1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation
Luna Park was shut down immediately after the incident for a federal investigation. A coronial  into the incident did not determine the cause of the fire, although it was demonstrated that the ride's permanent wiring and attractions were not the source of ignition. Coroner Kevin Anderson found that Luna Park's management had failed to develop an adequate fire suppression program, despite recommendations by North Sydney Council and the Fire Department eighteen months earlier.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation
Anderson's report stated that while the park's owners and management had failed in their duty of care towards patrons, the failure was not "that high degree of negligence necessary to support a charge of criminal negligence". The NSW Government called for new tenders to operate the park on 31 July 1979.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation
Before the fire, a Sydney design consultant stated that he had advised Luna Park management to install a sprinkler system in the Ghost Train in December 1977, following an inspection of the park for potential renovations. The recommendation was not followed.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation
In 1987, a Government inquiry by the National Crime Authority reopened the investigation of the fire. No new evidence was presented, but it was found that the police investigation into the incident had been inadequate, and the coronial inquiry ineffective.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation
Despite claims ranging from faulty wiring to sabotage in an attempt to have the park closed down and demolished, the cause of the fire has never been established.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation, Links to Abe Saffron
In May 2007, Anne Buckingham, a niece of Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron, claimed in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that her uncle was responsible for the fire. Saffron had been associated with seven other arson attacks in the two years following the Ghost Train fire, although he had repeatedly denied involvement with the Ghost Train fire. Buckingham claimed the attack was part of a plan for Saffron to gain control of Luna Park's lease, although she stated her belief that the seven deaths were not intended.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation, Links to Abe Saffron
Former Park Artist Martin Sharp claimed that Saffron had approached Luna Park's owner, Ted Hopkins, several years before the fire, offering to buy the park. In 1985, it was claimed by NSW MP Michael John Hatton that Saffron had beneficial ownership of the park, resulting in an inquiry which concluded that although people related to Saffron were involved in supplying pinball and arcade games to Luna Park, Saffron himself was not linked to the ownership of the park.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Investigation, Links to Abe Saffron
Buckingham later denied she made the comments attributed to her and demanded the story not be published, although the Herald claims her original statements were recorded on tape during a face-to-face interview. The NSW Attorney General has stated the coronial inquiry could be reopened, but would first require the submission of new evidence to the police.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Memorial
A memorial was dedicated in 1995 to the seven victims of the 1979 fire, with a tree planted next to an antique bench decorated with the names of the victims. During the 2003 redevelopment, the tree was removed and the bench lost. Park director Warwick Doughty claimed that the memorial and events had little relevance, although North Sydney mayor Genia McCaffery, among others, disagreed and campaigned for the memorial's reinstatement. In 2004, a plaque listing the names of the victims was placed on an external wall of the Big Top, which was constructed on the site of the Ghost Train. The plaque was to be the centrepiece of a mural painted by Sharp, but this has never been painted. At least one person present at the unveiling of the plaque was unimpressed with the new memorial.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Memorial
A memorial park was opened at Lavender Bay by North Sydney Council on 25 August 2007. The Art Barton Park, named after former Park Artist Arthur Barton, includes a bronze sculpture designed by Michael Leunig dedicated to the victims.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Memorial
The Chapel at Waverley College features a memorial to four of the boys who perished in the fire. The memorial features a photo of each boy along with their names on a plaque.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire
In March 2021,  Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), screened a three-part investigative series by journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire. The series investigated potential evidence around the fire and the personalities involved, interviewing all surviving family of the fire's victims, along with many judicial figures and police investigators of the time, and alleged witnesses and some former park staff. The investigation also brought to light much of Sharp's evidence from his archive of files and tapes on the case.


1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire, Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire
The investigation concluded that a web of criminality extending between Saffron, former NSW Premier Neville Wran, former High Court Justice Lionel Murphy and organised crime boss Jack Rooklyn was responsible for the fire, with Saffron allegedly ordering the lighting of the fire which was carried out by a group of 'bikies', so Saffron could gain control of the lease on the 'crown land' (land protected by the state government) on which Luna Park stood. The program suggested that a new coronial inquiry or Royal Commission into the case should be opened, with all the new evidence taken into account.


1979 Syracuse Orangemen football team
The 1979 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Frank Maloney. Due to the ongoing construction of Syracuse's new stadium, the Carrier Dome, home games in 1979 were played in various locations in New York and New Jersey. The Orangemen were invited to the 1979 Independence Bowl, where they defeated McNeese State, 31–7.


1979 São Paulo FC season
The 1979 season was São Paulo's 50th season since club's existence.


1979 TAA Formula Ford Driver To Europe Series
The 1979 TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series was an Australian motor racing competition  open to Formula Ford racing cars. The series, which was the tenth national series for Formula Fords to be held in Australia, was won by Russell Norden  driving a Mawer 004.


1979 TAA Formula Ford Driver To Europe Series, Points system
Points were awarded on a 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis for the first ten places at each round.


1979 TAA Formula Ford Driver To Europe Series, Series results
Note: All cars were powered by 1600cc Ford production block engines.


1979 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1979 Trans America Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament (now known as the Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Tournament) was held March 1–3 at the Fant–Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana. This was the first edition of the tournament.


1979 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Northeast Louisiana  defeated Mercer in the championship game, 90–69, to win their first TAAC/Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament. The Indians, in turn, received a bid to the 1979 NIT.


1979 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Only six of the eight TAAC members participated in the inaugural tournament. However, this would be the only TAAC tournament for Oklahoma City, who subsequently joined the Midwestern City Conference for the 1979–80 season.


1979 TANFL season
The 1979 Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) premiership season was an Australian rules football competition staged in Hobart, Tasmania over twenty (20) roster rounds and four (4) finals series matches between 7 April and 22 September 1979. This was the centenary season of the Tasmanian Football League, the finals series was sponsored by the Winfield tobacco company to the tune of A$10,000.


1979 TANFL season
The Grand Final of this year set an all-time record football match attendance in Tasmania of 24,968 patrons, this was also a single-day sporting record attendance in the state of Tasmania for twenty five years until it was broken when a crowd of 30,150 attended Symmons Plains Raceway in Northern Tasmania for a V8 Supercar Championship event in 2004.


1979 TANFL season, 1979 TANFL Ladder, Round 12
Note: Peter Hudson kicks all-time TANFL record of 18 goals in this match and kicks his 100th goal for the season.


1979 TANFL season, 1979 TANFL Ladder, Round 18
Note: Peter Hudson kicks second highest TANFL goal total of all-time (to that stage) with 16.4.


1979 TANFL season, 1979 TANFL Ladder, Grand Final
Source: All scores and statistics courtesy of the Hobart Mercury and Saturday Evening Mercury (SEM) publications.


1979 TCU Horned Frogs football team
The 1979 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University (TCU) in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Horned Frogs finished the season 2–8–1 overall and 1–6–1 in the Southwest Conference. The team was coached by F. A. Dry, in his third year as head coach. The Frogs played their home games in Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on campus in Fort Worth, Texas.


1979 Talladega 500
The 1979 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 5, 1979, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama.


1979 Talladega 500, Background
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.


1979 Talladega 500, Race report
There were 41 American-born drivers on the starting grid; 21 of them failed to finish the race. Most of the problems were engine failures. After 188 laps and five caution flags, Darrell Waltrip would defeat David Pearson by a minute and two seconds in front of a crowd of eighty thousand fans. After many lead changes, Waltrip lead the final 55 laps.


1979 Talladega 500, Race report
The race averaged 161.229 miles per hour (259.473 km/h) for the 500 miles while Neil Bonnett would earn his pole position in qualifying with a speed of 193.6 miles per hour (311.6 km/h). Kyle Petty would earn ninth place in his inaugural Winston Cup race after starting 18th. Bob Burcham and Al Holbert would make this race their individual swan songs. The total prize purse at this event was $205,680 ($724,548 when adjusted for inflation). While the winner would collect $32,325 of this purse ($113,871 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher, Dick May, would collect $1,050 ($3,699 when adjusted for inflation).


1979 Talladega 500, Race report
Oldsmobile would rack up their 100th victory in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.


