1981 Berlin Marathon
The 1981 Berlin Marathon was the 8th running of the annual marathon race held in Berlin, West Germany, held on 27 September. Great Britain's Ian Ray won the men's race in 2:15:42 hours, while the women's race was won by West Germany's Angelika Stephan in 2:47:24. Ray was the first non-West German winner of the race. A men's wheelchair race was held for the first time and was won by West German Georg Freund in 2:08:44. No women entered the wheelchair section. A total of 2567 runners finished the race, comprising 2418 men and 149 women.


1981 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1981 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament took place at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. It was a single-elimination tournament with three rounds. Boston College had the best regular season conference record and received the #1 seed.


1981 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Syracuse defeated Villanova in the championship game by a score of 83–80 in triple overtime.


1981 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1981 Big Eight Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 3–5 at a combination of on-campus gymnasiums and the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.


1981 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
In a rematch of the 1980 final (won by KSU), Kansas upset rivals Kansas State in the championship game, 80–68, to win their first Big Eight men's basketball tournament.


1981 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Jayhawks, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow Big Eight members Missouri and Kansas State, who earned at-large bids.


1981 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All eight of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with all teams placed and paired in the initial quarterfinal round.


1981 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All first-round games were played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and championship game, in turn, were played at a neutral site at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.


1981 Big League World Series
The 1981 Big League World Series took place from August 15–22 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Taipei, Taiwan defeated Puerto Rico in the championship game.


1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the sixth edition of the tournament, and was held March 6–7 at the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.


1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Top-seeded Idaho defeated Montana in the championship game, 70–64, to clinch their first Big Sky tournament title.


1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
First played in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.


1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
No new teams qualified for the Big Sky tournament this year. This was the first year in which three-time defending champion Weber State was not in the title game; the Wildcats tied for fifth and failed to make the field.


1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, NCAA tournament
The Vandals (25–3) received an automatic bid to the 48-team NCAA Tournament, their first appearance, and were seeded seventh in the West region. They lost to Pittsburgh by a point in overtime at El Paso, Texas.


1981 Big Ten Baseball Tournament
The 1981 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan from May 15 through 17. The top two teams from the regular season in each division participated in the double-elimination tournament, the first such event sponsored by the Big Ten Conference to determine the league champion. Michigan won the first tournament championship and earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament


1981 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Format and seeding
The 1981 tournament was a 4-team double-elimination tournament, with seeds determined by conference regular season winning percentage within each division. The top seed from each division played the second seed from the opposite division in the first round.


1981 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Outstanding Player
Gerry Hool was named Most Outstanding Player. Hool was a catcher for Michigan.


1981 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1981 Big Ten Conference football season was the 86th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season.


1981 Big Ten Conference football season
The 1981 Big Ten co-champions were Iowa and Ohio State. In an odd twist of fate, the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes did not play each other, while all other conference teams played a full round-robin. Due to this, Iowa was awarded the Rose Bowl berth since its last appearance was in 1959; by comparison, Ohio State went to Pasadena seven times between 1969 and 1980.


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Season overview, Results and team statistics
KeyAP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1981 seasonAP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1981 seasonPPG = Average of points scored per gamePAG = Average of points allowed per game


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Season overview, Bowl games
Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games at the end of the 1981 season.


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Passing yards
1. Tony Eason, Illinois (3,360)2. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,686)3. Art Schlichter, Ohio State (2,551)4. Mike Hohensee, Minnesota (2,412)5. Babe Laufenberg, Indiana (1,788)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Rushing yards
1. Butch Woolfolk, Michigan (1,459)2. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (1,217)3. Jim Gayle, Ohio State (732)4. Phil Blatcher, Iowa (708)5. Steve Smith, Michigan (674)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Receiving yards
1. Chester Cooper, Minnesota (1,012)2. Steve Bryant, Purdue (971)3. Anthony Carter, Michigan (952)4. Gary Williams, Ohio State (941)5. Oliver Williams, Illinois (760)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Total offense
1. Tony Eason, Illinois (3,331)2. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,809)3. Art Schlichter, Ohio State (2,509)4. Mike Hohensee, Minnesota (2,437)5. Steve Smith, Michigan (2,335)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Passing efficiency rating
1. Tony Eason, Illinois (140.0)2. Scott Campbell, Purdue (138.3)3. Bryan Clark, Michigan State (128.9)4. Steve Smith, Michigan (125.7)5. Art Schlichter, Ohio State (123.8)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Rushing yards per attempt
1. Butch Woolfolk, Michigan (5.8)2. John Williams, Wisconsin (5.5)3. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (5.4)4. Manny Henry, Minnesota (5.2)5. Chucky Davis, Wisconsin (5.2)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Yards per reception
1. Duane Gunn, Indiana (21.2)2. Daryl Turner, Michigan State (21.1)3. Oliver Williams, Illinois (20.0)4. Mike Martin, Illinois (19.7)5. Anthony Carter, Michigan (19.0)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, Statistical leaders, Points scored
1. Bob Atha, Ohio State (88)2. Morten Andersen, Michigan State (73)3. Steve Smith, Michigan (72)3. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (72)5. Steve Bryant, Purdue (66)


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, All-Americans
The NCAA recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1980 season. They are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), and (4) the United Press International (UPI).


