1978 New South Wales referendum, Background
The Lang Labor government unsuccessfully attempted to abolish the Legislative Council in 1925 and 1930. In 1961 a referendum to abolish the council was put to New South Wales voters however it was defeated with only 42% support.


1978 New South Wales referendum, Amendments to the constitution
The headline change by the proposal was to alter the Constitution Act 1902 to provide for the members of the Legislative Council to be directly elected. The proposal included other changes, being:


1978 New South Wales referendum, Amendments to the constitution
The transitional arrangements were that the members whose terms were due to expire in 1979 or 1982 had their terms expire at the next general election, held in 1978, those members whose terms were to expire in 1985 would retire at the second general election, held in 1981, and those members whose terms were to expire in 1988 would retire at the third general election, held in 1984.


1978 New South Wales state election
A general election was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 7 October 1978. The result was  a landslide victory for the Labor Party under Neville Wran, popularly known as the "Wranslide."


1978 New South Wales state election
It is notable for being so successful for the Labor Party that it tallied 57 percent of the primary vote, the largest primary vote for any party in over a century. Having gone into the election with a razor-thin majority of one seat, Labor scored a 13-seat swing, giving it a strong majority of 63 seats. Labor even managed to defeat the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Coleman, in his own electorate. The seats of many other prominent Shadow Ministers fell to Labor as well. Labor also won took many seats in areas long reckoned as Coalition heartland.


1978 New South Wales state election
Among them were four seats that Labor had never won before this election--Willoughby (contested for the Liberal Party by Nick Greiner who later became Premier), Manly, Wakehurst and Cronulla. It also came within striking distance of taking several more. For instance, it pared down the margin in Pittwater, the seat of former premier Bob Askin, to only 1.4 percent.


1978 New South Wales state election
The state's first elections to the New South Wales Legislative Council, the state parliament's upper house, were held simultaneously. Voters had approved a referendum to introduce a directly elected council in June of that year.


1978 New South Wales state election
The election was also the first in the state to be contested by the Australian Democrats.


1978 New South Wales state election
Labor continued to campaign heavily on the strengths of Wran himself, with the slogan "Wran's our man".


1978 New South Wales state election, Results, Legislative Assembly
New South Wales state election, 7 October 1978Legislative Assembly << 1976–1981 >>


1978 New South Wales state election, Results, Legislative Council
The final 2 party preferred result was 60.7% for Labor and 39.3% for the Coalition, making it one of the biggest landslide victories in New South Wales's electoral history. In 2PP terms it was a 9.1% swing to Labor from the Coalition. This was beaten by the Coalition's result of 64.2% and 35.8% for Labor in the 2011 election. However, Labor's record primary vote of 57.7 percent still stands today.


1978 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1978. They were announced on 31 December 1977 for the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Fiji, the Bahamas, Grenada, and Papua New Guinea.


1978 New Year Honours
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour, with classes (Knight, Knight Grand Cross, etc.) and then divisions (Military, Civil, etc.) as appropriate.


1978 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The 1978 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II on the advice of the New Zealand government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. The awards celebrated the passing of 1977 and the beginning of 1978, and were announced on 31 December 1977.


1978 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


1978 New York City Marathon
The 1978 New York City Marathon was the 9th edition of the New York City Marathon and took place in New York City on 22 October.


1978 New York Cosmos season
The 1978 New York Cosmos season was the eighth season for the Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. It was also the second and final year in which "New York" was dropped from their name. The double-winning club set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark (shared with the Vancouver Whitecaps) and 212 points, securing their second premiership on the way to their third championship. They beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7-0 on opening day and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation. Giorgio Chinaglia scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. In Soccer Bowl '78, the Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 74,901 fans at Giants Stadium, still to this day a record for attendance at a North American championship soccer game.


1978 New York Cosmos season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1978 New York Cosmos season, Results, Regular season
Pld = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored (up to three per game).


1978 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
The 44th New York Film Critics Circle Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1978. The winners were announced on 20 December 1978 and the awards were given on 28 January 1979.


1978 New York Giants season
The 1978 New York Giants season was the franchise's 54th season in the National Football League. In their first ever season that had a sixteen-game schedule, the Giants looked to improve on their 5–9 record from 1977. The season saw the Giants get off to a hot start. They beat newcomer Tampa Bay in Tampa 19–13, despite being a 1 point underdog. After a close loss to the rival Cowboys 34–24 the next week, the Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs 26–10 and the San Francisco 49ers 27–10 to start the season 3–1, their first 3–1 start since 1969.


1978 New York Giants season
However, the Giants then started to struggle, losing to the Atlanta Falcons 23–20 and the Cowboys again 24–3. Following wins at home against the Buccaneers and Redskins, the Giants went on a downfall, which saw them lose their next 6 games and 7 of their last 8. In week 12, the Giants played their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a crucial game that saw the Giants fumble away the game on Joe Pisarcik’s fumble and Herm Edwards fumble recovery for a touchdown that won the game for Philadelphia, 19-17. The play was dubbed the “Miracle at the Meadowlands”. The Giants never recovered from this game, getting pummeled on the road to the 3–9 Bills, 41–17, despite having a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. In their final game, a rematch with Philadelphia, the Giants lost 20–3 to end the season 6–10.


1978 New York Giants season, Regular season
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978 NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no timeouts left.


1978 New York Giants season, Regular season
Everyone watching expected quarterback Joe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullback Larry Csonka and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.


1978 New York Jets season
The 1978 New York Jets season was the nineteenth season for the franchise and the ninth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from each of the previous three seasons under head coach Walt Michaels. Following an opening-game upset over the Miami Dolphins at Shea Stadium, the Jets stayed in contention for most of the season before finishing with an 8–8 record, with Matt Robinson starting most of the season at quarterback.


1978 New York Jets season, Offseason
The Jets overhauled their uniforms and logos for the 1978 season, abandoning the jerseys they had worn since 1963 and the helmet and logo they’d used since 1965 in favor of a more modern look using the same kelly-green-and-white color scheme. The new helmets were solid green with white facemasks, and a stylized “JETS” wordmark in white on each side. The mark featured angular lettering and a silhouette of a modern jet airplane extending horizontally to the right from the top of the “J” above the “ETS”. The jerseys featured large TV numerals on the shoulders and two thick parallel stripes on the sleeves, while the pants had a single green stripe from hip to knee on each side.


1978 New York Mets season
The 1978 New York Mets season was the 17th regular season for the Mets, who played their home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Joe Torre, the team had a 66–96 record and finished in sixth place in the National League East.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season
On May 1, in a game against the Mets, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected from a game for the first time in his career. Cox would go on to set the record for most ejections by a manager.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season
On June 16, in his 12th major league season speckled with near-misses, Tom Seaver, now of the Cincinnati Reds, finally hurls a no-hitter. The Cardinals are the 4–0 victims as Seaver strikes out 3 batters.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
Expectations were low for the Mets heading into the 1978 season. The Amazin's only drew 11,736 for the season opener at Shea, which had acquired the nickname "Grant's Tomb." The Mets beat the Montreal Expos 3–1. Opening Day starter Jerry Koosman struck out seven in his complete game victory.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
From there, things went poorly for Koosman and the Mets. He only won two more games with the Mets in 1978, versus 15 losses despite a respectable 3.75 earned run average. His third win of the season came on July 13 in Cincinnati against Tom Seaver. Following the season, Koosman would be traded to the Minnesota Twins for Jesse Orosco and Greg Field. Koosman had gone 11–35 in his last two seasons as a Met, bringing his career mark to 140–137—not nearly indicative of the stellar career he had with the Mets.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
The ace of the staff turned out to be Pat Zachry, whom they'd acquired on June 15, 1977, as part of the infamous "Midnight Massacre", when he, Doug Flynn, Dan Norman and Steve Henderson were traded to the Mets from the Reds for Seaver.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
Zachry had a 10–4 record, and was selected by Tommy Lasorda as the sole Mets representative on the National League All-Star team, but did not play. After dropping his next two decisions, On July 24, Zachry was the starting pitcher against the Cincinnati Reds for the largest crowd of the season at Shea (35,939) as Pete Rose entered the game with a 36-game hitting streak. Rose was 0–3 until a seventh inning single gave him a 37-game hitting streak to tie the N.L. record. Four batters latter, Zachry was pulled in favor of Kevin Kobel.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
Frustrated, Zachry went to kick a batting helmet sitting on the dugout steps, missed the helmet and kicked the step—fracturing his left foot, and ending his season. In his absence, Craig Swan assumed the role of staff ace. Swan went 7–1 following the injury to Zachry, leading the National League with a 2.43 ERA for the season.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
With his defensive back-like hard physical play, catcher John Stearns emerged as a Mets fan favorite for a team with desperately few stars. On April 8, he triggered a bench-clearing brawl by running into Montreal Expos catcher Gary Carter at the plate. On June 30, Stearns defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by tagging out Dave Parker to end the game. Parker, who had run over two other catchers in the previous two weeks, suffered a broken cheekbone in the collision with Stearns.