1979 Talladega 500, Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased * Driver failed to finish race


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 4th season in the National Football League the 4th playing their home games at Tampa Stadium and the 4th under head coach John McKay. After having won just seven games in the previous three seasons combined, the 1979 Buccaneers won ten games making this their first winning season. They finished as NFC Central division champions, and won the first playoff game in franchise history.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The Buccaneers added offensive threats to complement their solid defense; a healthy Doug Williams played his first full season and Ricky Bell became the team's first 1,000-yard back, rushing for a career-high 1,263 yards.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
The 1979 team not only posted their first winning record, but earned a playoff spot by winning the NFC Central division title. The playoff spot was secured in the final week in a rain-sodden game against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the only score being a 19-yard field goal by Neil O'Donoghue. They then recorded their first-ever playoff win by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles behind Bell's 142 yards rushing. Tampa Bay hosted the 1979 NFC Championship Game the following week, but lost 9–0 to the Los Angeles Rams.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft-Pick trades
The Buccaneers had no selection in the first round, that pick having been traded to the Chicago Bears for defensive end Wally Chambers (the Bears used the pick to select Dan Hampton). The Buccaneers had extra picks in the second and third rounds in return for trading nose tackle Dave Pear to the Oakland Raiders. They also had extra third and fifth round picks from the Houston Oilers, as part of the 1978 trade for the Buccaneers' first overall pick. They received a third-round pick from the Baltimore Colts in return for running back Dan Hardeman.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft-Pick trades
The Buccaneers' own third-round pick went to the Miami Dolphins as NFL-ordered compensation for signing Randy Crowder. Defensive end Council Rudolph was traded to the Dolphins in return for an eighth-round pick. Other picks were traded as follows: round 4 to the Detroit Lions for Rockne Freitas, round 5 to the Seattle Seahawks, round six to Oakland for Rik Bonness, round seven to the Washington Redskins for Frank Grant, round eight to the New York Jets for Darrell Austin, and round ten to the San Francisco 49ers for Jim Obradovich.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft selections
The Buccaneers doubled the size of their scouting staff from two to four, hoping to get more mileage out of the later rounds of the draft. Greg Roberts was the 1978 Outland Trophy winner, and blocked for 1978 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims. The Buccaneers had him rated as the best lineman in the draft, and expected him to have been selected long before the second round, where the Buccaneers had their highest selection. He is believed to have fallen to the second round due to an inability to pass-block, having played at the run-heavy University of Oklahoma.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft selections
This resulted in a poor performance at the Senior Bowl. Gordon Jones, with a 4.59 time in the 40-yard dash, drew pre-draft comparisons to Lynn Swann, but dropped to the second round due to concerns over his speed. He was the third receiver selected overall. Roberts and Jones both left the Buccaneers after four seasons. Jerry Eckwood and Rick Berns were selected to address injury problems at running back. Eckwood had been second in the nation in rushing (behind Ricky Bell) before being injured in 1975. Berns was at the time the leading rusher in Nebraska history.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, NFL Draft, Draft selections
Eckwood and Berns impressed McKay enough in mini-camp that he traded Louis Carter away. Gene Sanders played for several seasons, after successfully converting to offensive tackle. Twelfth-round selection Dave Logan, the lowest-round draft selection to stick with the team, went on to become one of the Buccaneers' best and most popular players.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Preseason, Offseason personnel changes
Dave Pear, the Buccaneers' first Pro Bowl selection and most popular player, was traded to the Oakland Raiders for two draft picks. This was partly to get extra help in what was expected to be a strong offensive draft, but also because Pear had requested that he be traded if his contract could not be renegotiated. Dave Green, the punter and kicker through the first three seasons, had to be replaced when he tore his achilles tendon stepping over a tackling dummy in training camp.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Offseason, Preseason, Cancellation of Dolphins scrimmage
Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie canceled the yearly preseason matchup in Tampa, claiming that the Buccaneers approached the matchup with excessive intensity, resulting in Dolphin injuries. A dispute with Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse was also a factor, as Culverhouse was promoting a proposed rule to ban NFL owners and their families from holding controlling interest in other sports teams. Robbie's wife Elizabeth was the owner of the NASL Ft. Lauderdale Strikers.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
As in 1978, McKay thought that a 9-7 record was a reasonable goal for the season. The Buccaneers surprised the NFL by winning the team's first five games, becoming the season's last undefeated team and appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It also put them in first place for good in the NFC Central. The team's youth became an issue, as the Buccaneers went into a late-season losing streak on the verge of earning the team's first playoff spot. It was felt that more veteran leadership would have helped the team during the stretch run.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Linebacker Dave Lewis publicly stated that the team was "choking", while Selmon—who had played on the expansion team when it began 0-26—compared the difficulty of getting the playoff-clinching win to the difficulty of getting the team's first win. After dropping three games in a row, of which winning any of the three would have clinched the division, McKay launched into an obscenity-laced tirade against reporters who called the team a "laughingstock" and "Chokeneers".


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
Even against a schedule that featured only two opponents with winning records it took until the final game of the season for the Buccaneers to win their tenth game. A better division record gave the Buccaneers the division win over the also-10–6 Chicago Bears. Despite being listed by Pro Football Reference as the second-worst team to win 10 games ahead only of the 2012 Colts, the Buccaneers became only the second non-Viking team to win the NFC Central since 1970, and the only one to advance in the playoffs.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season
The Buccaneers were considered by many to be an unworthy division champion, even called “cheesecake champions” by opponents, until they advanced to the NFC Championship with a 24–17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. There, with several key players injured, they held the Los Angeles Rams to nine points, but were held scoreless on offense to end their season one game short of the Super Bowl.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 1
Rookie running back Jerry Eckwood rushed for a team record 121 yards, and the overall total of 229 yards rushing also set a team record. Lions quarterback Joe Reed was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a groin injury. When Wally Chambers forced the Lions' Horace King to fumble in the first quarter, Lee Roy Selmon returned the ball 29 yards for a touchdown. A 62-yard drive led to a touchdown by Ricky Bell, followed by a 66-yard touchdown pass from Doug Williams to Jimmie Giles. The Buccaneers then ate up 8½ minutes of the third quarter, finishing off with a touchdown pass to Jim Obradovich.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 2
The Buccaneers overcame a shaky start in which they were penalized for 80 yards and gave up 17 points in what the St. Petersburg Times called "one of the worst and most frustrating first quarters" in team history. Then, later, they had to overcome a fourth-quarter collapse in which they allowed the Colts to score 9 points that sent the Buccaneers into their first overtime game.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 2
Doug Williams’ first pass of the day was intercepted by Norman Thompson, but it took the Colts, hampered by the loss of quarterback Bert Jones and running back Joe Washington, 9 plays to get to the end zone from the Buccaneers' 23-yard line. Lee Roy Selmon blocked an extra-point attempt in the fourth quarter that preserved the tie and led to the overtime period. The Buccaneers' ten sacks of Colts quarterback Greg Landry set a new team record.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 2
After Randy Crowder stripped the ball from Landry 1:31 into the overtime period, Neil O'Donoghue was immediately sent in to kick the game-winning 31-yard field goal. McKay pointed to the now-stable lineup as a factor in the improvement, saying that previously, the team couldn't call an audible because "one of the guys just got here Tuesday". A Times headline called the team's 2-0 record "amazing".