1981 Big Ten Conference football season, 1982 NFL Draft
The following Big Ten players were selected in the first six rounds of the draft:


1981 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1981 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. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the Queen. They were published on 13 June 1981 for the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Fiji, The Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Saint Lucia.


1981 Birthday 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.


1981 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours in New Zealand, celebrating the official birthday of Elizabeth II, were appointments made by the Queen in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders. They were announced on 13 June 1981.


1981 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


1981 Blue Swords
Blue Swords (German: Pokal der Blauen Schwerter) is a senior level international figure skating competition organized in East Germany. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles and pair skating.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team
The 1981 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium, an outdoor facility on campus in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by sixth-year head coach Jim Criner and were the defending champions of Division I-AA.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, Regular season
The Broncos finished the regular season at 9–2 and 6–1 in conference to tie for first in the Big Sky, but lost the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head loss to champion Idaho State in the conference opener. The Broncos avenged their 1980 loss Cal Poly-SLO, beating the 1980 Division II national champions 17–6 in Boise, but lost at Cal State Fullerton, whom they defeated in Boise in the previous season. The Broncos narrowly defeated rival Idaho for the fifth consecutive year, in the regular season finale in Moscow. The Vandals were winless in the Big Sky in 1981, which caused a change in head coaches. (BSU did not defeat the Vandals again until 1994, losing twelve straight).


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, NCAA Division I-AA playoffs
The Broncos were again invited to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, expanded to eight teams for 1981. As Big Sky runner-up, BSU played on the road in the quarterfinals at Jackson State, and won 19–7. The semifinal game was played at home against top-ranked Eastern Kentucky, whom the Broncos had narrowly defeated in the title game the year before. This time the Colonels prevailed 23–17, but lost the title game to Idaho State the following week in Texas.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, NCAA Division I-AA playoffs
The Broncos returned to the I-AA playoffs in 1988, the semifinals in 1990, and the title game in 1994, then moved up to Division I-A in 1996.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, Notable players
Future NFL players included linebacker John Rade and safety Rick Woods. Defensive lineman Randy Trautman played four seasons in the Canadian Football League and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, Coaches
Head coach Jim Criner stayed seven seasons at Boise State before departing for Iowa State following the 1982  season. Defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich was promoted to head coach and would stay for four seasons (1983–1986). The defensive secondary coach at BSU in 1981 was future NFL head coach John Fox.


1981 Boise State Broncos football team, NFL Draft
Two Bronco seniors were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds (334 selections).


1981 Bolivarian Games
The IX Bolivarian Games (Spanish: Juegos Bolivarianos) were a multi-sport event held between December 4–14, 1981, at the Estadio de Barquisimeto in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. The Games were organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (ODEBO). In February 1980, Barquisimeto was chosen to substitute the initial host cityLima in Perú. The Comité Olímpico Peruano renouncedbecause of financial problems.


1981 Bolivarian Games
The Games were officially opened by Venezuelan president Luís Herrera Campins. Torch lighter was fencer Carmen Militza Pérez.


1981 Bolivarian Games
A detailed history of the early editions of the Bolivarian Games between 1938 and 1989 was published in a book written (in Spanish) by José Gamarra Zorrilla, former president of the Bolivian Olympic Committee, and first president (1976-1982) of ODESUR. Gold medal winners from Ecuador were published by the Comité Olímpico Ecuatoriano.


1981 Bolivarian Games, Participation
A total of 1516 athletes from 6 countries were reported to participate:


1981 Bolivarian Games, Medal count
The medal count for these games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.


1981 Boothby by-election
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Boothby on 21 February 1981. This was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party MP John McLeay, who subsequently took up the role of Consul General in Los Angeles. It was held on the same day as by-elections for Curtin and McPherson.


1981 Boothby by-election
This by-election was won by Steele Hall, who was Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970.


1981 Bordeaux Open
The 1981 Bordeaux Open also known as the "Grand Prix Passing Shot" was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courtss at Villa Primrose in Bordeaux in France that was part of the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix. The tournament was held from 21 September through 26 September 1981. Second-seeded Andrés Gómez won the singles title.


1981 Bordeaux Open, Finals, Doubles
Andrés Gómez /  Belus Prajoux defeated  Jim Gurfein /  Anders Järryd 7–5, 6–3


1981 Boston City Council election
Boston City Council election was held on November 3, 1981, with preliminary elections on September 21, 1981. This election was the final one before the Council transitioned from having 9 members (all at-large) to having 13 members (9 district representatives and 4 at-large).


1981 Boston City Council election, Candidates
Six of the nine incumbents (Raymond Flynn, Christopher A. Iannella, Frederick C. Langone, Patrick F. McDonough, Dapper O'Neil, & Joseph M. Tierney) ran for reelection. Lawrence DiCara, Rosemarie Sansone, and John W. Sears chose not to run.