1978 New York Mets season, Regular season, Season summary
When the Pirates in-state rivals (also the Mets' own division rivals), the Philadelphia Phillies, next came to New York, they thanked Stearns for standing up to Parker. Stearns also led the Mets in stolen bases with 25, and in the process broke the National League record for catchers, which had been held by Johnny Kling since 1902.


1978 New York Mets 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


1978 New York Mets 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


1978 New York Mets season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York Mets season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York Mets season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York Yankees season
The 1978 New York Yankees season was the 76th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 100–63, finishing one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox to win their third American League East title. The two teams were tied after 162 games, leading to a one-game playoff, which the Yankees won. New York played home games at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx and was managed by Billy Martin, Dick Howser, and Bob Lemon.


1978 New York Yankees season
In the best-of-five League Championship Series (ALCS), they defeated the Kansas City Royals in four games. In the World Series, they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in a rematch of the previous year's.


1978 New York Yankees season
The season was tumultuous for the Yankees, as Reggie Jackson was suspended in a mid-season showdown with Billy Martin, which resulted in Martin resigning a week later. For television viewers of the Bronx Bombers, it was the first season to be broadcast nationwide via satellite via WPIX, which that year became a superstation as well partly in response to Ted Turner's WTCG-TV nationwide broadcasts of the Atlanta Braves beginning on Opening Day of 1977. WPIX remained the team's exclusive broadcast partner for the Greater New York television viewers on FTA television and the by now superstation status and satellite broadcasts finally enabled millions all over the country to watch Yankees home and away games live as they happened.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season
Lefthander Ron Guidry was the last Yankee pitcher to win at least 25 games in a season in the 20th century. In 35 starts in the regular season (including the playoff game), he pitched 273-⅔ innings, compiled a 25–3 record with 248 strikeouts, 1.74 ERA, and nine shutouts. Guidry won the Cy Young Award by unanimous vote.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season
Relief pitcher Goose Gossage won Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, leading the American League with 27 saves.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Season summary
A week after the All-Star Game in July, the team was fourteen games behind Boston, but rallied to tie for first place. With a week to go, New York led by one game and won six straight, but lost the finale at home to struggling Cleveland on Sunday, October 1, while Boston won their final eight games. The Yankees traveled to Fenway Park and defeated the Red Sox 5–4 in the one-game playoff for the AL East title; the Monday afternoon game featured light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent's famous three-run go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. Jackson's solo home run in the eighth was the winning margin.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Season summary
For decades, some have mistakenly thought the Yankees trailed by 14½ games, but the maximum deficit was fourteen games, after the July 17 loss and until the July 20 win. New York's biggest lead was 3½ games, after another victory over Boston on Saturday, September 16. The previous weekend, the Yankees swept a four-game series at Fenway, dubbed "The Boston Massacre" by the sports press; it left the teams tied at 86–56 (.606) with three weeks remaining.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
The defending World Series champions got off to a slow start in 1978, prompting owner George Steinbrenner to put pressure on manager Billy Martin. Compounding the issue was the already-tumultuous relationship between Martin and Reggie Jackson, and Steinbrenner was pressuring him as well. On July 17, with the team at 47–42 (.528) and in fourth place in the American League East, it came to a head during a home contest with the Kansas City Royals on Monday, July 17.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
With the score tied in the bottom of the tenth inning and Thurman Munson on first, Martin sent Jackson to the plate with orders to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Jackson tried to bunt the first pitch, but failed. Martin then relayed to third-base coach Dick Howser for Jackson to swing and Howser passed it on, but Jackson ignored Howser and attempted another bunt. Howser called time and talked with Jackson, but to no avail. On his final bunt attempt, Jackson fouled out to the catcher. Martin then removed Jackson from the game and suspended him (owner Steinbrenner limited it to five days, Tuesday through Saturday), but Kansas City won in eleven innings and swept the three-game series. Tuesday was an open date; the Yankees traveled to Minnesota and Jackson went to California.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
Jackson returned to the team in Chicago on Sunday, July 23; he did not take batting practice and remained on the bench as the Yankees swept the White Sox for their fifth consecutive win. Martin commented in a post-game interview at the Chicago airport that (referring to Jackson and Steinbrenner, respectively) 'one's a born liar, and the other's convicted.' The Steinbrenner reference was alluding to a past incident where the Yankee owner made illegal U.S. presidential campaign contributions.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
The next day in Kansas City, Martin appeared on live television and tearfully announced his resignation as Yankees manager, but most sources believed he was actually fired by Steinbrenner for the "convicted" comment. Howser was acting manager for one game on July 24, a 5–2 loss at Kansas City on ABC's Monday Night Baseball, then Bob Lemon arrived as manager for the rest of the season.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
In his first appearance since the bunting incident ten days earlier, Jackson started in right field on Thursday, July 27, and went three-for-three, with a home run, a walk, and three RBI. In the nightcap of the doubleheader, he had two hits.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
During the Old-Timer's Day ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, July 29, Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard introduced Martin to the crowd and announced that Martin would return as manager for the 1980 season. Martin returned ahead of schedule, in June 1979, and was fired again four months later, after a fight in a Minnesota hotel. He went west to Oakland in 1980, then owned by Charlie O. Finley. Martin returned to the Yankees and managed the team in 1983, 1985, and 1988.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
Under Lemon in 1978, the Yankees were 47–20 (.701) for the rest of the 162-game season to tie for the division title, after having been fourteen games back on July 19. They won the division in a one-game playoff on the road, and went on to repeat as World Series champions.


1978 New York Yankees season, Regular season, Notable events
On September 30, Ed Figueroa won his twentieth game of the season, which clinched a tie for the AL East  title. As of 2018, Figueroa is the only native of Puerto Rico to win twenty games in a major league season.


1978 New York Yankees 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


1978 New York Yankees 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


1978 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 New York gubernatorial election
The 1978 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978 to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York. It was the first reelection of a Democratic governor in New York since 1938.


1978 New York gubernatorial election, Results
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1978 New York's 18th congressional district special election
Member Ed Koch, who had served for 10 years, was elected Mayor of New York City in 1977. He resigned December 31, 1977 from the U.S. House to become Mayor.


1978 New York's 18th congressional district special election
On February 14, 1978, Republican Assembly member Bill Green beat former Democratic Congresswoman Bella Abzug in a close election, and would continue to represent the district for 15 years.


1978 New York's 21st congressional district special election
Member Herman Badillo, who had served for 8 years, was appointed deputy mayor of New York City. He resigned December 31, 1977 from the U.S. House to become Mayor.


1978 New York's 21st congressional district special election
On February 14, 1978, Democratic state senator Robert Garcia easily beat fellow Democrat Louis Nine in a special election. Garcia had to run on the Republican election line, but was accepted back as a Democrat, once elected. He would continue to represent the district for 12 years.


1978 New Zealand Grand Prix
The 1978 New Zealand Grand Prix was a race held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway on 7 January 1978. The race had 20 starters.


1978 New Zealand Grand Prix
It was the 24th New Zealand Grand Prix. The race was won by future Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg for the second time in succession in the Chevron B39. The rest of the podium was completed by Australian Larry Perkins and American Danny Sullivan.


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League
The 1978 New Zealand National Soccer League was the ninth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. A change was made from previous years, with the replacement of goal average by goal difference as a means for ranking teams equal on points.


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League, Promotion and relegation
Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1977 league (New Brighton, Dunedin City, and Caversham) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (Courier Rangers, Waterside, and Woolston WMC respectively).


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League, Team performance
The 1978 league saw a return of the traditional top-of-the-table rivalry between Trans Tours Christchurch United and Mount Wellington, with the Christchurch side narrowly finishing top. The Mount led the league for long periods of the season, but this was largely due to Christchurch having played less games. The outstanding matches saw results go in the southerners' favour, and they became the first side to record a third league title. Nelson United were the Mount's bogey team again, holding on for a draw in the last game of the season to leave the Aucklanders in second place. They had previously upset the odds by beating Mount Wellington in the 1977 Chatham Cup final.


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League, Team performance
Both Blockhouse Bay and Eastern Suburbs greatly improved on their 1977 league performance to finish in the top four. In the case of Suburbs this was largely through the importation of English players Bryn Gunn and Steve Elliot from Nottingham Forest. Elliot made the most of his stint with Suburbs, scoring 17 times in just 12 matches.