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 3
After spending the first quarter making futile attempts at running through the middle of the Packer defense, the Buccaneers sent Jerry Eckwood around the left end for a 40-yard touchdown run. Eckwood ran for 99 yards, while Ricky Bell added another 97 on the way to a team-record 235 rushing yards.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 4
Jim Youngblood, who had been in on the sack that broke Doug Williams' jaw the previous season, returned an early interception for a touchdown and a 6–0 lead. Shortly thereafter, Bill Kollar recovered a Lawrence McCutcheon fumble at the Rams 27-yard line, leading to a 15-yard touchdown reception by Larry Mucker. Neil O'Donoghue's extra point gave the Buccaneers the lead for good. The Buccaneers further added a 5-yard touchdown run by Ricky Bell and a 29-yard scoring pass to Jimmie Giles, all before the end of the second quarter. The Rams failed to cross midfield at all in the second half, and were held to only 97 yards passing on 35 attempts. McKay, familiar with Rams quarterback Pat Haden from having coached him at USC, tailored the defensive gameplan towards him.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 5
A 65-yard screen pass from Vince Evans to Walter Payton gave the Bears a 13–10 lead. The Buccaneers answered that with a drive that ended with an eight-yard touchdown reception by Isaac Hagins. This score, with 5:08 left in the game, put the Buccaneers ahead of the Bears and left them as the only remaining undefeated team in the league. It was the third consecutive loss for the Bears. Jerry Eckwood also contributed a 61-yard touchdown run, the longest running play in Buccaneers history to that point. A broken wrist suffered in this game would contribute to Eckwood's diminished performance later in the season.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 6
The undefeated Buccaneers lost on the road to the winless New York Giants. Giants quarterback Phil Simms, in his first NFL start, went 6–12 for 37 yards. Billy Taylor, also making his first start, became the first Giant to rush for over 100 yards in a game this season, running for 148 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. Doug Williams threw touchdown passes to Larry Mucker and Jimmie Giles, but also threw three interceptions and numerous incompletions.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 7
Archie Manning, who entered the game leading the NFL in passing yardage, went 11 of 14 with a touchdown each rushing and passing. Mike Strachan rushed for two touchdowns.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 8
The Buccaneers broke their two-game losing streak as Ricky Bell set a club record with 167 rushing yards, while Doug Williams threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third. The total of 228 rushing yards was 7 yards shy of the team record set in the previous game against the Packers, and left the Buccaneers as the only team with two rushers on pace to break the 1,000-yard mark. Packers quarterback David Whitehurst threw for a career-best 261 yards, although the Packers never entered the end zone. Jeris White intercepted a potential touchdown pass that slipped out of James Lofton's hands. The win left the Buccaneers at midseason having already achieved their highest win total ever.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 9
The Times noted that the Buccaneers, which "would unearth a new way to lose" during the 0-26 losing streak, now "keep discovering different formulas for victory", with a strong game by Doug Williams despite a weak rushing attack. The team survived a last-minute drive by the Vikings in which quarterback Tommy Kramer was penalized for throwing a pass from beyond the line of scrimmage, which helped to keep the Vikings out of field goal range. Curtis Jordan sealed the victory by deflecting Kramer's last-second Hail Mary pass. Kramer later admitted to being aware of having crossed the line of scrimmage, but had hoped that the officials would miss it as they had missed so many other penalties in the game.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 9
The Buccaneers' 7-2 record was equal to that of the Super Bowl XIII teams Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. Both Buccaneers and Vikings complained about officiating errors and the malfunctioning game clock. The Metropolitan Stadium 30-second clock failed for the second week in a row, as did both regulation clocks.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 10
The Times warned "'Going down!' Buccaneers reverse direction again", as the Falcons controlled the ball for 41 of 60 minutes. An inability to complete long passes, combined with fumbles, prevented the Buccaneers from taking what could have been a large early lead. Isaac Hagins' fumble to Atlanta's Tom Pridemore set up a 31-yard field goal. The Buccaneers maintained a halftime lead, despite having held the ball for only six minutes and 18 seconds in the first half. Falcon blitzing disrupted Doug Williams' passing, and Ricky Bell and Jerry Eckwood were held to 72 yards rushing. Eckwood's fumble led to Atlanta's go-ahead touchdown with 11:10 remaining. Bubba Bean's 60-yard run with 1:22 remaining clinched the game for the Falcons. A 69-yard Williams-led drive brought the Buccaneers to within three points with 28 seconds left, but the Buccaneers failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 11
The Buccaneers' error-prone play, of which McKay said "we didn't play with very much intelligence", required a late comeback to defeat the 1–10 Lions. The Buccaneers scored 10 points and recovered two fumbles, all in the last four minutes, to pass the Lions and maintain their two-game division lead over the Chicago Bears. This was the Buccaneers' sixth come-from-behind win of the season and they finished with a 4-0 road record against division opponents. After Neil O'Donoghue's fourth-quarter field goal, Dewey Selmon forced a Detroit fumble that was recovered by Dana Nafziger at the Lions' 23-yard line. Doug Williams followed this with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Larry Mucker. Mucker, who earlier had been fined for missing the team bus to the stadium, beat close coverage from Walt Williams to make the catch.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 12
The Buccaneers routed a Giants team that came in having won 5 of their past 6 games. Giants quarterback Phil Simms was sacked 5 times for 75 yards, intercepted twice, and gave up two fumbles. One Cecil Johnson-caused fumble was picked up by Dave Lewis and returned 39 yards for a touchdown. Both sides denied running up the score during either of the season's matchups, though the Tampa players were said to have approached this game as a grudge match.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 12
The game was mostly devoid of the trash-talking that had characterized the previous meeting, the Giants having little room for words. The Giants' 3 points was the lowest score allowed by the Buccaneers, and the Buccaneers had their second-highest point total with 31. The Buccaneers used a two-tight end set, providing additional blocking that helped spring Ricky Bell for 152 yards in three quarters of play. Bell spent the fourth quarter holding an ice pack "...to keep Ricky from getting a swollen head", joked coach McKay. The win left the Buccaneers with an NFC-best 9–3 record, ahead of McKay's 9-7 goal and the team's 5-11 record in 1978. The Times speculated that a 13-3 record was "plausible", because three of the four remaining games were at home and the fourth was against the weak 49ers.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 13
In a game that would have clinched the Buccaneers' first playoff berth, coach McKay was booed after a one-point loss in which three kick attempts were blocked. A touchdown drive by Doug Williams in which he ran the ball into the end zone with 19 seconds remaining turned out to be futile, as Wally Hilgenberg's blocked extra point left the Buccaneers one point short of tying the game. Various special teams miscues erased a good offensive day, in which Williams went 19 of 38 for 252 yards (including 5 of 7 for 52 yards and 25 yards rushing on the final drive), and Ricky Bell's 101 yards rushing put him over 1,000 for the season.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 13
The Buccaneers' 182 rushing yards moved the team into first place overall in the NFC and second in the league after the Jets. The team had the sixth-best passing record in the conference, and the best pass defense and second-best rush defense. The Times nonetheless reported that the locker room was more subdued than during the 0-26 losing streak: "One by one, the players filed out grim-faced, reluctantly said a few words and then left". An angry McKay complained, "I'm sick and tired of people booing me.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 13
I wish they would boo the people who can't block", and had to issue a public apology after shouting an obscenity at the end zone stands, saying later that he was angry over racist statements being made from that direction. This was the first game that Pat Summerall and John Madden announced together.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 14
Doug Williams completed only 5 of 19 passes for 60 yards with four interceptions before being pulled in favor of Mike Rae. Bears quarterback Mike Phipps completed six passes, all to Dave Williams. The Bears scored on one of those receptions, and on a Walter Payton run. The Buccaneers' Williams was nearly ejected from the game after throwing Bears lineman Mike Hartenstine to the ground by his face mask after a Gary Fencik interception. The Bears' five interceptions were their most against the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers' play was later described as "flat" by Bears players.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 14
Wally Chambers dismissed talk of the team's inexperience, noting the intensity with which the team had played against the Giants two weeks prior. The last time the Buccaneers had been shut out previous to this game was the last game of their 0–26 losing streak in 1977, also against the Bears.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 15
Still needing only one victory to clinch the division, the Buccaneers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in O. J. Simpson's final home game. It was the second year in a row that the Buccaneers lost to a 49ers team that entered the game with a 1–13 record. The 49ers scored first, as Jeris White slipped while covering receiver Mike Shumann, leaving Shumann open for a 19-yard touchdown reception. The offense's single touchdown, a 19-yard pass from Doug Williams to Jimmie Giles, was a season low, while injuries to Mike Washington and Cedric Brown left the Buccaneers' secondary vulnerable.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 15
Mike Rae again saw duty at quarterback in the fourth quarter, with the game out of hand. Williams, who tearfully accepted blame for the loss, threw five interceptions that left McKay considering either benching him or avoiding pass plays. McKay also criticized the offensive line's blocking, saying that he "saw (Ricky) Bell make some long runs, maybe two or three inches". Under pressure of needing to win one game, the Buccaneers' tension ("state of shock", according to McKay) was noticeable to 49ers players.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 15
The Associated Press called the game a "humiliating" loss against "13-time loser San Francisco", and Lewis described it as "choking". When reporters described the team as "Chokeneers" and a laughingstock, McKay denounced them and Lewis in what the news agency described an "obscenity-filled tirade", stating that "the word choke is terribly degrading. He ought to shut up ... and see how he played", and "People who use those ... terms are no better than snakes". The loss dropped the Buccaneers into a first-place tie with the Chicago Bears in the NFC Central, to which the Times said that the Buccaneers were "now in the process of presenting" the division championship.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 16
Playing in a torrential downpour, the Buccaneers scored the first shutout in franchise history to clinch their first playoff berth and the NFC Central title in what would become known as "the Rain Bowl". The Chiefs were held to a franchise-low 80 yards of total offense. Despite the rain, Ricky Bell claimed that the field had better traction than the dry field they had played on the week previously in San Francisco. Bell carried the ball 39 times for 137 yards in such bad weather that the game had to be played under lights.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 16
The Buccaneers lost four previous scoring opportunities to a fumble, two interceptions, and a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt. Shut out of the end zone on three tries with first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, the Buccaneers brought Neil O'Donoghue in to kick what would be the winning field goal with 8:50 remaining. Tampa Bay would hold the ball for all but four plays for the rest of the game.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Regular season, Schedule, Week 16
The Chiefs players gave the Buccaneers little credit after the victory, saying that the AFC was superior to the NFC and that the Buccaneers would never have won the AFC West. While stating "you have to give credit where credit is due", Cal Peterson, a member of the first Buccaneers team, was among the Chiefs who agreed on the AFC's superiority. O'Donoghue admitted ("In my two years at Auburn, we won about three games") that he was playing on a championship team for the first time since youth soccer in Ireland, and linebacker Lewis said "We won't be called the Chokeneers any more".


