all have legislative gaps in their routes for this portion.


1977 Utah state route renumbering
A smaller change was codifying State Route 30 into law, which was informally created years earlier by combining other state routes. Though the law was changed in 1977, most signs changed over in 1978.


1977 VFA season
The 1977 Victorian Football Association season was the 96th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 17th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Sandringham in the Grand Final on 25 September by 100 points; it was Port Melbourne's 12th Division 1 premiership, its second in a row, and the third of six premierships won by the club in nine seasons between 1974 and 1982. The Division 2 premiership was won by Mordialloc; it was the first and only Association premiership in either division ever won by the club.


1977 VFA season
During the season, the Association celebrated the centenary of its foundation in 1877. As part of these celebrations, the Association ran an additional competition called the Centenary Cup, which was a knock-out competition which ran concurrently with the premiership season and featured all twenty clubs from both divisions. The Centenary Cup was won by Port Melbourne.


1977 VFA season, Division 1
The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.


1977 VFA season, Division 2
The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at Toorak Park.


1977 VFA season, Centenary Cup
As part of celebrations of the centenary of the Association's foundation in 1877, the Association held a special once-off tournament called the Centenary Cup. The competition was a knock-out tournament featuring all twenty clubs from both divisions, and it was held concurrently with the premiership season. To accommodate the competition, the VFA season began in March, its earliest start ever. The competition was scheduled as follows:


1977 VFA season, Centenary Cup
Port Melbourne won the competition, giving it a double of the premiership and Centenary Cup for the season. It was a comfortable 71-point winner against Caulfield in the Grand Final. An official best-on-ground award was presented in the Grand Final to Fred Cook, who kicked 12.4 in Port Melbourne's dominant victory.