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League, Team performance
Newly promoted Courier Rangers from Otahuhu in Auckland finished fifth, followed by North Shore United. Rangers played excellently at home, but had difficulty finding the net away, leaving them with a mid-table finish. Loss of squad members from the previous season weighed against Shore, who were unable to mount any substantial bid to retain their title. Nelson United finished seventh for the second year in a row, hampered by a seeming inability to score goals. Stop Out trailed them in eighth, largely a result of a dreadful away season which saw them win just one from eleven games on the road.


1978 New Zealand National Soccer League, Team performance
Just two years after being crowned champions, Wellington Diamond United only narrowly avoided the drop. A poor run of two wins in their final twelve games was a substantial indication of their peril. Hamilton returned to the regional leagues, despite having the league's top scorer, and they were joined in relegation by newly promoted Waterside and Woolston WMC. The Wharfies seemed to make a habit of losing matches where they seemed comfortably in control, losing six matches they had led and missing several penalties during the season. Woolston were outclassed throughout the season and never looked likely to avoid the drop.


1978 New Zealand Open
The 1978 New Zealand Open, also known by its sponsored name Benson & Hedges New Zealand Open, was a men's professional tennis tournament held in Auckland, New Zealand. It was a non-tour event, i.e. not part of the 1978 Grand Prix circuit. It was the 11th edition of the tournament and was played on outdoor hard courts and was held from 2 January through 8 January 1978. Eliot Teltscher won the singles title.


1978 New Zealand Open, Finals, Doubles
Chris Lewis /  Russell Simpson defeated  Rod Frawley /  Karl Meiler 6–1, 7–6


1978 New Zealand bravery awards
The 1978 New Zealand bravery awards were announced via four Special Honours Lists dated 20 April, 18 May, 13 July, and 2 November 1978, and recognised six people for acts of bravery in 1977 or 1978.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)
At about 7.40 p.m. on 2 April 1978 a 22-year-old man, who was in an extremely emotional state after a domestic dispute, left his Miramar home armed with a .308 Brno rifle and a .303 calibre rifle, and ammunition for both. He fired a shot at a passing motor cyclist but just missed him. He then shot and killed an 18-year-old youth who was innocently sitting at a lighted window talking on the telephone. He then fired shots at a woman and at the murdered youth's mother but missed both. Further down the road he discarded the .303 rifle and ammunition.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)
Constables Borrows and Prins were on patrol duty. Both were unarmed, and although aware that a person had been shot, the circumstances surrounding the incident were unknown to them. On sighting the offender they approached him and, despite being threatened, attempted to apprehend him. Inspector Huggard arrived on the scene, approached the offender and was warned that he would be shot if he came closer.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)
The offender then released the safety catch of the rifle in an attempt to stall Inspector Huggard who, with complete disregard for his own safety, lunged at the offender, knocking the firearm aside and pushing him to the ground. The rifle, on later inspection, contained five live rounds of ammunition in the magazine. It is evident that further loss of life would have resulted if Inspector Huggard had not taken the action he did. He displayed outstanding courage.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)
The manner in which this extremely dangerous situation was handled by Inspector Huggard and Constables Borrows and Prins is in the highest traditions of the New Zealand Police.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
During the period 3 to 7 October 1977 Sapper Salmon's unit was engaged on a bridge demolition task at the Waiotukupuna Stream. His particular task involved the gas cutting of the blast exposed reinforcing steel rods. As Sapper Salmon was completing this task the bridge quite unexpectedly started to collapse. This caused a sudden escape of gas from the high pressure oxy-acetylene equipment. Recognising the immediate risk of an explosion, and the danger to others, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Sapper Salmon ran across the moving structure and freed the bottles from the collapsing bridge. He then fell with the bridge into the stream approximately 20 feet below. Sapper Salmon's prompt and courageous action greatly reduced the danger to 15 other soldiers working nearby.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
On 4 December 1977 Sergeant Smith was attending an exercise with his unit at Four-Mile Beach near Raglan. A young woman. visiting the unit as a potential recruit got into difficulties whilst swimming and initial rescue attempts were unsuccessful. At the time there was a heavy surf, and a fierce rip was carrying the woman out to sea. With complete disregard for his own safety Sergeant Smith swam at an oblique angle out beyond the rip and reached the woman. He then returned through the heavy surf with the woman clinging to his back. He succeeded in the rescue despite a bad attack of cramp that left him unable to walk after arrival back at the beach. His courageous action undoubtedly saved the life of the woman.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
For services on the evening of 18 August 1977 when he responded, alone and unarmed, to an emergency call to assist four officers who had been attacked and disabled by four remand prisoners. He himself was attacked and knocked unconscious by the escaping prisoners.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
At about 7.40 p.m. on 2 April 1978 a 22-year-old man, who was in an extremely emotional state after a domestic dispute, left his Miramar home armed with a .308 Brno rifle and a .303 calibre rifle, and ammunition for both. He fired a shot at a passing motor cyclist but just missed him. He then shot and killed an 18-year-old youth who was innocently sitting at a lighted window talking on the telephone. He then fired shots at a woman and at the murdered youth's mother but missed both. Further down the road he discarded the .303 rifle and ammunition.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
Constables Borrows and Prins were on patrol duty. Both were unarmed, and although aware that a person had been shot, the circumstances surrounding the incident were unknown to them. On sighting the offender they approached him and, despite being threatened, attempted to apprehend him. Inspector Huggard arrived on the scene, approached the offender and was warned that he would be shot if he came closer.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
The offender then released the safety catch of the rifle in an attempt to stall Inspector Huggard who, with complete disregard for his own safety, lunged at the offender, knocking the firearm aside and pushing him to the ground. The rifle, on later inspection, contained five live rounds of ammunition in the magazine. It is evident that further loss of life would have resulted if Inspector Huggard had not taken the action he did. He displayed outstanding courage.


1978 New Zealand bravery awards, Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct
The manner in which this extremely dangerous situation was handled by Inspector Huggard and Constables Borrows and Prins is in the highest traditions of the New Zealand Police.


1978 New Zealand general election
The 1978 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to elect the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, retain office, but the opposition Labour Party won the largest share of the vote. Reorganisation of the enrolment system caused major problems with the electoral rolls, which left a legacy of unreliable information about voting levels in this election.


1978 New Zealand general election, Background
The National Party had won a resounding victory in the 1975 elections, taking fifty-five of the eighty-seven seats and ousting the Labour Party from government. Labour had been led by Bill Rowling, who had assumed the post of Prime Minister on the death in office of the popular Norman Kirk. Labour won the remaining thirty-two seats in that election, with no other parties gaining entry to Parliament.


1978 New Zealand general election, Background
Labour's Rowling had been criticised by many for inadequately countering Muldoon's confrontational style, and was widely perceived as "weak". Following Labour's defeat, there had been speculation about replacing Rowling as leader of the party, but Rowling retained his position. Gradually, as some people wearied of Muldoon's style, Rowling's more reserved manner was held up as an asset rather than a weakness, and Labour began to gain a certain amount of traction again. Economic troubles hurt the government, and its reputation had fallen. Muldoon remained a powerful opponent, however, and was regarded as a strong campaigner.


1978 New Zealand general election, Background
Not long before the 1978 election, a by-election in Rangitikei caused considerable comment when it introduced a third party to Parliament: Bruce Beetham, leader of the Social Credit Party. Although other parties dismissed Social Credit's success as a fluke, Beetham predicted a great future for the party.


1978 New Zealand general election, Background, MPs retiring in 1978
Five National MPs and three Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 38th Parliament.


1978 New Zealand general election, Background, MPs retiring in 1978
Sir Stanley Whitehead MP for Nelson had announced he would retire at the end of the term in 1978, due to ill-health, but he died on 9 January 1976 triggering a by-election instead.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Problems
In 1975 several reforms had been made to the electoral system. These included combining the re-enrolment process with the taking of the 1976 census and replacing existing Justice Department registrars with electorate officers appointed from Post Office Staff. They would work in conjunction with Statistics Department and Electoral Office staff, and at the same time, a switch would be made from a manual to a computerised system.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Problems
A report completed in 1979 found that there had been poor liaison between the various departments involved, staff shortages and problems with the computer system. However, the main problem arose from the decision to combine re-enrolment with the 1976 census. Many voters had been confused by the need to re-enrol only a year after the previous election, and many had not bothered to fill out their forms. Census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Problems
To avoid disenfranchising a significant portion of the electorate, the Chief Electoral Officer decided just to carry forward many old voter registrations in the hope that duplications and outdated enrolments would be purged later. However, not enough staff were provided to complete that in time, and by the time that the rolls closed, 35,000 forms remained unprocessed.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Problems
It has been estimated that as many as 460,000 enrolments may have been outdated or duplicates. Many voters (even candidates) found themselves enrolled in the wrong electorate or off the roll completely, and others were enrolled in multiple electorates or several times in the same electorate. That means that accurate figures for electoral turnout are impossible to determine, and other figures may not be reliable.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Electoral redistribution
The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established by an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government. That a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card had little practical effect for the electoral redistribution for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, that resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island.