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Divisional
The Buccaneers won their first playoff game in team history by holding the Eagles to 48 rushing yards, while running back Ricky Bell recorded 142 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Bell's 38 rushing attempts set a playoff record, tied later by John Riggins in Super Bowl XVII, while the Eagles' Wilbert Montgomery was held to 35 yards on 12 attempts. The Buccaneers' opening drive resulted in a Bell touchdown, and a Neil O'Donoghue field goal gave the Buccaneers an early 10–0 lead.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Divisional
Wally Chambers forced a Montgomery fumble that was recovered by Randy Crowder on the 4-yard line and led to Bell's second touchdown run, giving the Buccaneers a 17–0 second-quarter lead. Trying to extend that lead before halftime, Doug Williams hurried a pass that wound up in the hands of Eagles linebacker Jerry Robinson at the Tampa Bay 11-yard line. This set up Ron Jaworski's touchdown pass to Charles Smith. After the Eagles narrowed the gap to 17–10 on a Tony Franklin field goal, a series of Lee Roy Selmon sacks of Jaworski killed the Eagles' rally.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Divisional
A 9-yard touchdown pass to Jimmie Giles completed the Buccaneers' scoring. It was only in the final minutes of the game that the Eagles were able to put together a long drive, ending in a touchdown pass to Harold Carmichael. The Buccaneers held the ball for over 36 minutes of the game. The Buccaneers' defensive strategy revolved around stopping Carmichael and Montgomery. At one point, when Leroy Harris was gang-tackled following a short reception, the entire Buccaneer defense was penalized for unnecessary roughing. The Buccaneers' hard-hitting play intimidated the Eagles' receivers into dropping 10 passes.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Divisional
Going into the matchup, the Eagles were expected to have edges in playoff and quarterback experience. Jaworski was the third-rated quarterback in the NFC, while Williams had the lowest rating of all NFC starting quarterbacks. The game represented a rematch of old coaching rivals, McKay of USC and Dick Vermeil of UCLA. The game was the Buccaneers' first on national television. Word of the upset spread as far as Iran, where the hostages were surprised to learn of the Buccaneers' contention for the Super Bowl.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Conference Championship
The Los Angeles Rams, who had been hobbled by injuries much of the season, entered the playoffs with the worst record (9–7) of the six division winners. Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood played the game with a hairline fracture of his left leg, and Vince Ferragamo continued to start in place of the injured Pat Haden. On the other side of the ball, the Buccaneers lost Lee Roy Selmon and Cecil Johnson with ankle injuries, Doug Williams with a torn bicep, and Wally Chambers with a knee injury.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Conference Championship
Mike Washington and Dave Lewis also missed part of the game with injuries. The game was the Rams' second consecutive playoff win against a team that had beaten them decisively during the regular season. Each team had a touchdown called back due to a penalty. The Rams also had a touchdown called back when it was ruled that receiver Preston Dennard did not maintain possession of the ball. The Rams offensive line was intact, unlike in the regular-season matchup. This provided for 216 yards rushing and gave Ferragamo much time to complete passes.


1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season, Playoffs, Conference Championship
Another change from the earlier game was that Wendell Tyler had become the starting halfback for the Rams. With Tyler's speed enabling the Rams to run outside, the Buccaneers were no longer able to clog the inside lanes with defenders and put the linebackers into coverage on passing downs. The Buc defense's focus on Tyler freed Cullen Bryant to run for 106 yards on 18 carries. Meanwhile, Buc quarterbacks Williams and Mike Rae were 4–26 on pass attempts. It took until the third quarter for the Buccaneers to even pass midfield, on a halfback option pass from Jerry Eckwood to Larry Mucker.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season
The 1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fifth indoor season of the club's existence.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Overview
Much to the dismay of Rowdies owner, George Strawbridge, the North American Soccer League owners voted to hold off on a full indoor season for 1978–79 after previously approving it. And just as in the winters of 1977 and 1978, when indoor seasons had been nixed, the NASL did not restrict teams from scheduling indoor matches on their own. The end result of this was that the Major Indoor Soccer League was able to launch its inaugural season from December 1978 though March 1978 with virtually no competition from the NASL.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Overview
For their part, Tampa Bay played five indoor games in the Winter of 1979, the last four of which were played at the Bayfront Center. The Rowdies first match, on January 25 against the Houston Hurricane, took on a different complexion than the ones that it preceded, and not just because it was an away game. The Hurricane spent their winters playing indoors in the MISL, as the Houston Summit. Although the Summit were in midseason, the two leagues didn’t officially sanction interleague play, so when facing the Rowdies Houston played under their “Hurricane” moniker.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Overview
Despite that fact, they wore their Summit uniforms, and the match featured MISL timing (four 15-minute quarters), MISL goal dimensions (6.5’ high x 12’ wide), even a bright orange MISL ball. Ironically, the NASL would wind up adopting the MISL's timing and goal size when they finally began their first full indoor season 10 months later in November 1979.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Overview
Tampa Bay's next two matches were part of a two-day, four-team mini-tournament called the 1979 NASL Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational. The Rowdies won both of their matches, but lost the title on goal differential to the Dallas Tornado, who had also won both of theirs. The second of those invitational matches saw Tampa Bay goalie, Winston DuBose, become only the second goalkeeper in the NASL’s brief indoor history to record a shutout.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Overview
The Rowdies game on February 2 versus the Houston Hurricane (this time played  with NASL goals and timing) marked the first time they had ever lost an indoor match at home to a domestic opponent. Tampa Bay's final match of the indoor campaign was an international friendly against FC Dynamo Moscow on February 19. The lopsided, 8–1, loss closed their indoor season record at 3–2. Over 24,700 fans watched the Rowdies at home in 1979, with all but about 650 total tickets being sold for the four matches.


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Competitions, Invitational final standings
GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Statistics, Scoring
G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season, Statistics, Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1979 Tangerine Bowl
The 1979 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 22, 1979 at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game matched the LSU Tigers against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. It was the final contest of the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams. The game ended in a 34–10 victory for the Tigers.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Teams
The game matched the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers had a conference record of 4–2 and the Demon Decons had a conference record of 3–2. The game was the first bowl game featuring the Tigers and the Demon Deacons, and was their third overall meeting. LSU led the series 2–0 heading into the game.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Teams
The teams' first meeting was in 1960, when the Tigers defeated the Demon Deacons 16–0. The teams also played in 1978, with LSU prevailing 13-11 at Baton Rouge.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Teams
LSU entered the matchup looking to end a four-game bowl skid, dating to a 33-15 decision over Iowa State in the 1971 Sun Bowl.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Finale for "Cholly Mac"
The game was the last for LSU coach Charles McClendon, who was stepping down after 18 seasons at the helm of the Bayou Bengals. Bo Rein was named McClendon's successor 22 days prior to the bowl.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Finale for "Cholly Mac"
Ironically, Rein coached North Carolina State to victory over Wake Forest en route to the 1979 ACC championship. The Wolfpack, however, did not play in a bowl game, while three other ACC teams which finished below NC State (Wake Forest, Clemson and North Carolina), did.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Finale for "Cholly Mac"
McClendon had been at LSU since 1955. He was defensive coordinator under Paul Dietzel from 1955–61, helping the Tigers win the national championship in 1958. Dietzel left to coach Army following the 1961 season.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Finale for "Cholly Mac"
In 1978, Dietzel returned to LSU as its athletic director.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
LSU and Wake Forest have not played each other in football since this game.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
The victory gave McClendon a final record of 137-59-7. He still holds LSU records for longest tenure and most victories. He was named Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association in 1980 after serving as its president in 1979. Following his death in 2001, LSU's football practice fields were named in McClendon's honor.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
No LSU coach after McClendon lasted longer than five seasons until Les Miles, who coached 11 full seasons (2005–15). Miles was fired after four games of the 2016 season.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
Bo Rein perished in a plane crash on January 10, 1980. Former LSU All-American Jerry Stovall, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1962, McClendon's first year as head coach, was named Rein's successor.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
Paul Dietzel was fired as LSU's athletic director in early 1982. The LSU Board of Supervisors cited mismanagement of athletic department finances as the reason for Dietzel's dismissal.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
LSU has returned to Orlando three times to play in the Tangerine Bowl's successor, the Citrus Bowl. The Tigers lost 30-25 to Iowa in 2005 and 19-17 to Penn State in 2010, while defeating Louisville 29-9 in December 2016.


1979 Tangerine Bowl, Aftermath
Wake Forest did not return to a bowl game until the 1992 Independence Bowl. The Demon Deacons have played in only one bowl in Florida since this game, the 2007 Orange Bowl, which they lost 24-13 to Louisville.


1979 Tasmanian state election
The Tasmanian state election, 1979 was held on 28 July 1979 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division.


1979 Tasmanian state election
The incumbent Labor Party, led by Doug Lowe, won a third term in office against the opposition Liberal Party, led by Max Bingham.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Background
Bill Neilson, leader of the Labor Party and Premier of Tasmania, had retired on 1 December 1977 and been replaced by Doug Lowe.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Background
The United Tasmania Group, which had contested the two previous elections, did not field any candidates for the 1979 election. Instead a new party, the Australian Democrats, founded by Don Chipp in 1977, emerged as the most significant minor party.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Results
The Labor Party won the election, increasing its majority in the House of Assembly from one seat to five.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Results
Doug Lowe received the highest personal vote ever in the House of Assembly: 24,971 or 51.2% of the vote in the seat of Franklin.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Results
Tasmanian state election, 18 July 1979House of Assembly << 1976–1982 >>


1979 Tasmanian state election, Aftermath
Max Bingham resigned as opposition leader after losing his second election, and was replaced by Geoff Pearsall.


1979 Tasmanian state election, Aftermath
The election of three Labor MPs for Denison (Julian Amos, John Devine and John Green) was ruled invalid, due to the enforcement of a previously ignored rule limiting campaign expenditure to $1,500. A by-election was arranged for Denison in February 1980. The placement of the Labor candidates on the ballot paper, which placed Deputy Premier Neil Batt fourth, was believed to have led to the introduction of the Robson Rotation method of randomising ballot ordering.