1981 Boston City Council election, Results
The top 18 candidates in the preliminary election moved on to the November general election. The top nine candidates in the November election were seated on the city council.


1981 Boston College Eagles football team
The 1981 Boston College Eagles football team represented Boston College as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its first season under head coach Jack Bicknell, the team compiled a 5–6 record and was outscored by a combined total of 298 to 243. Three of the team's losses were to teams then ranked among the top 10 in the AP Poll.


1981 Boston College Eagles football team
The team was led by freshman quarterback Doug Flutie who completed 105 of 192 passes for 1,652 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Other statistical leaders included Leo Smith with 403 rushing yards, Brian Brennan with 726 receiving yards, kicker John Cooper with 55 points scored (28 extra points and 9 field goals), and defensive back George Radachowsky with seven interceptions. Flutie, Brennan, and Radachowsky all went on to play in the National Football League.


1981 Boston College Eagles football team
The team played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.


1981 Boston Red Sox season
The 1981 Boston Red Sox season was the 81st season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, play during the regular season was suspended for 50 days, and the season was split into two halves, with playoff teams determined by records from each half of the season. In the first half of the season, the Red Sox finished fifth in the American League East with a record of 30 wins and 26 losses, four games behind the New York Yankees. In the second half of the season, the Red Sox finished tied for second in the division with a record of 29 wins and 23 losses, 1 1⁄2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers. The Red Sox' overall record for the season was 59 wins and 49 losses.


1981 Boston Red Sox season, Regular season, Opening Day lineup
The Chicago White Sox defeated the Red Sox on Opening Day, 5–3. It was the first game that Carlton Fisk played for the White Sox, after 11 seasons with the Red Sox; Fisk hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning.


1981 Boston University Terriers football team
The 1981 Boston University Terriers football team was an American football team that represented Boston University as a member of the Yankee Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their fifth season under head coach Rick Taylor, the Terriers compiled a 6–5 record (3–2 against conference opponents), finished third in the conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 263 to 184.


1981 Bowling Green Falcons football team
The 1981 Bowling Green Falcons football team was an American football team that represented Bowling Green University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth season under head coach Denny Stolz, the Falcons compiled a 5–5–1 record (5–3–1 against MAC opponents), finished in fourth place in the MAC, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 155 to 132.


1981 Bowling Green Falcons football team
The team's statistical leaders included Dayne Palsgrove with 732 passing yards, Bryant Jones with 1,051 rushing yards, and Shawn Potts with 391 receiving yards.


1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game
The 1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game is the longest NCAA Division I men's basketball game ever played and tied for the most overtime periods, regardless of NCAA classification, with seven. The University of Cincinnati visited Bradley University on December 21, 1981, and defeated them 75–73 after 75 minutes of game time. Little-used bench player Doug Schloemer scored on a 15-foot jump shot with one second remaining to propel the Bearcats to victory.


1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game
At the end of regulation, which was two 20-minute halves, the score was tied at 61 apiece. Both teams played keep-away throughout each overtime period; only once, during the fifth overtime, did a team take more than a two-point lead. In the 35 additional minutes of playing time, Cincinnati only scored 14 more points while Bradley only mustered 12. The shot clock had not yet been introduced in NCAA basketball. Nine players recorded 60 or more minutes of playing time. Two players—Bradley's center Donald Reese and Cincinnati's guard Bobby Austin—each played 73 minutes, jointly setting the NCAA all-time single game minutes played record.


1981 Bradley vs. Cincinnati men's basketball game
Three other times has an NCAA Division I men's basketball game reached six overtime periods: Niagara defeated Siena 88–81 in 1953, Minnesota defeated Purdue 59–56 in 1955, and most recently Syracuse defeated Connecticut 127–117 in 2009.


1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was the second motor race of the 1981 Formula One season and was held on 29 March 1981 at Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formula One moved to the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro from the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, after safety concerns with the long Interlagos circuit and the growing slums of São Paulo being at odds with the glamorous image of Formula One.


1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
The Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann won the race in contentious circumstances; he ignored his pit signals to give up the lead to his teammate and team leader Alan Jones. Jones, who finished in 2nd, did not show up on the podium afterwards.


1981 Brazilian Grand Prix, Classification, Race
Colombian driver Ricardo Londoño was denied a superlicense, was not allowed to participate in official practice, and unable to race.


1981 Brink's robbery
The 1981 Brink's robbery was an armed robbery and three related murders committed on October 20, 1981, which were carried out by six Black Liberation Army members: Mutulu Shakur, Kuwasi Balagoon, Solomon Bouines (Samuel Brown), Mtayari Shabaka Sundiata, Edward Joseph, and Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson; and four former members of the Weather Underground, now belonging to the May 19th Communist Organization, consisting of David Gilbert, Judith Alice Clark, Kathy Boudin, and Marilyn Buck.


1981 Brink's robbery
They stole $1.6 million in cash from a Brink's armored car at the Nanuet Mall, in Nanuet, New York, killing a Brink's guard, Peter Paige, seriously wounding Brink's guard Joseph Trombino, slightly wounding Brink's truck driver guard, James Kelly, subsequently killing two Nyack police officers, Edward O'Grady and Waverly Brown, and seriously wounding Police Detective Artie Keenan. Trombino recovered from the wounds he received in this incident but was killed in 2001 in the September 11 attacks.