1978 New Zealand general election, Electoral changes, Electoral redistribution
The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished (see list below), and 27 electorates were newly created or re-established. In the North Island, fifteen electorates were newly created (Albany, East Cape, Eastern Hutt, Helensville, Horowhenua, Hunua, Kaimai, Matamata, Ōhāriu, Papakura, Papatoetoe, Pencarrow, Rangiriri, Tarawera, and Te Atatū) and six electorates were re-created (Bay of Islands, Kaipara, Taranaki, Waipa, Waitakere, and Waitotara). In the South Island, two electorates were newly created (Otago and Yaldhurst) and four electorates were re-created (Ashburton, Fendalton, Selwyn, and Waitaki). The changes came into effect for the 1978 election.


1978 New Zealand general election, The election
The election was held on 25 November. There were 2,489,510 people officially registered to vote in the elections, making the election the first one in which there were more than two million registered voters. However, the electoral roll in 1978 was significantly out of date and contained numerous duplicate entries. The cause of this confusion was a major redistribution of electoral boundaries, which had been implemented the year before. The actual number of potential voters is estimated to have been about 2,100,000, and actual turnout is estimated to have been about 80% (as compared to the official turnout of only 68.70%), slightly lower than the turnout for the previous election.


1978 New Zealand general election, Summary of results
The 1978 election saw the National Party win fifty-one seats in parliament, a majority of several seats. This allowed it to retain power. The Labour Party won forty seats. The Social Credit Party retained the Rangitikei seat, which it had won in a by-election shortly before the election. No other parties won seats, and there were no successful independent candidates.


1978 New Zealand general election, Summary of results
While National won a majority of seats in parliament, it did not actually win a majority of the vote. Labour received the highest number of votes, winning slightly more than forty percent. National, by contrast, won slightly less than forty percent. Social Credit, despite winning only one seat, actually received around sixteen percent of the vote.


1978 New Zealand general election, Summary of results
While the Hunua Electorate was initially won by Malcolm Douglas  (Labour), the result was overturned by the High Court and Winston Peters (National) became the MP for Hunua.


1978 New Zealand general election, Results by electorate
The tables below shows the results of the 1978 general election:


1978 New Zealand general election, Results by electorate, Summary of changes
For details about the winners of each individual electorate, see the article on the 39th Parliament.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season
The 1978 New Zealand rugby league season was the 71st season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
New Zealand toured Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Kiwis lost 0-3 to Australia but defeated Papua New Guinea in the first Test match between the two countries. Ron Ackland coached the Kiwis who were selected by Ackland, Bill Sorensen and Harry Walker and included; Fred Ah Kuoi, Ray Baxendale, Ian Bell, Tony Coll, Murray Eade, Olsen Filipaina, Mark Graham, Whetu Henry, Chris Jordan, Dane O'Hara, Lyndsay Proctor, Gary Prohm, Alan Rushton, John Smith, captain Ken Stirling, Glenn Taylor, Shane Varley, Dennis Williams, Nick Wright, Steve McGregor and Warren Winter. Barry Edkins was injured on debut.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
The New South Wales Rugby League's St. George Dragons defeated Auckland 27-18 in September. A week later the Auckland Rugby League's Otahuhu Leopards defeated the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 8-2.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
Olsen Filipaina won the New Zealand Rugby League's player of the year award.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Rugby League Cup
Taranaki again held the Rugby League Cup at the end of the season.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Inter-district competition
Auckland retained the Rothmans trophy when they defeated Canterbury 20-13 at Carlaw Park. Canterbury had defeated the West Coast 39-8 in Greymouth.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Inter-district competition
Olsen Filipaina, Fred Ah Kuoi, Dennis Williams, Gray Prohm and Nick Wright played for Auckland, who were coached by Don Hammond. Mocky Brereton played for Canterbury.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Inter-district competition, South Island Second Division
Canterbury B won the South Island second division title, defeating the West Coast B, Marlborough-Tasman Bays and Otago-Southland.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Australasian competition
Auckland lost in the quarter finals Amco Cup 6-22 to the Cronulla Sharks. They had defeated Riverina to qualify for the Quarter finals. Wellington lost 5-63 to Illawarra in Wollongong in Round one.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
Otahuhu won the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial Trophy, Rukutai Shield, Stormont Shield and Kiwi Shield. They defeated the Mangere East Hawks 18-4 in the Fox Memorial final. Glenora won the Roope Rooster, Te Atatu won the Sharman Cup and Pt Chevalier won the Norton Cup.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
Gene Swann (Marist) won the Lipscombe Cup, Olsen Filipaina (Mangere East) won the Rothville Trophy, Owen Wright (Otahuhu)and Warwick Freeman (Glenora) won the Bert Humphries Memorial, Brian Campbell (Richmond) won the Tetley Trophy, Phil Dryland (Richmond) won the Painter Rosebowl Trophy and Graham Lowe (Otahuhu) won the Hyland Memorial Cup.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
Steve McGregor played for the North Shore and Ken Stirling played for Ellerslie. Otahuhu were coached by Graham Lowe and included John Wright, Owen Wright, captain Mark Graham, Nick Wright and Glenn Taylor. Eastern United, a combined senior team from the Howick and Pakuranga, were coached by Murray Eade.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
Papanui won the Canterbury Rugby League's Pat Smith Challenge Trophy.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
The "United" club joined in 1978. It drew many members from the Paparua Prison.


1978 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Other Competitions
The Waitara Bears won the Taranaki Rugby League championship. Marist were the runners up


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland
In 1978 the New Zealand national rugby union team, the All Blacks, toured Britain and Ireland. They were the eighth All Black team to undertake a full tour of the countries and became the first to achieve a Grand Slam by beating the national teams of Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. The previous seven touring teams had either lost or drawn at least one international, or had not played all four nations.


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland
The New Zealand team played eighteen matches between 18 October and 16 December, winning seventeen games and losing once, to Munster at Thomond Park, Limerick. This was the first time that an All Black team had been beaten in Ireland and it remained the All Blacks' only defeat by any Irish team until they lost to the Ireland national team in 2016. The Munster victory inspired a stage play, Alone it Stands.


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland
Although the All Blacks won their four international matches, three of the games were undecided until close to the end. The match against Ireland was level 6–6 at the end of normal time and was settled by Andy Dalton's try in injury time. Against Wales, a 78th-minute penalty goal by replacement full-back Brian McKechnie turned a 12–10 deficit into a 13–12 win. In the Scotland game the All Blacks led 12–9 going into injury time and a drop goal attempt by Ian McGeechan, which would have tied the scores if successful, was charged down and led to a breakaway try for New Zealand by Bruce Robertson.


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, Test matches, Ireland
The All Blacks opened the scoring with a dropped goal by Bruce, with Ward's penalty making the score 3–3 at half-time. Bruce put the visitors ahead again with a further dropped goal before Ward levelled again with another penalty. The score remained at 6–6 as the game went into injury time but an unconverted try by Dalton after Donaldson's break from a line-out gave New Zealand a 10–6 victory. Rothmans Yearbook called it a "tense, if unspectacular, struggle in perfect playing conditions" and asserted that the All Blacks "deserved their narrow victory" after winning 31 of the 40 line-outs in the game.


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, Test matches, Ireland
NEW ZEALAND: Clive Currie, Stu Wilson, Bill Osborne, Mark Taylor, Brian Ford (rep Bryan Williams), Doug Bruce, Mark Donaldson, Billy Bush, Andy Dalton, Brad Johnstone, Andy Haden, Frank Oliver, Graham Mourie (c), Leicester Rutledge, Gary Seear.


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, Test matches, Ireland
IRELAND: Lawrence Moloney, Terry Kennedy, Mike Gibson, Alistair McKibbin, Freddie McLennan, Tony Ward, Colin Patterson, Ned Byrne, Pa Whelan, Phil Orr, Moss Keane, Donal Spring, Fergus Slattery, Shay Deering (c), Willie Duggan


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, Touring party, Three-quarters
Stu Wilson, Robert Kururangi, Brian Ford, Bryan Williams, Bruce Robertson, Lyn Jaffray, Mark Taylor, Bill Osborne


1978 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, Touring party, Forwards
Brad Johnstone, John Ashworth, John McEldowney, Gary Knight, Andy Dalton, John Black, Billy Bush, John Fleming, John Loveday, Andy Haden, Frank Oliver, Barry Ashworth, Leicester Rutledge, Graham Mourie, Wayne Graham, Gary Seear, Ash McGregor


1978 Newham London Borough Council election
The 1978 Newham London Borough Council election for the Newham London Borough Council were held on 4 May 1978. The whole council was up for election. Turnout was 26.8%. The Liberal Party didn't stand in the elections. The Labour Party held onto its overwhelmingly majority.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, Background
A total of 161 candidates stood in the election for the 60 seats being contested across 24 wards. Candidates included a full slate from the Labour party, whilst the Conservative party ran 33 candidates. Other candidates included 48 Residents & Ratepayers, 1 Communist and 16 National Front.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, By-elections between 1978 and 1982, Central
The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Henry E. L. Ronan.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, By-elections between 1978 and 1982, South
The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Joseph C. Taylor.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, By-elections between 1978 and 1982, Castle
The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Herbert G. Simpson.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, By-elections between 1978 and 1982, Central
The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Sidney A. Elson.