1979 Taça de Portugal Final
The 1979 Taça de Portugal Final was the final match of the 1978–79 Taça de Portugal, the 39th season of the Taça de Portugal, the premier Portuguese football cup competition organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The final was played at the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and opposed two Primeira Liga sides Boavista and Sporting CP. As the inaugural final match finished 1–1, the final was replayed a day later at the same venue with Os Axadrezados defeating the Leões 1–0 to claim a third Taça de Portugal.


1979 Taça de Portugal Final
In Portugal, the final was televised live on RTP. As a result of Boavista winning the Taça de Portugal, Os Axadrezados qualified for the 1979 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira where they took on 1978–79 Primeira Divisão winners Porto.


1979 Team Ice Racing World Championship
The 1979 Team Ice Racing World Championship was the inaugural edition of the Team World Championship. The final was held on 4 May 1979 in Kaliningrad in the Soviet Union.


1979 Tel Aviv Open
The 1979 Tel Aviv Open was a men's tennis tournament played on hard courts that was part of the 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was the inaugural edition of the tournament and was played at the Israel Tennis Centers in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat HaSharon, Israel from October 8 through October 13, 1979. Second-seeded Tom Okker won the singles title.


1979 Tel Aviv Open, Finals, Doubles
Ilie Năstase /  Tom Okker defeated  Mike Cahill /  Colin Dibley 7–5, 6–4


1979 Tel Aviv Open – Doubles
Ilie Năstase and Tom Okker won the title, defeating Mike Cahill and Colin Dibley 7–5, 6–4 in the final.


1979 Tel Aviv Open – Singles
This was the first edition of the Tel Aviv Open.


1979 Tel Aviv Open – Singles
Tom Okker won the tournament, beating Per Hjertquist in the final, 6–4, 6–3.


1979 Temple Owls football team
The 1979 Temple Owls football team was an American football team that represented Temple University as an independent during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its 10th season under head coach Wayne Hardin, the team compiled a 10–2 record, defeated California in the 1979 Garden State Bowl, outscored all opponents by a total of 399 to 198, and was ranked No. 17 in the final AP and Coaches polls. The team played its home games at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.


1979 Temple Owls football team
The team's statistical leaders included Brian Broomell with 2,103 passing yards, Mark Bright with 1,036 rushing yards, and Gerald Lucear with 964 receiving yards and 78 points scored.


1979 Tennessee State Tigers football team
The 1979 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as an independent during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 17-year head coach John Merritt, the Tigers compiled a record of 8–3.


1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team
The 1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Johnny Majors, in his third year, and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of seven wins and five losses (7–5 overall, 3–3 in the SEC) and a loss against Purdue in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.


1979 Texas 400
The 1979 Texas 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 3, 1979, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.


1979 Texas 400, Race report
Two hundred laps took place on an oval track spanning 2.0 miles (3.2 km). Darrell Waltrip won the race; beating Bobby Allison by 60 seconds. Eleven thousand and five hundred fans would attend this live race with lasted more than two hours and thirty-three minutes; making it the least attended race in NASCAR's modern era even when comparing races from after the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.


1979 Texas 400, Race report
Waltrip's overall speed for the race was 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h) while Buddy Baker achieved the pole position for the race with a speed of 167.903 miles per hour (270.214 km/h). Total winnings for this race were $161,250 ($568,034.73 when considering inflation); Darrell would receive $21,750 of the total purse ($76,618.64 when considering inflation).


1979 Texas 400, Race report
Dale Earnhardt was Waltrip's top challenger before he crashed late in the race. Waltrip had a lap lead but Allison, Baker, and Yarborough had a one-lap dash for second. Allison got second by about two feet over Baker, who was about four feet back. Some of the more notable names to make an appearance here were: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Cale Yarborough, Terry Labonte, Richard Petty, and J. D. McDuffie.


1979 Texas 400, Race report
Notable crew chiefs in attendance for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder.


1979 Texas 400, Race report
While Jim Hurlbert and John Rezek would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut, Billy Hagan would make his grand exit after this race along with three other drivers. Bill Meazel would make his only NASCAR appearance during this event.


1979 Texas 400, Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased * Driver failed to finish race


1979 Texas A&M Aggies football team
The 1979 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC). The Aggies were led by head coach Tom Wilson in his second season and finished with a record of six wins and five losses (6–5 overall, 4–4 in the SWC).


1979 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The 1979 Texas Longhorns baseball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1979 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Longhorns played their home games at Disch–Falk Field. The team was coached by Cliff Gustafson in his 12th season at Texas.


1979 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The Longhorns reached the College World Series, finishing fourth with wins over Connecticut and Mississippi State and losses to eventual runner-up Arkansas and third place Pepperdine.


1979 Texas Longhorns football team
The 1979 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 9–2 record and lost to Washington in the Sun Bowl.


1979 Texas Rangers season
The 1979 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 3rd in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.


1979 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1979 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1979 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1979 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1979 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1979 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team
The 1979 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech University in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Rex Dockery, the Red Raiders compiled a 3–6–2 record (2–5–1 against SWC opponents), were outscored by a combined total of 182 to 141, and finished in seventh place in the conference. The team played its home games at Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.


1979 Texas–Arlington Mavericks football team
The 1979 Texas–Arlington Mavericks football team was an American football team that represented  the University of Texas at Arlington in the Southland Conference during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth year under head coach Harold Elliott, the team compiled a 9–2 record.


1979 Thai general election
General elections were held in Thailand on 22 April 1979. The result was a victory for the Social Action Party, which won 82 of the 301 seats. Voter turnout was 43.9%.


1979 Thailand Regional Games
The 13th Thailand National Games (Thai: กีฬาเขตแห่งประเทศไทย ครั้งที่ 13, also known as the 1979 National Games and the 1979 Inter-Provincial Games) were held in Lampang, Thailand from 23 to 29 December 1979, with competition in 14 sports and athletes from 10 regions. These games were the qualification for Thai athletes in the 1978 Asian Games.


1979 Thailand Regional Games, Emblem
The emblem of 1979 Thailand National Games was a brown circle, with the emblem of Sports Authority of Thailand on the inside, surrounded by the text


1979 Thailand Regional Games, Emblem
กีฬาเขตแห่งประเทศไทย ครั้งที่ ๑๓ ลำปาง ๒๕๒๒13th Thailand Regional Games, Lampang 1979


1979 Thailand Regional Games, Participating regions
The 13th Thailand National Games represented 10 regions from 72 provinces. Phayao, formerly part of Chiang Rai, made its debut.


1979 The Citadel Bulldogs football team
The 1979 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Art Baker served as head coach for the second season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.


1979 Thomas Cup
The 1979 Thomas Cup was the 11th edition of the Thomas Cup competition, the world championship of men's international team badminton. The final rounds contested by qualifying zone winners and defending champions Indonesia were held at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia in late May and early June. First played in 1948-1949, the Thomas Cup competition was held every three years until 1982, and since then has been held every two years.


1979 Thomas Cup
Indonesia won its seventh title after beating Denmark in the final round.


1979 Thomas Cup, Teams
21 teams from 4 regions took part in the competition. As defending champion, Indonesia skipped the Qualifications and the first round, and played directly in the second round (semifinal) of the Inter-Zone Ties.


1979 Thomas Cup, Qualification (intra-zone) summary
Political disputes played a significant role in the 1978–1979 Thomas Cup series. Though The People's Republic of China had been producing players of astonishing ability since the mid-1960s, its entry into the International Badminton Federation (now the Badminton World Federation) had been delayed for years over the Taiwan issue. In 1978 the PRC took the step of fostering a rival international badminton organization and running its own version of a world championship (for individual players) in 1979.


1979 Thomas Cup, Qualification (intra-zone) summary, Australasian zone
Competing in the Australasian zone for the first time since the 1966-1967 series, Japan encountered strong opposition from host New Zealand but survived 5–4. It was Richard Purser's sixth Thomas Cup campaign for the Kiwis. The Japanese then went on to shut out Australia in the zone final, despite some close matches.


1979 Thomas Cup, Qualification (intra-zone) summary, Asian zone
The Asian zone all but disappeared in the political upheaval, as four national teams, including traditionally strong Thailand, either withdrew or were scratched from the competition. This left only India to visit Malaysia in a replay of their 1976 tie (team match), which Malaysia had won after trailing 1–4. Those young Malaysians had gone on to reach the tournament final  but none had since developed into true world-class stars. Thus India, on the strength of three wins by Prakash Padukone, was able to avenge its 1976 loss in another extremely close contest (5–4) and win the Asian zone for the first time since 1955.


1979 Thomas Cup, Qualification (intra-zone) summary, European zone
In the European Zone, England could not take advantage of a fine performance by Ray Stevens (winning only matches where he participated), and went down to Sweden 3–6. The Swedes, however, were beaten in the final for the fourth consecutive time by Denmark 2–7. It was the last of five occasions in which Denmark's Svend Pri and Sweden's Sture Johnsson played on opposite sides of a Thomas Cup tie, though they did not play directly against each other this time. Young Morten Frost for Denmark and Thomas Kihlstrom for Sweden were the leading performers in the contest.