1981 Brink's robbery, Robbery
The robbery began with Boudin dropping off her infant son, Chesa Boudin, at a babysitter's before taking the wheel of the getaway vehicle, a U-Haul truck. She waited in a nearby parking lot as her heavily armed accomplices drove a red van to the Nanuet Mall, where a Brink's truck was making a pick-up.


1981 Brink's robbery, Robbery
At 3:55 pm, Brink's guards Peter Paige and Joseph Trombino emerged from the mall carrying bags of money. As they loaded the money into the truck, the robbers stormed out of their van and attacked. One fired two shotgun blasts into the truck's bulletproof windshield, while another opened fire with an M16 rifle. Paige was hit multiple times in the chest and killed instantly. Trombino was able to fire a single shot from his handgun, but was struck in the shoulder and arm by several rounds, nearly severing his arm from his body.


1981 Brink's robbery, Robbery
The truck's driver, James Kelly, noticing the shooting behind him, fired several rounds at the robbers through a gun port on the door of his truck, but came under heavy gunfire, and took cover underneath the dashboard, but he was hit in the head by glass and bullet shrapnel. The assailants grabbed $1.6 million in cash (equivalent to $4.6 million in 2020), got back in their van, and fled the scene.


1981 Brink's robbery, Robbery
Trombino survived his injuries, and continued to work for the Brink's company for the next 20 years; he was almost killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks while making a delivery in the World Trade Center North Tower.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
After fleeing the scene, the robbers drove to the parking lot where a yellow Honda and the U-Haul truck, manned by members of the May 19 Communist Organization, were waiting. The robbers quickly threw the bags of money into the car and truck and sped away. In a house across the street, Sandra Torgersen, an alert college student, spotted them as they switched vehicles and called the police.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
Meanwhile, police units from all over the county were converging on the mall where the shootout occurred and attempting to cut off all possible escape routes. Soon, police officers Edward O'Grady, Waverly Brown, Brian Lennon, and Artie Keenan spotted and pulled over the U-Haul truck, with Boudin in the front seat, along with the yellow Honda at an entrance ramp to the New York State Thruway off New York State Route 59.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
The police were not sure if they had the right truck, since it had been reported that the robbers were all black, while the occupants of this vehicle were white (a deliberate part of the original plan by the robbers, hoping to fool the police). Since the truck matched the description of the getaway vehicle they were looking for, the officers pulled it over and approached with guns drawn.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
The police officers who caught them testified that Boudin, feigning innocence, pleaded with them to put down their guns and convinced them to drop their guard; Boudin said she remained silent, that the officers relaxed spontaneously. After the police lowered their guns, six men armed with automatic weapons and wearing body armor emerged from the back of the truck and began firing upon the four police officers. Officer Brown managed to fire two or three rounds at the robbers before he was hit repeatedly by rifle rounds and collapsed on the ground. One robber then walked up to his prone body and fired several more shots into him with a 9mm handgun, ensuring his death. Keenan was shot in the leg, but managed to duck behind a tree and return fire.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
Officer O'Grady lived long enough to empty his revolver, but as he reloaded, he was shot several times with an M16. Ninety minutes later, he died on a hospital operating table. Meanwhile, Lennon, who was in his cruiser when the shootout began, tried to exit out the front passenger door, but O'Grady's body was wedged up against the door. He watched as the suspects jumped back into the U-Haul and sped directly towards him. Lennon fired his shotgun several times at the speeding truck as it collided with his police car, then fired two rounds from his pistol.


1981 Brink's robbery, Car swap and second gunfight
The occupants of the U-Haul scattered, some climbing into the yellow Honda, others carjacking a nearby motorist while Boudin attempted to flee on foot. An off-duty corrections officer, Michael J. Koch, apprehended her shortly after the shootout. When she was arrested, Boudin gave her name as Barbara Edson.


1981 Brink's robbery, Arrests
M19CO members Gilbert, Brown, and Clark crashed the Honda while making a sharp turn, injuring Brown's neck, and knocking Clark's handgun onto the floor of the car. South Nyack police chief Alan Colsey was the only officer initially at the scene of the crash, but managed to hold them at gunpoint until Orangetown Police Officer Michael Seidel and Rockland County District Attorney's Office Detective Jim Stewart arrived. After the trio were arrested, police found $800,000 from the robbery and Clark's 9mm handgun on the floor of the back seat of the car.


1981 Brink's robbery, Arrests
Police traced the license plate on one of the getaway vehicles to an apartment in New Jersey. Inside, the police found weapons, bomb-making materials, and detailed blueprints of six Manhattan police precincts. Investigations later revealed the apartment was rented by Buck, who had been previously arrested for providing weapons to the Black Liberation Army. She had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, but in 1977, she was granted furlough and never returned.