1978 Newham London Borough Council election, By-elections between 1978 and 1982, Wall End
The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. John Clark.


1978 Nice International Open
The 1978 Nice International Open, also known by its sponsored name Montano-Snauwaert International Championships,  was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club in Nice, France, and was part of the 1978 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix. It was the seventh edition of the tournament and was held from 17 April until 23 April 1978. First-seeded José Higueras won the title.


1978 Nice International Open, Finals, Doubles
François Jauffret /  Patrice Dominguez defeated  Jan Kodeš /  Tomáš Šmíd 6–4, 6–0


1978 Nicholls State Colonels football team
The 1978 Nicholls State Colonels football team represented Nicholls State University in the 1978 NCAA Division II football season. The Colonels were led by fifth-year head coach Bill Clements. They played their home games at John L. Guidry Stadium and were a member of the Gulf South Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 4–2 in Gulf South play.


1978 Nippon Professional Baseball season
The 1978 Nippon Professional Baseball season was the 29th season of operation for the league.


1978 North American Soccer League playoffs
The 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs began on August 8 and ended on August 27 with Soccer Bowl '78 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 16 out of 24 teams qualified after a 30-match regular season, eight from each conference.


1978 North American Soccer League playoffs, Playoff format
The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards', a nod to the NFL's playoff format. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by point total. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.


1978 North American Soccer League playoffs, Playoff Statistics
Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.


1978 North American Soccer League playoffs, Playoff Statistics, Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1978 North American Soccer League playoffs, Playoff Statistics, Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts


1978 North American Soccer League season
The 1978 North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
Bolstered by the success of the previous season, the league added six teams to reach 24 in total. The Colorado Caribous launched in Denver, the Detroit Express and Houston Hurricane became the second and third teams to play in fully enclosed indoor stadiums, the Philadelphia Fury brought soccer back to Philadelphia,  the New England Tea Men would be the third attempt to have NASL soccer succeed in the Boston area and the Memphis Rogues would bring pro soccer to Tennessee.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
There were also the usual franchise movements. Team Hawaii became the Tulsa Roughnecks, the Las Vegas Quicksilver became the San Diego Sockers, the Connecticut Bicentennials became the Oakland Stompers and the St. Louis Stars moved to Anaheim to become the California Surf.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
With so many new clubs, the NASL realigned into a six-division format while expanding the playoffs to include 16 teams. The new alignment was a direct copy of the NFL's setup, as the new three-division conferences were called the 'American Soccer Conference' and the 'National Soccer Conference', respectively. Each conference had East, Central and West divisions as well.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards' – another nod to the NFL. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
The Cosmos would set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark (shared with the Vancouver Whitecaps) and 212 points. The Cosmos beat the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, 7–0, on opening day and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation. Giorgio Chinaglia scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. He did not win regular season MVP honors, however. That award went to New England's Mike Flanagan, who scored 30 goals and 68 points while leading the Tea Men to an unlikely ASC East title. At the age of 36, Alan Hinton of Vancouver set a league record of his own with 30 assists.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
Still, the Cosmos needed a major rally to beat the Minnesota Kicks in the NSC playoffs. The Kicks won the first game by an extraordinary 9–2 score behind Alan Willey's five goals, but the Cosmos won Game 2, 4–0, back at Giants Stadium. The resulting mini-game went to a shootout, and Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer scored goals to keep the Cosmos alive. The Portland Timbers were shut out over both games of the National Conference final, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies were beaten before 74,901 fans at Giants Stadium in the Soccer Bowl. The Cosmos became the first back-to-back champions in NASL history.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Season recap
After the season Colorado would move to Atlanta, while Oakland would move to Edmonton just two months before the start of the 1979 NASL season. The Stompers had drawn over 32,000 for their opening game at the Oakland Coliseum, but were drawing crowds under 10,000 by the end of the season. The Caribous had the worst record in the league and only drew one crowd bigger than 10,000 the entire year.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Point System


1978 North American Soccer League season, Regular season
6 points for a win,0 points for a loss,1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.


1978 North American Soccer League season, NASL League Leaders, Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1978 North American Soccer League season, NASL League Leaders, Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts


1978 North American Soccer League season, Playoffs
The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single game match ups, while the conference semifinals and championships were all two-game series.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Playoffs, Conference Semifinals
In 1978, if a playoff series was tied after two games, a 30 minute, golden goal, mini-game was played. If neither team scored in the mini-game, they would move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. *Teams were re-seeded for the Conference Semifinals based on regular season point totals. This affected only one of the four series; Tampa Bay versus San Diego.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Playoff Statistics
Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.


1978 North American Soccer League season, Playoff Statistics, Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points


1978 North American Soccer League season, Playoff Statistics, Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts


1978 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team
The 1978 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team represented North Carolina A&T University as member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by second-year head coach James McKinley, the Aggies compiled and overall record of 6–6 with a mark of 4–2 in conference play, placing second in the MEAC. North Carolina A&T concluded the season with a loss to Virginia Union in the Gold Bowl.


1978 North Carolina Tar Heels football team
The 1978 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels were led by first-year head coach Dick Crum and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finishing in fourth.


1978 North Dakota State Bison football team
The 1978 North Dakota State Bison football team was an American football team that represented North Dakota State University during the 1978 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the North Central Conference. In their third year under head coach Jim Wacker, the team compiled a 6–4 record.


1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
The 1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season had no bounds, but tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. The 1978 season produced 4 cyclonic storms of which developed into 2 severe cyclonic storms. All four of the storms formed in the Bay of Bengal and three of those made landfall. The most notable storm of the season was Cyclone Four which hit Sri Lanka.


1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Storm One (01B)
A depression formed in the northern Bay of Bengal on May 14 and move northward. The depression slowly strengthened into a cyclonic storm On May 15. The storm reached its maximum intensity of 70 mph (115 km/h) before making landfall in Eastern Bangladesh on May 17 and dissipating thereafter. The effects from Cyclonic Storm One if any are unknown.


1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Storm Two (02B)
Another tropical depression formed in the Bay of Bengal on October 25 and moved northwestward. The depression became a cyclonic storm the following day The storm then turned to the northeast and then back to the northwest were its winds peaked at 45 mph (70 km/h) before dissipating off the coast of Bangladesh on October 28.


1978 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Super Cyclonic Storm Four (04B)
The final tropical cyclone existed from November 19 to November 29. The 1978 Sri Lanka cyclone was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Eastern province of Sri Lanka, making landfall on November 23.