1979 Thomas Cup, Qualification (intra-zone) summary, Panamerican zone
The fallout over these developments reached into the Pan American zone of Thomas Cup which Taiwan (Republic of China) had entered. Drawing Mexico, Taiwan agreed to drop out of the competition when the Mexican Association protested against its entry. Mexico then defaulted the zone final to Canada which, effectively, won the zone by squeezing past the USA in the semifinal 5–4. In nine Thomas Cup meetings between Canada and the United States it was the first time in which no player over 30 participated in the tie.


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs
The inter-zone ties (team matches) were hosted by defending champion Indonesia at Jakarta in late May and early June. Contesting in an out-bracket tie for the right to play Indonesia in the semifinals, Japan decisively defeated Canada 8–1, U.S. born Pat Tryon scoring the lone point for the Canadians. The first semifinal tie pitted Denmark against India in what might have been expected to have been a very close encounter. Typically talented, Danish squads had also, typically, struggled in the tropical heat and humidity. This time, however, Denmark came through in the uncongenial climate 7–2; the pivotal match probably being wily veteran Svend Pri's inspiring victory over the much younger Prakash Padukone (less than a year before Padukone's triumph at the All-England Championships).


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs
The second semifinal presented Japan with the daunting task of facing a powerhouse Indonesian squad in an Indonesian setting. Moreover, these Japanese players, especially in singles, were not as internationally accomplished as the highly competitive Japanese stars of a decade earlier. It came as quite a surprise, then, when Japan's number one singles player, Kinji Zeniya, began the series by racing off to a 14–9 lead on reigning All-England champion Liem Swie King. This, however, was as close to a victory as Japan came. King recovered to win the game 17–16 and nearly blanked Zeniya in the second game.


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs
Fighting hard throughout, the Japanese were successively worn down by better players who were also more accustomed to the tropical conditions. It was the first time that Japan had been on the losing side of a Thomas Cup shut-out. Thus for the fourth time, the third in a championship tie, Indonesia and Denmark squared-off in Thomas Cup competition.


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs, Final
Though Svend Pri was 34 and by this time only the third ranked singles player in Denmark, his record of winning clutch singles matches in tropical conditions had earned him a slot in the top two singles positions. Indonesia might have placed the iconic Rudy Hartono (two months shy of 30) in a similar position in its lineup and thus effected a sequel to their long rivalry. It was not to be, as Indonesia placed Hartono in the third singles position.


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs, Final
Nevertheless, in "veteran" Iie Sumirat, only a year younger than Hartono and, like Pri, something of a showman, Pri drew a worthy adversary. Their opening contest, the most interesting of the tie, was won by Sumirat 15–10 in the third game. Except for a three-game win by Sumirat over rising star Morten Frost on the second night, every other match was routinely taken by Indonesia. Flemming Delfs, whose play in the tropics was almost invariably a full level below its European standard, lost tamely to Hartono, and only one doubles game in eight was close. Thus for the second straight time Indonesia shut-out its final opponent in Thomas Cup, thereby winning the Cup for the seventh time in eight attempts.


1979 Thomas Cup, Inter-zone playoffs, Final
Though probably not anticipated at the time, this was the final Thomas Cup appearance of the great Indonesian doubles team of Tjun Tjun and Johan Wahjudi, Tjun Tjun being unbeaten in three campaigns which included an appearance in singles. His equally illustrious contemporary, Christian Hadinata, would play in three more series (through 1986) and lose only one match in his Thomas cup career. Hartono would play in one more series (1981-1982), the first in which Indonesia's great rival China would finally compete. As for Svend Pri, this was his final Thomas Cup tie and the only one in which he failed to win at least one match.


1979 Thunderbird Classic
The 1979 Thunderbird Classic was a women's singles tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. The event was part of the AAA category of the 1979 Colgate Series. It was the ninth edition of the tournament and was held from October 10 through October 14, 1979. First-seeded Martina Navratilova successfully defended her 1978 title by winning the singles event and earned $20,000 first-prize money.


1979 Thunderbird Classic, Winners, Doubles
Betty Stöve /  Wendy Turnbull defeated  Rosie Casals /  Chris Evert 6–4, 7–6(7–4)


1979 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship
The 1979 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship was the 89th staging of the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Tipperary County Board in 1887.


1979 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship
On 7 October 1979, Kilruane MacDonaghs won the championship after a 2-18 to 3-06 defeat of Thurles Sarsfields in the final at Semple Stadium. It was their third championship title overall and their third title in succession.


1979 Tirreno–Adriatico
The 1979 Tirreno–Adriatico was the 14th edition of the Tirreno–Adriatico cycle race and was held from 9 March to 14 March 1979. The race started in Santa Severa and finished in San Benedetto del Tronto. The race was won by Knut Knudsen of the Bianchi team.


1979 Togolese constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Togo on 30 December 1979, alongside simultaneous general elections. The changes to the constitution would make the country a presidential republic and a one-party state and were approved by 99.87% of voters with a 99.4% turnout.


1979 Togolese general election
General elections were held in Togo on 30 December 1979, alongside a constitutional referendum that confirmed the country's status as a one-party state. Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who had led a coup in 1967, was elected President unopposed, whilst the Rally of the Togolese People (the sole legal party) won all 67 seats in the National Assembly as its list of 67 candidates was approved by voters. Voter turnout was reported to be 99.3% in the parliamentary election and 99.4% in the presidential election.


1979 Toledo Rockets football team
The 1979 Toledo Rockets football team was an American football team that represented the University of Toledo in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third season under head coach Chuck Stobart, the Rockets compiled a 7–3–1 record (7–1–1 against MAC opponents), finished in second place in the MAC, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 213 to 190.


1979 Toledo Rockets football team
The team's statistical leaders included Maurice Hall with 648 passing yards, Mike Alston with 806 rushing yards, and Butch Hunyadi with 500 receiving yards.


1979 Tolly Cobbold Classic
The 1979 Tolly Cobbold Classic was a professional invitational snooker tournament held in February 1979 at the Corn Exchange, Ipswich, England.


1979 Tolly Cobbold Classic
Four professionals played in a round-robin group, with the top two progressing to the final. Alex Higgins won the tournament by defeating Ray Reardon 5–4 in the final.


1979 Tongan A Grade
The 1979 season of the Tongan A Grade was the 7th season of top flight association football competition in Tonga. No champion has been recorded for this season.


1979 Toray Sillook Open
The 1979 Toray Sillook Open was a women's singles tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo in Japan. The event was part of the AAAA category of the 1979 Colgate Series. It was the seventh edition of the tournament and was held from 11 September through 16 September 1979. Sixth-seeded Billie Jean King won the title and earned $32,000 first-prize money. By reaching the final Evonne Goolagong Cawley became the fourth female player to break the mark of $1 million in prize-money.


1979 Torneo Descentralizado
The 1979 Torneo Descentralizado, the top category of Peruvian football (soccer), was played by 16 teams. The national champion was Sporting Cristal.


1979 Torneo Descentralizado
The season was divided into 2 stages. On the first stage, top 8 teams qualified to play for the championship with a points bonus of 3, 2 and 1 for the top 3; bottom eight qualified to play for relegation with a points penalty of -1, -2 and -3 for bottom three. Teams entered the second stage without carrying their whole season records. As three teams tied on points the last place of Relegation Group they had to enter a Relegation Playoff that was played in Lima.


1979 Torneo Godó
The 1979 Torneo Godó or Trofeo Conde de Godó was a men's tennis tournament that took place on outdoor clay courts in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the 27th edition of the tournament and was part of the 1979 Grand Prix circuit. It was held from 8 October until 14 October 1979. Ninth-seeded Hans Gildemeister won the singles title.


1979 Torneo Godó, Finals, Doubles
'Paolo Bertolucci /  Adriano Panatta defeated  Carlos Kirmayr /  Cássio Motta 6–4, 6–3


1979 Torneo di Viareggio
The 1979 winners of the Torneo di Viareggio (in English, the Viareggio Tournament, officially the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale), the annual youth football tournament held in Viareggio, Tuscany, are listed below.


1979 Torneo di Viareggio, Format
The 16 teams are seeded in 4 groups. Each team from a group meets the others in a single tie. The winner of each group progress to the final knockout stage.


1979 Toronto Argonauts season
The 1979 Toronto Argonauts finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 5–11 record and failed to make the playoffs.


1979 Toronto Blue Jays season
The 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's third season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 53 wins and 109 losses. The Blue Jays were the only American League East team to finish 1979 with a losing record and the loss total of 109 set the franchise mark. Attendance for the season decreased to 1,431,651.


1979 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season
Following the team's poor performance, manager Roy Hartsfield was fired at the end of the season. One highlight of the season was the awarding of the American League Rookie of the Year Award to Alfredo Griffin.


1979 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season
The end of the 1979 season marked a crossroads for the franchise. The first real talent from the minor leagues had made it to the major league roster. Such talent included pitcher Dave Stieb and third baseman Danny Ainge.


1979 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


1979 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


1979 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


1979 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; 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


1979 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


1979 Toronto International Film Festival
The 4th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 15, 1979. Due to overcrowding in the prior year, the Gala presentations were moved from the 700-seat Towne Cinema to the 1,600-seat Elgin Theatre. The People's Choice Award was awarded to Best Boy by Ira Wohl, which later won Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.