1981 Brink's robbery, Arrests
While at the apartment, police also found papers that listed an address in Mt. Vernon, New York, a small city in Westchester County about 20 miles from the mall where the robbery occurred. When police raided that apartment, they found bloody clothing, ammunition, more guns, and ski masks. Investigation later revealed that the bloody clothing belonged to Buck, who had accidentally shot herself in the leg when she tried to draw her weapon during the shootout with the police.


1981 Brink's robbery, Arrests
All the plates on the vehicles seen near the Mt. Vernon address were entered into the NCIC system. Three days later, NYPD Detective Lt. Dan Kelly spotted a 1978 Chrysler with a license plate that had been seen at the Mt. Vernon Apartment and called for backup. The vehicle, occupied by Mtayari Sundiata and Sekou Odinga, fled from the police when officers tried to pull them over. After the vehicle crashed, the two occupants engaged the police in a gunfight that left Sundiata dead and Odinga captured. Inside Sundiata's shirt pocket, police found a crushed .38 caliber slug they believe was fired from O'Grady's service weapon. Three more participants, including Balagoon were arrested several months later.


1981 Brink's robbery, Arrests
The investigation for the participants in the robbery would continue for years. Buck was arrested in 1985. The last person to be arrested in connection with it was Shakur, the so called ringleader of the robbery, in 1986.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark were the first of the accused to go to trial. Upon a motion by the defense, the trial was transferred from Rockland County to Orange County due to concerns regarding the partiality of the juror pool in Rockland. Because the BLA was known for attempting to break their members out of prison (as in the case of Assata Shakur), massive security precautions were undertaken at the Orange County Surrogate's Court in Goshen, New York.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
The defendants elected to proceed pro se. Throughout the trial, they repeatedly disrupted the proceedings by shouting anti-US slogans, proclaiming to be "at war" with the government and refusing to respect any aspect of the US legal system. They called the robbery an "expropriation" of funds that was needed to form a new country in a few select southern states that ideally would be populated only by African Americans.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
When it came time for the defendants to present their case, they called only one witness, Sekou Odinga, who had already been convicted of multiple bank robberies. He said that his organization was "fighting for the liberation and self-determination of black people in this country". Odinga testified that the killings were suitable because the three victims had interfered with the "expropriation". In his view, the theft of money was morally justified because those funds "were robbed through the slave labor that was forced on them and their ancestors".


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
After his testimony, he was praised by the defendants and led out of the courtroom to serve his 40-year federal prison sentence. The jury was not convinced by Odinga's reasoning and at the end of the trial, it took the jury only four hours of deliberation to return a verdict convicting all three defendants of armed robbery and three counts of murder. When the verdict was announced, Clark, Gilbert, and Balagoon refused to appear in court. They remained in the basement holding cells, drinking coffee and railing against, what they perceived to be, a racist court system. "I don't think any interest is served by forcing them to be here," said Judge Ritter.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
Rockland County D.A. Kenneth Gribetz told reporters: "Our goal is to see that these people, who have contempt for society and have shown no remorse, will never see the streets of society again." Judge Ritter apparently agreed. On October 6, 1983, he sentenced each defendant to three consecutive twenty-five year-to-life sentences, making them eligible for parole in the year 2058.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
After the trial, Balagoon claimed, "As to the seventy five years in prison, I am not really worried, not only because I am in the habit of not completing sentences or waiting on parole or any of that nonsense but also because the State simply isn't going to last seventy five or even fifty years." He died in prison from AIDS in 1986. Gilbert was granted clemency by outgoing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 23, 2021, reducing his minimum period of parole-ineligibility from 75 years to the 40 years he had served. Gilbert remains in prison awaiting parole consideration.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Gilbert, Balagoon and Clark
In September 2006, Clark was granted a new trial by a judge (Shira Scheindlin) in a district court on grounds that she had no representation at trial. On January 3, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a unanimous decision, reversed the district court's judgment granting a new trial. The Second Circuit panel noted that she chose to represent herself and defaulted any claim by failing to appeal until after the time for appeals had expired. In December 2016, Andrew Cuomo commuted Clark's sentence to 35 years, citing "exceptional strides in self-development". She was denied parole in April 2017. Her parole was finally granted on April 17, 2019.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Boudin and Brown
Boudin's and Brown's trial was moved to Westchester County on motion of the defense though Orange County David S. Ritter continued to preside over the matter. Rockland County continued to foot the bill for the trials despite their transfers from county to county.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Boudin and Brown
By December 1983, Rockland County had spent $1 million (equivalent to $2.6 million in 2020) on the trials and Westchester County Executive Andrew P. O'Rourke estimated that it would likely cost up to another $5 million (equivalent to $12.99 million in 2020) to prosecute the case to its conclusion, due in large part to extra security precautions, including building alterations.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Boudin and Brown
Boudin hired Leonard Weinglass to defend her. Weinglass, a law partner of Boudin's father, arranged for a plea bargain and Boudin pleaded guilty to one count of felony murder and robbery, in exchange for a single twenty year-to-life sentence. She was paroled in 2003. However, Brown was unable to reach any deal that would spare him a life sentence. Since he had nothing to lose by going to trial, he decided to have one. At his trial, he claimed to have only had a minor participation in the robbery and had not fired a weapon at anyone. The jury was not convinced. In addition to being caught in the escape attempt with the other robbers, witnesses identified him as a participant in both shootouts. He was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Boudin and Brown
In August 1993, the Second Circuit denied Brown's new petition for a writ of habeas corpus.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Marilyn Buck
Buck was later convicted of multiple charges related to the Brink's robbery and other crimes and sentenced to 50 years in a federal prison. She was released from prison in July 2010, and died of cancer in August 2010. Shakur, the alleged ringleader of the group, was the last to go on trial on charges related to the robbery. In 1988, he received a 60-year prison sentence. Shakur was denied parole release in 2016 and again in 2018.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Marilyn Buck
Shakur and Buck's federal convictions were affirmed by the Second Circuit in October 1989.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Odinga, Baraldini, Joseph and Ferguson
In a 1983 federal trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy, Sekou Odinga and Silvia Baraldini were convicted of conspiracy and racketeering related to the robberies, Joseph and Ferguson were convicted as accessories, while two additional defendants were acquitted. That trial was prosecuted by Robert S. Litt, while the defendants’ lawyers included Chokwe Lumumba and Lynne Stewart.