1978 North Sea storm surge
1978 North Sea storm surge was a storm surge which occurred over 11–12 January causing extensive coastal flooding and considerable damage on the east coast of England between the Humber and Kent. Higher water levels were reached than during the devastating North Sea flood of 1953 from North Shields to King's Lynn, but values were lower towards the Thames. Locally severe flooding occurred in Lincolnshire, The Wash, north Norfolk and Kent. Improvements in flood protection following the devastating flood of 1953 meant that the catastrophic losses seen during that storm were not repeated. The storm caused severe damage to many piers along the east coast of England.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Meteorological history, Warnings and preparation
Flood warnings were issued two to three hours before the highest water levels in the coastal towns of Lincolnshire. Clement Freud the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire called for an inquiry into the failure of the flood warnings in East Anglia. The Junior Minister Shirley Summerskill reported that an "Alert" message was received by Police in Wisbech at 0705 hours and a further message at 1414 hours confirming that there was danger of tidal flooding at 1928 hours. On receipt of the second message, the Fenland District Council was notified immediately.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Meteorological history, Warnings and preparation
The message was passed simultaneously to the Anglian Water Authority by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary headquarters. Gavin Strang of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food responded that the storm tide warning service issued an alert to the Norfolk Police at 0625 hours and a warning at 1318 hours on 11 January in relation to the Norfolk coast as far east as Mundesley. An alert for the coastal area to the East and South of Mundesley was issued at 1150 hours and a warning at 1810 hours. The police are responsible for passing on these messages to other authorities.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Humberside and Lincolnshire
In Humberside a police car was swept away by the rising waters at Spurn Point. In Cleethorpes a total of 1,500 houses were affected by flooding during the event. 1,017 houses were flooded above floor level, a further 185 houses were flooded below floor level and 288 houses had their gardens flooded. It was estimated that £1,600,000 (1978) worth of damage was caused to private property and goods in Cleethorpes. One of the big differences between 1978 and the storm surge during the Gale of January 1976 in the town, was that damage occurred much further inland.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Humberside and Lincolnshire
Damage was reported up to three-quarters of a mile away from the sea wall. In Cleethorpes the damage spread over an area of 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) in total. The railway between Grimsby and Cleethorpes was left inoperable as the ballast was washed out from under the track. Further south on the Lincolnshire coast the resorts of Sandilands and Mablethorpe saw 28 homes and 8 business premises left underwater, with caravans and chalets along the Lincolnshire coast damaged. In Boston, Lincolnshire following the failure of a brick retaining wall, St Botolph's Church and 180 houses were flooded. Waters in the church exceeded the levels seen in 1953.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Humberside and Lincolnshire
In Sutton Bridge Wharf Street and Customhouse Street flooded as water overflowed the banks of the River Nene.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
Extensive flooding was reported in Wisbech, including the Clarkson Geriatric Day Hospital, which had to be closed for weeks as repairs were made (the hospital closed permanently in 1983). A 70-year-old woman was reported drowned in her flooded home in Wisbech after the Nene burst its banks forcing 1000 people to evacuate their homes. Staff at the Wisbech Standard, having been warned of a potential flood, went to the town's bridge and saw the waters rise, then recede, thinking the town had narrowly escaped they returned home, not realising until the morning that the town's north ward had flooded.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
King's Lynn suffered worse flooding in 1978 than in the storm of 1953. The Ouse overflowed onto the Quays, King Street and the town's medieval quarter. The town centre was left underwater causing damage totalling millions of pounds. 1978 flood level recorded in St Margaret's church in the town were at 1190mm. The costs of damage in King's Lynn though were less than during 1953 flood.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
The storm surge breached the shingle ridge to the south of Heacham and the sea wall at Heacham North Beach, resulting in significant damage to property. Hundreds of caravans near to Snettisham and Hunstanton were overturned by the storm. With damage to caravans also occurring in Wolferton.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
In Wells-next-the-Sea two major breaches occurred, flooding the adjacent marshes, damaging beach huts and grounding a 300-ton coaster on Wells quay car park. The storm washed away over ½ mile (800 m) of track of the Wells Harbour Railway. Severe flooding was reported at Walcott. Though no major flooding was reported in Great Yarmouth.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
Along the coast in Suffolk, Lowestoft reported no major flooding, but noted increased erosion of cliffs around Benacre, Suffolk and Covehithe during the event. In Southwold the pavilion and some beach huts along the esplanade were damaged. 25 properties flooded in Aldeburgh and 40 properties were reported as flooded in Felixstowe. Major storm damage to the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry was reported, with cars destroyed, boats stranded and houseboats damaged. with the next high tide due at 2.30 there were fears that the promenade and homes could flood, a full-scale emergency response was put into action, filling sandbags to stop the flood entering homes on the sea front.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East Anglia
In Essex, Harwich and Dovercourt saw parts of the town quay and approach roads flooded. South Essex was sheltered from the main force of wind, with some breaches in rural locations, but compared to 1953 damages were light.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, London
In East London no major damage was experienced, the steel and rubber floodgates designed to protect the major London docks were closed for the first time since their completion in 1972. Dikes reinforced 4 years previously prevented flooding in London, Flood waters rose 5 inches above the previous defences. with sea levels being half a metre below the new defence levels.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Kent
The 1978 storm surge was estimated to be a 1 in 20 year event in Kent. The Isle of Sheppey saw extensive damage, with the island cut off from the mainland by flooding and snow. At Shellness Hamlet around 400 ha of land was flooded to a depth of 1.5m. Serious disruption due to flooding also occurred in Sheerness.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Kent
In the Swale district of Kent the tidal defences along the western marshes (Barksore, Chetney and Horsham) were overtopped, along with the defences north of Faversham. In addition the tidal defences around the Isle of Harty were breached resulting in flooding around the Isle. The sea defences were breached east of The Lilies (NE of Sittingbourne) with flooding occurring along Conyer Creek. Flooding also occurred further up Faversham Creek, but this was considered to be fluvial. No residential or business property was reported as being flooded.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, Kent
The storm brought considerable damage to the Seaview Caravan and Chalet Park in Swalecliffe due to overtopping of the sea defences. There was also damage from overtopping of flood defences at Pegwell Bay, between Ramsgate and Sandwich on the east coast of Kent. Flooding was also reported to the northwest and southeast of Sandwich, Kent. Families were evacuated by boat from Deal, Kent. Coastal flooding continued around the Kent coast into the English Channel with water coming over the top of sea defences at St Mary's Bay, Kent on Romney Marsh.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East coast pier damage
Cleethorpes Pier saw 150 disabled people and pensioners stranded in the town's pier, which withstood the waves largely without significant damage. In Skegness the storm washed away two large sections of the pier and left the theatre isolated at the seaward end. Plans to link the two sections by monorail, and to build a new 1200-seat theatre and a 250-foot tower all fell through later that year when an application for financial assistance was rejected. In Hunstanton most of the pier was destroyed by the storm, with a small section at the end removed by the council some weeks later.


1978 North Sea storm surge, Impact, East coast pier damage
The shoreward end amusement arcade survived, along with one set of piles. The iron legs of Hunstanton pier were found later washed up 8 km to the south. The Southwold Pier was damaged. Herne Bay Pier saw the main deck destroyed leaving only a short section intact and the pier-head isolated out at sea. Margate jetty (to distinguish from stone harbour walls) which had been closed since 1976 because of safety issues was virtually destroyed by the 11 January 1978 storm surge isolating the lifeboat station. Following the storm the RAF air sea rescue Wessex helicopter from Manston, landed some of the lifeboat crew onto the station and after checking for damage to the lifeboat slipway, the boat was launched and taken to Ramsgate.


1978 North Texas State Mean Green football team
The 1978 North Texas State Mean Green football team represented North Texas State University—now known as the University of North Texas—during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its sixth and final season under head coach Hayden Fry, the team compiled a 9–2 record. The team played its home games at Fouts Field in Denton, Texas.


1978 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team
The 1978 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team was an American football team that represented Northeast Louisiana University (now known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe) as an independent during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach John David Crow, the team compiled a 6–4–1 record.


1978 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team
The 1978 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team was an American football team that represented Northern Arizona University (NAU) as a member of the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their fourth and final year under head coach Joe Salem, the Lumberjacks compiled an 8–2 record (6–0 against conference opponents), outscored opponents by a total of 259 to 174, and won the Big Sky championship. The team played its home games at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome, commonly known as the Walkup Skydome, in Flagstaff, Arizona.


1978 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team
The team's statistical leaders included Allan Clark with 1,366 rushing yards (including 261 yards against Montana State, 250 yards against Boise State, and 245 yards against Idaho State), at the time a Northern Arizona school record. Bill Holst led the team in passing with 835 passing yards. Jerry Lumpkin led with 121 tackles.


1978 Northern Illinois Huskies football team
The 1978 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Huskies competed in the highest division of football at the time: the newly formed Division I-A. The Huskies competed under the Mid-American Conference banner during this season. They were led by head coach Pat Culpepper, and they played their home games at Huskie Stadium.


1978 Northwestern Wildcats football team
The 1978 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Rick Venturi, the Wildcats compiled a 0–10–1 record (0–8–1 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.


1978 Northwestern Wildcats football team
The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Kevin Strasser with 1,526 passing yards, Mike Cammon with 322 rushing yards, and Steve Bogan with 353 receiving yards.


1978 Norwegian Football Cup
Lillestrøm  won the Norwegian Cup by beating Brann 2–1 on 22 October 1978. The goal scorer for Lillestrøm was Vidar Hansen, who scored in the 74th and 76th minute. For Brann, Steinar Aase scored the first goal of the game in the 20th minute.


1978 Norwegian Football Cup
23,534 spectators attended the match at Ullevaal stadion in Oslo. The referee was Reidar Bjørnestad. This was the second time Lillestrøm won the Norwegian Cup.


1978 Norwegian Football Cup
Lillestrøm's winning squad: Arne Amundsen, Per Berg (Arne Dokken 45), Jan Birkelund, Tore Kordahl, Georg Hammer, Frank Grønlund, Gunnar Lønstad, ØivindTomteberget, Leif Hansen, Tom Lund, Vidar Hansen and Rolf Nordberg.


1978 Norwegian Football Cup
Brann's team: Jan Knudsen, Helge Karlsen, Bjørn Brandt, Terje Rolland, Tore Nordtvedt, Kjell Rune Pedersen (Ingvar Dalhaug 81), Atle Hellesø,Neil MacLeod, Ingvald Huseklepp, Steinar Aase and Bjørn Tronstad.