1979 Toronto International Film Festival, Programme
This year The American Nightmare retrospective on American horror films was organized by Canadian critic Robin Wood and Richard Lippe. Brian De Palma and George A. Romero attended the retrospective as guests. Also this year Industry programme trade forum was started by festival, which continued till 1991. The festival featured a special programme of films from Sweden, with Jörn Donner, the head of the Swedish Film Institute, and nine Swedish filmmakers attending.


1979 Toronto International Film Festival, Programme, Luce Guilbeault
A tribute program to Canadian actress and filmmaker Luce Guilbeault, featuring both films in which she performed and films she directed.


1979 Tour de France
The 1979 Tour de France was the 66th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 27 June and 22 July, with 24 stages covering a distance of 3,765 km (2,339 mi). It was the only tour to finish at Alpe d'Huez twice. It was won by Bernard Hinault, who also won the points classification, and whose team won both team classifications.


1979 Tour de France
Remarkably Hinault and second place finisher Joop Zoetemelk finished nearly a half hour ahead of the other GC Contenders, and in modern history this was the only time the Yellow Jersey was challenged on the ride into Paris. The mountains classification was won by Giovanni Battaglin, and the young rider classification was won by Jean-René Bernaudeau.


1979 Tour de France, Teams
The following 15 teams each sent 10 cyclists, for a total of 150.


1979 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
The big favourite was Hinault; not only was he the defending champion, but the large number of time trials made the race especially suited for him. The only cyclist thought to be able to seriously challenge Hinault was Zoetemelk, the runner-up of the previous edition.


1979 Tour de France, Route and stages
The route for the 1979 Tour was revealed in November 1978. It was the shortest course since 1904, but with many climbs it was still considered hard.


1979 Tour de France, Route and stages
Since 1974, the Tour had always been composed of 22 stages, with some of them run as split stages. Following the riders' strike in the 1978 Tour against these split stages, the 1979 Tour included no split stages. To compensate for this, the total number of stages increased to 24. The Tour had one rest day, in Les Menuires. The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,642 m (8,668 ft) at the summit of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 17.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
The prologue was won by Knetemann; Zoetemelk and Hinault both followed at four seconds. The first stage took the riders immediately into the mountains. During stage one Jean René Bernaudeau and René Bittinger got to the front of the peloton with Bittinger claiming the stage win by eight seconds, and Bernaudeau taking 2nd but moving into the overall race lead.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage two would be the final stage someone not named Bernard Hinault or Joop Zoetemelk would wear the Maillot Jaune, which was a mountain climb individual time trial where the top 5 finishers moved into the top 5 in the overall standings. Hinault won the stage and took over the race lead as Zoetemelk moved into 2nd place overall while Joaquim Agostinho, Hennie Kuiper and Sven-Åke Nilsson rounded out the top 5. Stage three ended up as a sprint finish decided amongst the strongest riders who had survived the climbs.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Hinault edged Rudy Pevenage at the line but as the strongest riders had finished together there was no change atop the General classification. Stage four was a team time trial won by the consistently dominant TI–Raleigh–McGregor squad with the very strong IJsboerke–Warncke Eis team finishing 2nd. Neither of these teams had a GC rider who was a clear and present threat to Hinault, however the 3rd and 4th place teams in Peugeot–Esso–Michelin and Miko–Mercier–Vivagel did with Kuiper and Zoetemelk.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Hinault’s Renault–Gitane squad finished in 5th place overall, meaning he lost time to all of these teams and his lead was now only 0:12 over Zoetemelk and 0:31 over Kuiper, who was upset at the missed opportunity following this stage as the team had chosen the wrong tires and punctured numerous times likely costing him the chance to overtake Hinault and Zoetemelk. Agostinho and his Flandria–Ça va seul team finished 6th moving him from a tie for 2nd with Zoetemelk to 4th place overall just 0:10 ahead of Ake-Nilsson.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage five was a flat stage where Jan Raas outsprinted Jacques Esclassan, the up and coming Irishman Sean Kelly, Marc Demeyer and Hinault for the win with no changes among the GC riders. Stage six saw all five out of the five top 5 finishers from the previous day once again competing for the win except this time Joseph Jacobs was able to get ahead of Hinault, Raas, Kelly, Demeyer and Esclassan to win the day by a single second. Hinault's 2nd place finish  added 0:12 to his lead over the riders closest to him in the overall standings. Stage seven came down to a three rider escape involving Christian Levavasseur, Christian Poirier and Leo van Vliet where van Vliet took the stage win as the overall situation remained static.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage eight was another team time trial which caused some movement in the standings. TI-Raleigh and Ijsboerke were once again among the strongest teams and were separated by only 0:08 with Raleigh claiming another win. As a result their highest place rider Ueli Sutter moved into 4th place overall. Ijsboerke finished 3rd behind Hinault’s Renault team, who put together a very strong ride finishing in 2nd just 0:06 behind Raleigh.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
The Miko-Mercier squad of Zoetemelk and Nilsson finished 4th but lost nearly two minutes to Renault meaning Hinault now had some breathing room leading Zoetemelk by 1:18 and the now 3rd place Nilsson by 2:40. The Peugeot-Esso team of Kuiper and the Flandria team of Agostinho fared poorly with Kuiper dropping from 3rd to 7th place at 4:30 behind, whereas Agostinho remained in 5th place, but was now 4:05 back. Stage nine was a pivotal stage that had major ramifications for the top riders who had to contend with the much dreaded cobblestones of Roubaix.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Any of the cobbled sections included in the Tour are always treacherous, they result in numerous, if not dozens of minor and occasionally major crashes, many riders get multiple flat tires and depending on the weather it is either intolerably hot and dusty or so muddy that no rider has a clean face by the end of the stage.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
This stage was no different and in the end a group of five riders survived to the finish line in the lead group where André Dierickx, Didi Thurau, Michel Pollentier and Zoetemelk crossed the line 0:19 behind Ludo Delcroix. Hinault was actually able to distance himself and gain time on many of the other GC riders and the one's he did not gain time on he stayed even with. Nilsson, Sutter and Kuiper all crossed with the same time as Hinault whereas other top 10 riders going into the stage including Gery Verlinden and Bernaudeau lost time to him.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Joaquim Agostinho had a disastrous day in which he lost his 5th place, fell out of the top 10 altogether and was more than 10:00 behind Hinault. By his standards Hinault also had a disastrous day, as he lost the yellow jersey, which he was not happy about as he threatened following the stage that, "there are some riders who will suffer plenty after what happened today", in reference to the select group of riders who got away from him and survived in the breakaway.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Of the 5 breakaway survivors Dierickx gained enough time to come within about 3:00 of Hinault but he was not considered a realistic threat. Neither was the stage winner Delcroix and while Thurau or Pollentier might have been threats if they had gaps upwards of ten minutes on Hinault, both of them were still ten minutes or more behind the Badger and therefore irrelevant as far as his pursuit of his 2nd Tour victory was concerned.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
As such his anger was seemingly directed primarily at Zoetemelk, who had taken over the lead by 2:08, and was a very real threat to Hinault. In essence the only rider that could beat him, did beat him, and beat him by a considerable margin somehow finding a way to avoid the crashes, the flat tires, the protesters and ‘surviving’ within the winning group of this stage of the Tour which was borrowed from The Hell of the North.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Even though Hinault had dropped to 2nd place more than two minutes off the lead, Five time tour champion Jacques Anquetil was pleased with the way Hinault responded following this stage and predicted that Hinault won the Tour, because he had kept his losses limited. In stage ten Jo Maas outlasted his breakaway companions including Pol Verschuere and Ludo Peeters to take the stage win and jump into the top 10 overall as the breakaway had finished close to ten minutes ahead of the peloton.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
During the stage eleven ITT it became a near certainty that the battle for the 1979 Tour de France would be decided solely between Hinault and Zoetemelk as following this stage the 3rd place rider would be more than 7:00 behind. Hinault won the stage by a narrow margin of just eight seconds over Knut Knudsen but more importantly he cut Zoetemelk’s lead from 2:08 down to 1:32.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
During stage twelve Christian Seznec beat Joseph Borguet by one second to win the stage as Hennie Kuiper, who started the day in 5th place at 8:00 off the lead joined in the attacks to try to cut into Zoetemelk and Hinault. He managed to win a decent chunk of time back and in the process jumped back into 3rd at +6:09. In stage thirteen however, he would lose back much of the time he gained. Winning the stage three seconds ahead of Rudy Pevenage, was Pierre-Raymond Villemiane who jumped from 10th place up to 6th.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Villemiane was a distant threat to the leaders and therefore not pursued by either of their teams, but Hinault did manage to take a three second bite out of Zoetemelk's lead cutting it down to +1:29. In stage fourteen Zoetemelk added 0:20 to his lead over 3rd place Kuiper, 4th place Sutter and 5th place Nilsson, however Hinault was able to get away from Zoetemelk and win back 0:40 on the Dutchman, cutting his lead to under a minute. Finishing atop the stage podium was Demeyer, followed by Esclassan and Kelly.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage 15 was another mountain ITT, which was once again won by Bernard Hinault who put himself back into the yellow jersey. The majority of the ninety-something riders remaining in the race finished well beyond +5:00 of Hinault with only Zoetemelk keeping him under 3:00. Hinault's lead over 5th place Nilsson was just over 14:00, he was 13:00 ahead of 4th place Sutter, nearly 12:00 ahead of 3rd place Kuiper, but only 1:48 ahead of 2nd placed Zoetemelk, a lead he was not satisfied with going into the high mountains of The French Alps.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
As such Hinault went on the offensive in stage sixteen where he finished just six seconds behind Lucien Van Impe. Van Impe had a rocky start to this Tour but was slowly clawing his way back towards the top 10, even though he was always more concerned with his place within the King of the Mountains competition, not the general classification. More importantly Hinault nearly added another minute to his lead over Zoetemelk, who was now +2:45 behind, as the race headed for back to back hilltop finishes atop Alpe d'Huez following  rest day.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
By the end of stage seventeen the 3rd place rider would be nearly +20:00 behind Hinault, but surprisingly moving all the way back to 5th place was Joaquim Agostinho who put in a masterful performance to win the stage coming all the way back from where his Tour disastrously fell apart back on the cobbles of Roubaix. Meanwhile, Hinault and Zoetemelk crossed the line together some three minutes later with the two of them still separated by +2:45 and only one major mountain stage remaining.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
The 2nd hilltop finish at Alpe d’Huez in stage eighteen was the final chance to gain time in the high mountains. The stage was won by Zoetemelk with an advantage of +0:40 over Van Impe. Zoetemelk also managed to drop Hinault near the end of the stage and cut his lead to just under two minutes prior to the final ITT.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Continuing on his impressive performance from the day before was Agostinho who finished both in 4th place on the stage, and also climbed up a spot to 4th place in the overall standings, albeit more than twenty minutes behind Hinault. Stage nineteen was won by Didi Thurau who outsprinted Jacobs, Demeyer and Hinault to claim the win.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Then during stage 20 Serge Parsani got to the line two seconds slower than the speedy Dutchman Gerrie Knetemann, but Knetemann was given a ten second penalty for drafting a team car earlier in the stage, which gave Parsani the stage win by eight seconds. The final ITT was in the city of Dijon where Hinault seemingly clinched his 2nd consecutive Tour de France victory building his lead over Zoetemelk to +3:07. The closest rider from within the rest of the field was Agostinho, who jumped into the final podium position but was still nearly twenty-five minutes behind. Stage twenty-two was won in a head to head sprint by Gerrie Knetemann over Giovanni Battaglin and in Stage twenty-three Hinault was able to best Demeyer at the finish line.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
With the Tour unofficially over and only the ride down the Champs Elysees remaining stage twenty-four began with the peloton headed towards the finish line in Paris. There were a few escape attempts early in the stage including by Thurau and Zoetemelk, who was trying to get away from Hinault. At 124 kilometers into the stage Hinault left everyone behind and only Zoetemelk went off in pursuit. It took him four kilometers to catch Hinault and by 129 kilometers into the stage this 'royal escape' was turned loose with the teams of both riders controlling the peloton from then on.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
The time gap between the duo of Hinault and Zoetemelk and the peloton steadily increased from that point on and continued to increase on the laps of the Champs Elysees. It must certainly have been an unfamiliar sight for the fans in attendance to see the Tour fought over until the last kilometer had been ridden. Hinault crossed the line about a bike length ahead of Zoetemelk and about two and half minutes later the bunch sprint began for 3rd place with Dietrich Thurau edging out Jacques Bossis and Paul Sherwen.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Just as the day began with Hinault in the lead by +3:07, it ended with Bernard Hinault as Tour de France champion by +3:07 over Joop Zoetemelk, who had now finished in 2nd place in the Tour de France for a record 5th time, which in and of itself is remarkable considering the ‘'Eternal Second’ Raymond Poulidor only finished 2nd three times. Something that did change was the 3rd place rider Agostinho was now nearly a half hour behind.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Winning the points classification was Hinault, the mountains classification was won by Giovanni Battaglin, the young rider classification went to Jean-Renè Bernaudeau and the Combativity award was presented to Zoetemelk,  who won the award ahead of Battaglin who in addition to winning the KOM competition, also finished 6th and was named the most combative rider on four stages.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
Besides the struggle for the first place, there was also a noteworthy struggle for the last place, the lanterne rouge. After the 20th stage, Philippe Tesnière was last in the general classification, with Gerhard Schönbacher before him. Tesnière had already finished last in the 1978 Tour de France, so he was aware of the publicity associated with being the lanterne rouge.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview
In the 21st stage, Tesnière therefore rode extra slow. Hinault took 1 hour, 8 minutes and 53 seconds to win the time trial, Schönbacher used 1 hour, 21 minutes and 52 seconds, while Tesniere rode it in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 32 seconds; both were slower than all other cyclists. Tesnière's time was more than 20% slower than Hinault's, which meant that he had missed the time cut, and was taken out of the race. When Schönbacher was near the finish of the last stage, he stopped and kissed the road, before he crossed the finishline.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
For the first time in the Tour de France, doping tests were able to find anabolicals. The doping tests were performed by Manfred Donike in his lab in Cologne.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
After the 17th stage, it was announced that Giovanni Battaglin, leader of the mountains classification, had tested positive after the 13th stage. He received a penalty of 10 minutes in the general classification, and lost all mountain points that he collected during that 13th stage, and an extra penalty of 10 points. Frans Van Looy and Gilbert Chaumaz also tested positive for doping.