1981 Brink's robbery, Trials and sentencing, Odinga, Baraldini, Joseph and Ferguson
Ferguson, Baraldini, and Odinga's federal convictions were affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in March 1985.


1981 Brink's robbery, Legacy
In 2004, the Nyack post office was officially renamed after the two police officers and the Brink's guard who were killed in the shootout. In 2008, Kathy Boudin was appointed as an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Social Work, prompting a 2013 Orangetown Town Board condemnation of the university's action and a call for her termination as professor. In 2019, Boudin and Gilbert's son, Chesa, who was dropped off to a baby sitter before the robbery, was elected District Attorney for the city of San Francisco.


1981 Brisbane Rugby League season
The 1981 Brisbane Rugby League premiership was the 74th season of Brisbane's semi-professional rugby league football competition. Eight teams from across Brisbane competed for the premiership, which culminated in a grand final match between the Southern Suburbs and Redcliffe clubs.


1981 Brisbane Rugby League season, Season summary
Teams played each other three times, with 21 rounds of competition played. It resulted in a top four of Redcliffe, Southern Suburbs, Wynnum-Manly and Eastern Suburbs.


1981 Brisbane Rugby League season, Grand Final
Southern Suburbs 13 (Tries: B. Sully, M. Reardon. Goals: M. Meninga 3. Field Goal: K. Spencer.)


1981 Bristol Open
The 1981 Bristol Open, also known by its sponsored name Lambert & Butler Championships, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts that was part of the 1981 Volvo Grand Prix. It was played at Bristol in Great Britain and was held from 15 June until 20 June 1981. Unseeded Mark Edmondson won the singles title.


1981 Bristol Open, Finals, Doubles
Billy Martin /  Russell Simpson defeated  John Austin /  Johan Kriek 6–3, 4–6, 6–4


1981 Bristol Open – Doubles
The event was being held for the first time since 1972.


1981 Bristol Open – Doubles
Billy Martin and Russell Simpson won the title, defeating John Austin and Johan Kriek 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 in the final.


1981 Bristol Open – Singles
Mark Edmondson won the title, defeating Roscoe Tanner 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 in the final.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash
G-ASWI was a Westland Wessex 60, operated by Bristow Helicopters operating between Bacton Gas Terminal, in Norfolk, and Amoco gas platforms in the North Sea. On 13 August 1981 the helicopter lost power to the main rotor gearbox, going out of control during the ensuing autorotation. The flight was carrying 11 gas workers from the Leman gas field to Bacton. All people on board were lost.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash, Aircraft
G-ASWI had previously been the Westland Helicopters Company demonstrator before being purchased by Bristow Helicopters Ltd. in April 1970.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash, Accident and outcomes
G-ASWI left the North Denes airfield at 13:47 on Thursday 13 August 1981 on a routine passenger and freight flight between rigs on the Leman and Indefatigable gas fields. The crew consisted of a pilot and a cabin attendant.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash, Accident and outcomes
At 15:41, returning from the Leman field to the landing site at Bacton, the commander, Ben Breach, sent a distress message reporting that he was ditching due to engine failure. Radar lost the aircraft three seconds later. A Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Westland Sea King left RAF Coltishall at 15:47, sighting floating wreckage from G-ASWI at 15:57. There were no survivors.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash, Accident and outcomes
Efforts to recover the wreck were delayed, meaning that the wreck was beyond recovery by the time salvage operations started. There was insufficient evidence to explain either the loss of power or loss of control that caused the aircraft to crash. The inquest into the deaths of those on board recorded an open verdict.


1981 Bristow Helicopters Westland Wessex crash, Memorial
On 13 August 2014, a memorial to those killed in the crash was unveiled at Great Yarmouth Minster. A major article on the ongoing effects of the crash was published in the Eastern Daily Press in September 2014.