1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
The 1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.


1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Game summaries, Michigan
The Reunion Game - first meeting between the two schools in 35 years


1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Game summaries, Pittsburgh
Notre Dame handed Pittsburgh is first loss of the season. Jerome Heavens, who had never seen Knute Rockne, All American, surpassed George Gipp on the school's all-time rushing list. Heavens passed Gipp on his 24th carry but lost yardage on his 25th before moving pass him for good on his 26th attempt. "I think the Gipper tackled me on that," Heavens said.


1978 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Game summaries, Cotton Bowl
The Cotton Bowl win was Notre Dame's 600th victory in school history.


1978 Nova Scotia general election
The 1978 Nova Scotia general election was held on September 19, 1978, to elect members of the 52nd House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party.


1978 OFC U-20 Championship
The 1978 OFC U-20 Championship was a soccer tournament held in New Zealand. As in common with other biennial OFC U-20 Championships it also served as a qualification for an intercontinental play-off. In this case the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship.


1978 OFC U-20 Championship, Matches
It is unclear why Fiji finished second in this group, with a lesser goal difference than New Zealand.


1978 OFC U-20 Championship, Qualification to World Youth Championship
Australia failed to qualify for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. They finished last in an intercontinental play-off group with Paraguay and Israel. Matches were played in Asunción, Paraguay.


1978 Oakland Athletics season
The 1978 Oakland Athletics season was the team's eleventh in Oakland, California. The team sought to rebound from its first losing season in a decade (a 63-98 result in 1977). Despite low expectations, the Athletics remained competitive for nearly three-quarters of the season. Despite posting a respectable 61-56 mark through 117 games, the Athletics collapsed in the season's final weeks; their 8-37 finish ensured a second consecutive season of fewer than 70 wins.


1978 Oakland Athletics season
Only one player (Billy North) remained from the team's 1974 championship season. He would be traded to the Dodgers in May.


1978 Oakland Athletics season
Prior to the season, owner Charlie Finley nearly sold the team to buyers who would have moved them to Denver.


1978 Oakland Athletics season, Offseason, Vida Blue trade
The trade of Vida Blue was a very complicated deal for A's owner Charles O. Finley. At the end of the 1977 season, Finley attempted to trade Vida Blue to the Cincinnati Reds for a player of lesser stature and cash, but baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal. The commissioner claimed that it was tantamount to the sale of the star pitcher to the Yankees that the commissioner voided during 1976. The commissioner claimed that adding Blue to the Reds' already formidable pitching staff would make a mockery of the National League West race. Instead, Blue was traded across the bay to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player trade that received the commissioner's blessing.


1978 Oakland Athletics season, Offseason, Proposed sale
After the 1977 season, Charlie Finley had heart bypass surgery and his health was in decline. He had received offers from groups in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., and from billionaire oilman Marvin Davis from Denver. In December 1977, Finley agreed to sell the Athletics to Marvin Davis for 12.5 million dollars. The franchise would move to Denver for the 1978 season. The American League owners approved the sale and the transfer of the franchise. The board of the Oakland Coliseum had prepared a lawsuit against Finley, as there were still 10 years left on their stadium lease. Bowie Kuhn and San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie worked with Finley to attempt to find a compromise that would allow the Athletics to leave Oakland.


1978 Oakland Athletics 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


1978 Oakland Athletics 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


1978 Oakland Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 Oakland Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 Oakland Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1978 Oakland Raiders season
The 1978 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 19th season, and ninth as an NFL member.


1978 Oakland Raiders season
1978 would prove to be an up and down year for the silver and black. During a pre-season game, Jack Tatum paralyzed New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley from the chest down while making a hit. Overall, the Raiders were plagued by one of quarterback Kenny Stabler's worst seasons, tossing 16 TD's, while throwing 30 interceptions. The running game also fell off from seasons past. Even the great wide receiver Cliff Branch, only caught one touchdown. The season started off with a 14–6 loss in Denver. The Raiders would rally to a 5–3 start, then climbed to 8–4.


1978 Oakland Raiders season
After a last-minute loss to the Seattle Seahawks 17–16, a team beat the Raiders twice in the same season for the first time since 1965. Then the Broncos completed their sweep of the Raiders with a 21–6 victory in Oakland, followed by a 23–6 defeat in Miami. A meaningless 27–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings kept the Raiders consecutive seasons with a winning record streak alive. This was head coach John Madden's tenth and final season as head coach of the team. He was replaced by his wide receivers coach, Tom Flores.


1978 Oakland Raiders season, Game summaries, The Holy Roller
During this game, one of the most famous plays known as the Holy Roller occurred. Kenny Stabler fumbled the ball and Pete Banaszak moved it forward allowing Dave Casper to finish the job for a touchdown. It is one of the most controversial plays in the history of the NFL.


1978 Oaxaca earthquake
On November 29, 1978 a powerful magnitude 7.6-7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Mexican state Oaxaca.


1978 Oaxaca earthquake, Tectonic setting
Along the west coast of Mexico, the Rivera, Cocos and Nazca Plate dives beneath the North American and Caribbean Plate in a process known as subduction. This occurs along the Middle America Trench which runs from Mexico down to Costa Rica for over 2,750 km. The subduction zone is a large thrust fault that has produced devastating earthquakes in human history. Subduction has also resulted in volcanic activity in central Mexico.


1978 Oaxaca earthquake, Earthquake
The earthquake ruptured an area of 5525 kilometer square along the boundary interface of the Cocos and North American Plates. That particular segment has not produced any large earthquakes since 1928 and 1931 and thus considered a seismic gap. A major earthquake of magnitude 7.5 ± 2.5 was forecasted at that area in 1973.


1978 Oaxaca earthquake, Earthquake
Maximum intensity in the Oaxaca area reached VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale.


1978 Oaxaca earthquake, Impact
Nine people were killed, eight of those were from Mexico City one from Oaxaca. A few buildings in Mexico City had minor damage to it, this was contrary to the numerous newspaper reports that many buildings had collapsed. Eyewitness reported many buildings swaying during the earthquake. Two buildings, the Treasury Building and another owned by the Bank of Mexico suffered considerable damage to their external.


1978 Ohio Bobcats football team
The 1978 Ohio Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Ohio University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first and only season under head coach Bob Kappes, the Bobcats compiled a 3–8 record (3–5 against MAC opponents), finished in a tie for fifth place in the MAC, and were outscored by all opponents by a combined total of 246 to 120.


1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record, including the 1978 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, where they lost, 17–15, to the  Clemson Tigers. This would be Woody Hayes' last season as head coach of the team, as he was fired following an incident in the game in which he punched Clemson defender Charlie Bauman.


1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, Game summaries, Penn State
Art Schlichter started the game at quarterback while Rod Gerald, the starter for the two previous seasons, opened the game at split end.


1978 Ohio gubernatorial election
The 1978 Ohio gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Republican Jim Rhodes defeated Democratic nominee Dick Celeste with 49.31% of the vote.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football 1978 NCAA Division I-A season. Oklahoma Sooners football participated in the former Big Eight Conference at that time and played its home games in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium where it has played its home games since 1923. The team posted an 11–1 overall record and a 6–1 conference record to earn a share of the conference title under head coach Barry Switzer. This was Switzer's sixth conference title in six seasons since taking the helm in 1973.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The team was led by All-Americans Billy Sims (who won the Heisman Trophy), Daryl Hunt, Reggie Kinlaw, and Greg Roberts,  The Sooners started the season with nine consecutive wins before losing to Nebraska. During the season, OU faced ranked opponents four times (#14 Missouri, #6 Texas, and #4 & #6 Nebraska); four different opponents finished the season ranked. Its only defeat came against Nebraska in their regular season match. The Sooners were able to avenge that loss as an at-large selection to the Orange Bowl against conference co-champions Nebraska, who had claimed the automatic berth by virtue of their victory over OU.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team
Sims led the nation in scoring with 132 points (based on per game average of 10.9, which includes 120 in 11 games). Sims led the team in rushing with a record-setting 1896 yards, Thomas Lott led the team in passing with 487 yards, Bobby Kimball led the team in receiving with 207 yards, Hunt led the team with 157 tackles and Darrol Ray posted 8 interceptions.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 5001 yards rushing remain second in Oklahoma football history behind the 1971 team's 5635. The defense set the school's all-time record with 28 interceptions and tied the record of 50 forced turnovers. Daryl Hunt set the school record for career tackles. Billy Sims became the only Sooner to post four 200-yard games in a season. Sims' 1896 yards stood as the Sooner record until Adrian Peterson posted 1925 in 2004.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team
Billy Sims became the sixth junior to win the Heisman Trophy. Sims was the nation's leading rusher and scorer for 1978. He averaged 160.1 yards and 10.9 points. He set the Big Eight Conference single season rushing record of 1,762 yards on 231 carries for an average of 7.6 yards. Sims was the only back in the nation's top 50 to average 7.0 per carry, and became the first player in Big Eight history to rush for more than 300 yards in three straight games.