1979 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
After the race finished, Joop Zoetemelk was found to have used doping, which he later admitted to. Zoetemelk was fined with 10 minutes in the general classification, and lost his combativity award, but still officially remained in 2nd place by more than ten minutes. His label as an 'eternal second' would permanently be removed the following year.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were several classifications in the 1979 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. In previous years, the team time trials only counted for the team classification, and not for the general classification, except for the bonifications. From 1979 on, the team trial also counted for the general classification.


1979 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.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, 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.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Another classification was the young rider classification, decided the same way as the general classification. Since 1975, the young rider classification had been contested by neo-professionals: cyclists aged 23 years or younger, or in their first two years as a professional cyclist. This changed in 1979: it was open for cyclists aged 24 or younger at 1 January. The leader wore a white jersey.


1979 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 1979, this classification had no associated jersey. In stages 6, 12, 14, 20, 22 and 23, there was a new system for time bonuses. In the intermediate sprints in these stages, the first three cyclists received time bonuses of 10, 6 and 3 seconds; a classification of these time bonuses was made on each of these stages, and the first three of this classification received extra time bonuses of 20, 10 and 5 seconds.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The team classification in 1977 was calculated with the times of the five best cyclists per team, but was in 1978 changed to the best four cyclists. 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.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The riders of the team leading this classification wore green caps. Inoxpran, Teka, Magniflex and Splendor–Euro Soap did not finish the race with four or more cyclists, so they were not eligible for the team classification. Magniflex and Splendor–Euro Soap did not finish the race with three or more cyclists, so they were not eligible for the team points classification.


1979 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition to the classifications above, there were several minor classifications; in total the 1979 Tour de France contained sixteen competitions, each with its own sponsor. In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. Joop Zoetemelk won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award; he was later disqualified after his doping offence (see below) and Hennie Kuiper received the award. 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 Galibier on stage 17. This prize was won by Lucien Van Impe.


1979 Tour de France, Aftermath
The Tour organisation did not like the attention that the last-placed riders received, and for the next year made a new rule that after several stages the last-placed cyclist in the general classification would be removed from the race.


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12
The 1979 Tour de France was the 66th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Fleurance with a prologue individual time trial on 27 June, and Stage 12 occurred on 9 July with a flat stage to Metz. The race finished in Paris on 22 July.


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Prologue
27 June 1979 - Fleurance to Fleurance, 5 km (3.1 mi) (ITT)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 1
28 June 1979 - Fleurance to Luchon, 225 km (140 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 2
29 June 1979 - Luchon to Superbagnères, 24 km (15 mi) (ITT)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 3
30 June 1979 - Luchon to Pau, 180 km (110 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 4
1 July 1979 - Captieux to Bordeaux, 87 km (54 mi) (TTT)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 5
2 July 1979 - Neuville-de-Poitou to Angers, 145 km (90 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 6
3 July 1979 - Angers to Saint-Brieuc, 239 km (149 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 7
4 July 1979 - Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët to Deauville, 158 km (98 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 8
5 July 1979 - Deauville to Le Havre, 90 km (56 mi) (TTT)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 9
6 July 1979 - Amiens to Roubaix, 201 km (125 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 10
7 July 1979 - Roubaix to Brussels, 124 km (77 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 11
8 July 1979 - Brussels to Brussels, 33 km (21 mi) (ITT)


1979 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 12, Stage 12
9 July 1979 - Rochefort to Metz, 193 km (120 mi)


1979 Tour de France, Stage 13 to Stage 24
The 1979 Tour de France was the 66th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Fleurance with a prologue individual time trial on 27 June, and Stage 13 occurred on 10 July with a hilly stage from Metz. The race finished in Paris on 22 July.