1981 British Grand Prix
The 1981 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 18 July 1981. John Watson won his first race for five years, and McLaren's first since James Hunt's victory at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The race also marked the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.


1981 British League season
The 1981 British League season was the 47th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 17th known as the British League.


1981 British League season, Summary
The league comprised 16 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Wolverhampton Wolves had dropped down to the National League.


1981 British League season, Summary
American Bruce Penhall (who would be crowned world champion by the end of the season) topped the averages and helped Cradley Heathens win their first title. The Cradley team included Penhall, rising Danish star Erik Gundersen and British internationals Alan Grahame and Phil Collins. The league runner-up Ipswich Witches gained some consolation by winning the Knockout Cup.


1981 British League season, Final League table
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points


1981 British League season, British League Knockout Cup
The 1981 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 43rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.


1981 British League season, British League Knockout Cup, Final, Second leg
The Ipswich Witches were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-92.


1981 British League season, League Cup
The League Cup was inaugurated in 1981 with the 16 teams split into North and South sections comprising 8 teams each that met each other home and away. The winners of each section qualified for the two-legged final with Coventry Bees beating King's Lynn Stars in the final 120-70 on aggregate.


1981 British National Track Championships
The 1981 British National Track Championships were a series of track cycling competitions held from 31 July - 8 August 1981 at the Leicester Velodrome.


1981 British National Track Championships
The weather caused a major problem with cancellations of many events.


1981 British Rowing Championships
The 1981 National Rowing Championships was the tenth edition of the National Championships, held from 17–19 July 1981 at the National Water Sports Centre in Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham.


1981 British Saloon Car Championship
The 1981 Tricentrol RAC British Saloon Car Championship was the 24th season of the championship. Win Percy won his second consecutive drivers title in his Mazda RX-7.


1981 British Saloon Car Championship, Calendar & Winners
All races were held in the United Kingdom. Overall winners in bold.


1981 British Saloon Car Championship, Championship Standings, Drivers' Championship
Points were awarded on a 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top six finishers in each class, with one bonus point for the fastest lap in each class. In races where a class had less than four starters, points would be awarded to the top two finishers (6 & 4 respectively) with one point for the fastest lap. A driver's best nine scores counted towards the championship, dropped scores are shown in brackets. Positions are shown as overall/class.


1981 British Saloon Car Championship, Championship Standings, Drivers' Championship
Bold - Pole in classItalics - Fastest lap in class


1981 British Speedway Championship
The 1981 British Speedway Championship was the 21st edition of the British Speedway Championship. The Final took place on 3 June at Brandon in Coventry, England. The Championship was won by Steve Bastable, who beat Kenny Carter and John Louis in a run-off for the title. The top eight riders qualified for the next stage of the World Championship, the 1981 Overseas Final.


1981 British Speedway Championship, Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


1981 British motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1981 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 31–2 August 1981 at the Silverstone Circuit.


1981 Brixton riot
The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981. It resulted from racist discrimination against the black community by the mainly-white police, especially the police's increased use of stop-and-search in the area.


1981 Brixton riot
The main riot on 11 April, dubbed "Bloody Saturday" by Time magazine, resulted in 279 injuries to police and 45 injuries to members of the public; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; almost 150 buildings were damaged, thirty of which were burnt out, and many shops were looted. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved. The Brixton riot was followed by similar riots in July in many other English cities and towns. The Thatcher government commissioned an inquiry, which resulted in the Scarman Report.


1981 Brixton riot, Background
Brixton in South London was an area with serious social and economic problems. The whole United Kingdom was affected by a recession by 1981, but the local African-Caribbean community was suffering particularly high unemployment, poor housing, and a higher-than-average crime rate.


1981 Brixton riot, Background
In the preceding months there had been growing unease between the police and the inhabitants of Lambeth, the Borough of London in which Brixton is located. On 18 January 1981 a number of black youths died in a fire during a house party in New Cross, in the nearby Borough of Lewisham. Although authorities stated that the fire started inside and was accidental, the public believed it was an arson attack and criticised the police investigation as inadequate. Black activists, including Darcus Howe, organised a march for the "Black People's Day of Action" on 2 March.


1981 Brixton riot, Background
Accounts of turnout vary from 5,000 to 20,000 to 25,000. The marchers walked 17 miles from Deptford to Hyde Park, passing the Houses of Parliament and Fleet Street. While the majority of the march finished in Hyde Park without incident, there was some confrontation with police at Blackfriars. According to Professor Les Back, "while the local press reported the march respectfully, the national papers unloaded the full weight of racial stereotyping." The Evening Standard's front-page headline had displayed a photo of a policeman with a bloody face juxtaposed with Darcus Howe's quote about the march being "A good day". A few weeks later, the police arrested some of the march organizers and charged them with the offence of riot, but were later acquitted.


1981 Brixton riot, Background
In 1980, the number of crimes recorded in the Lambeth borough was 30,805, with 10,626 of those taking place in the Brixton Division. Between 1976 and 1980, Brixton accounted for 35% of all crimes in the Borough, but 49% of all robbery and violent theft offences. The police recognised the rising crime: at the beginning of April, the Metropolitan Police began Operation Swamp 81, a plainclothes operation to reduce crime (named after prime minister Margaret Thatcher's 1978 assertion that the UK "might be rather swamped by people of a different culture"), and uniformed patrols were increased in the area.