1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team, Postseason, NFL draft
The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.


1978 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team
The 1978 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team represented Oklahoma State University during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.


1978 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team, After the season
The 1979 NFL Draft was held on May 3–4, 1979. The following Cowboys were selected.


1978 Oklahoma gubernatorial election
The 1978 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978, to elect the governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent Republican Governor David L. Boren chose not to run for re-election to a second term in office. Instead Boren decided to run for the United States Senate. Former governor, and sitting lieutenant governor George Nigh was elected, defeating Republican nominee Ron Shotts.


1978 Old Dominion 500
The 1978 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 24, 1978, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. This race was the 28th to be held as a part of what is now known as the First Data 500.


1978 Old Dominion 500
By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.


1978 Old Dominion 500, Background
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Five hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.525 miles (0.845 km) for a grand total of 262.5 miles (422.5 km). The complete time of the race was three hours, nineteen minutes, and fifty-four seconds. There were four cautions given out by the NASCAR officials for nineteen laps. Cale Yarborough defeated Darrell Waltrip by three car lengths; taking home his sixth and final Cup victory at Martinsville. Yarborough was on a tear here in the second half of the 1970s, this win marked his fourth win over the course of the prior five Martinsville races. Notable speeds recorded in both the qualifying session and the race were: 79.185 miles per hour (127.436 km/h) as the average speed and 86.558 miles per hour (139.302 km/h) as the pole position speed. Twenty thousand people attended this live race.


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Chevrolet vehicles would dominate the starting grid of the event with multi-car teams dominating the lineup. By the late 1970s, it had become prohibitively expensive for a single person to own a NASCAR team. A series of oil crises in addition to changing sponsorship needs started to bring in the age of the multi-car team and the slow decline of the independent owners.


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Harry Gant would lead a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in his career. However, he would only run ninety laps before having to leave the race due to an engine problem. Terry Labonte's third career start nets him his third career top-10 finish. Though running up front for half the laps one completes is generally a good thing, Gant's 45 laps led translate in this case to 90 laps run before the engine expired. This would cause him to be relegated to a 28th-place finish and only $1,070 in prize winnings ($4,194 when considering inflation).


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Total winnings for this race were $101,430 ($397,595 when considering inflation) and Cale Yarborough took the majority of the winnings with an easy $24,950 paycheck ($97,801 when considering inflation).


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Satch Worley would retire from NASCAR after this race while Lennie Pond would never earn another pole position start after this race. Herb Nab was Pond's chief mechanic for the sole qualifying run that managed to get him the pole position for the event along with an extremely rare silver trophy.


1978 Old Dominion 500, Race report
Other crew chiefs who fully participated in the race were Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman, Walter Ballard, Tim Brewer, and Bud Moore.


1978 Ole Miss Rebels football team
The 1978 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Steve Sloan, in his first year, and they played their home games at Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi and Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi. Some of the outstanding players on the team of that year were Bobby Garner, Leon Perry, Reginald Woullard, Roy Coleman, Freddie Williams, etc. They finished the season with a record of five wins and six losses (5–6, 2–4 SEC).


1978 Omloop Het Volk
The 1978 Omloop Het Volk was the 33rd edition of the Omloop Het Volk cycle race and was held on 4 March 1978. The race started and finished in Ghent. The race was won by Freddy Maertens.


1978 Ontario municipal elections
All municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario held elections on November 13, 1978, to elect mayors or reeves, councillors, school trustees, and (in some areas) public utilities commissioners. Some municipalities also held referendums on various issues.


1978 Ontario municipal elections
The most closely watched contest was in Toronto, where John Sewell was elected as mayor.


1978 Open Championship
The 1978 Open Championship was the 107th Open Championship, held 12–15 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won his third and final Open championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen. It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.


1978 Open Championship
Defending champion Tom Watson was a co-leader after 54 holes, but four consecutive bogeys on the front nine led to a 76 (+4). Watson finished six strokes back in a tie for fourteenth place.


1978 Open Championship, Course
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):


1978 Open Championship, Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Miller (E), Brodie (+1), McEvoy (+1), Godwin (+3),                 Gallagher (+6), Kuramoto (+6), Lewis (+8), Webster (+9),                 Hedges (+11), Fish, (+14), McLachlan (+14), Turner (+14), Walters (+18).


1978 Orange Bowl
The 1978 Orange Bowl was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977–78 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC) against the heavily-favored #2 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference.


1978 Orange Bowl
The Razorbacks were 10–1, but were heavy underdogs. Earlier in the day, top-ranked Texas and their Heisman Trophy-winning running back Earl Campbell had lost the Cotton Bowl 38–10 to #5 Notre Dame (led by quarterback Joe Montana). Oklahoma now had the inside track to the national championship, if they beat Arkansas. In the regular season, Texas defeated Oklahoma and Arkansas on consecutive weekends en route to its 11–0 record.


1978 Orange Bowl
New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1978, and the major college bowl games were played the following day.


1978 Orange Bowl, Teams, Arkansas
To complicate matters for Arkansas, first-year head coach Lou Holtz suspended three players prior to the game for team violations. Two of those players, running backs Ben Cowins and Donny Bobo, had accounted for 78% of the Hogs' points. Oklahoma was led by redshirt sophomore halfback Billy Sims, a future Heisman Trophy winner, and on defense by safety Darrol Ray and linebacker Daryl Hunt.


1978 Orange Bowl, Teams, Arkansas
Although the suspended Arkansas players protested, Holtz refused to back down and the suspensions stood. Already considered a heavy underdog to Oklahoma, with the loss of those starters Arkansas was expected to give little competition in the game. Arkansas was an 18-point underdog prior to the suspensions. After the suspensions, they were given as 24-point underdogs by Las Vegas oddsmakers. The Orange Bowl would likely decide the national championship; it did, but not in the way that most expected. This was their first appearance in the Orange Bowl.


1978 Orange Bowl, Teams, Oklahoma
The Sooners' only loss was by seven points to Texas in Dallas in early October; this was their ninth appearance in the Orange Bowl.


1978 Orange Bowl, Game summary
Backup running back Roland Sales started for Arkansas in the place of Cowins. With Sales doing most of the running of the ball, Arkansas out-rushed Oklahoma 126 yards to 116 yards in the first half, with Sims fumbling the ball early in the first quarter causing the Razorbacks to recover on the Oklahoma 9 yard line. That resulted in a Sales touchdown (followed by a PAT kicker Steve Little). Another Oklahoma fumble by Kenny King resulted in another Arkansas touchdown rushed in by Hog quarterback Ron Calcagni in the first quarter. In the second half, Sales rushed for another touchdown, Brian White rushed for a touchdown and Little kicked a field goal. A ferocious Arkansas defense, led by defensive tackle Dan Hampton, built a 24–0 lead after three quarters. Oklahoma scored early in the fourth, but the two-point conversion attempt failed.


1978 Orange Bowl, Game summary
Sales rushed 22 times for 205 yards, an Orange Bowl record; he also caught four passes for 52 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. Arkansas defeated Oklahoma 31–6. Sales' Orange Bowl rushing record stood for twenty years, until broken by Ahman Green (206 yards in 1998). Sales and Arkansas teammate Reggie Freeman were named MVPs for the game. Arkansas was third in both final polls, behind Notre Dame (Holtz' future employer) and Alabama.


1978 Orange Bowl, Game summary
The halftime show was a presentation of the Main Street Electrical Parade, one of only two times the parade has taken place outside a Disney park.


1978 Orange Bowl, Aftermath
Arkansas climbed to third in the final AP poll and Oklahoma fell to seventh.


1978 Orange Bowl, Aftermath
The Sooners returned the following year and defeated conference rival Nebraska. The Razorbacks' only other Orange Bowl was a rematch eight years later, a 42–8 loss to Oklahoma.


1978 Oregon Ducks football team
The 1978 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Ducks compiled a 2–9 record (2–5 against Pac-10 opponents), finished eighth in the Pac-10, and were outscored 212 to 173.


1978 Oregon State Beavers football team
The 1978 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third season under head coach Craig Fertig, the Beavers compiled a 3–7–1 record (2–6 in Pac-10, ninth), and were outscored 266 to 128. The team played its five home games on campus at Parker Stadium in Corvallis.


1978 Oregon gubernatorial election
The 1978 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978. In a rematch of the 1974 contest, Republican nominee Victor Atiyeh defeated Democratic incumbent Robert Straub to win the election.