1981 Brixton riot, Background
Officers from other Metropolitan police districts and the Special Patrol Group were dispatched into Brixton, and within five days, 943 people were stopped and searched, with 82 arrested, through the heavy use of what was colloquially known as the "Sus law." This referred to powers under the Vagrancy Act 1824, which allowed police to search and arrest members of the public when it was believed that they were acting suspiciously, and not necessarily committing a crime. The African-Caribbean community accused the police of disproportionately using these powers against black people.


1981 Brixton riot, 10–11 April
Public disfavour came to a head on Friday 10 April. At around 5:15 pm a police constable spotted a black youth named Michael Bailey running towards him, apparently away from three other black youths. Bailey was stopped and found to be badly bleeding, but broke away from the constable. Stopped again on Atlantic Road, Bailey was found to have a four-inch stab wound. Bailey ran into a flat and was helped by a family and the police constable there by putting kitchen roll on his wound.


1981 Brixton riot, 10–11 April
A crowd gathered and, as the police then tried to take the wounded boy to a waiting minicab on Railton Road, the crowd tried to intervene thinking the police did not appear to be providing or seeking the medical help Bailey needed quickly enough. As the minicab pulled away at speed a police car arrived and stopped the cab. When an officer from the police car realised Bailey was injured he moved him into the back of the police car to take him to hospital more quickly, and bound his wound more tightly to stop the bleeding. A group of 50 youths began to shout for Bailey's release, thinking the police were arresting him. "Look, they’re killing him," claimed one. The crowd descended on the police car and pulled him out.


1981 Brixton riot, 10–11 April
Rumours spread that a youth had been left to die by the police, or that the police looked on as the stabbed youth was lying on the street. Over 200 youths, black and white with predominantly Afro-Caribbean heritage reportedly turned on the police. In response the police decided to increase the number of police foot patrols in Railton Road, despite the tensions, and carry on with Operation Swamp 81 throughout the night and into the following day.


1981 Brixton riot, 11–12 April
It was believed by the local community that the stabbed youth died as a result of police brutality, fuelling tensions throughout the day as crowds slowly gathered. Tensions first erupted around 4 pm, as two police officers stopped and searched a mini cab in Railton Road. By this time Brixton Road (Brixton High Street) was reportedly filled with angry people and police cars were pelted with bricks. At around 5 pm the tension escalated and spread, and the 9 pm BBC News bulletin that evening reported 46 police officers injured, five seriously.


1981 Brixton riot, 11–12 April
Shops were looted on Railton Road, Mayall Road, Leeson Road, Acre Lane and Brixton Road. The looting in Brixton reportedly started at around 6 pm. At 6.15 pm the fire brigade received their first call, as a police van was set on fire by rioters in Railton Road, with the fire brigade being warned "riot in progress". As the fire brigade approached the police cordon, they were waved through without warning, driving down Railton Road towards 300 youths armed with bottles and bricks. The fire brigade met the crowd at the junction between Railton Road and Shakespeare Road and were attacked with stones and bottles.


1981 Brixton riot, 11–12 April
The police put out emergency calls to police officers across London, asking for assistance. They had no strategy, and only had inadequate helmets and non-fireproof plastic shields to protect themselves with while clearing the streets of rioters. The police reportedly also had difficulties in radio communication. The police proceeded in clearing the Atlantic-Railton-Mayall area by pushing the rioters down the road, forming deep shield walls. The rioters responded with bricks, bottles, and petrol bombs.


1981 Brixton riot, 11–12 April
At 5.30 pm the violence further escalated. Non -rioting members of the public attempted to mediate between the police and the rioters, calling for a de-escalation by withdrawing police out of the area. The destructive efforts of the rioters peaked at around 8 pm, as those attempts at mediation failed. Two pubs, 26 businesses, schools and other structures were set alight in the riots.


1981 Brixton riot, 11–12 April
By 9.30 pm, over 1,000 police were dispatched into Brixton, squeezing out the rioters. By 1 am on 12 April 1981, the area was largely subdued, with no large groups – except the police – on the streets. The fire brigade refused to return until the following morning. Police numbers grew to over 2,500, and by the early hours of Sunday morning the rioting had fizzled out.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath
During the disturbances, 299 police were injured, along with at least 65 members of the public. 61 private vehicles and 56 police vehicles were destroyed. 28 premises were burned and another 117 damaged and looted. 82 arrests were made.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath
Between 3 and 11 July of that year, there was more unrest fuelled by racial and social discord, at Handsworth in Birmingham, Southall in London, Toxteth in Liverpool, Hyson Green in Nottingham and Moss Side in Manchester. There were also smaller pockets of unrest in Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Halifax, Bedford, Gloucester, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Bristol, and Edinburgh. Racial tension played a major part in most of these disturbances, although all of the riots took place in areas hit particularly hard by unemployment and recession.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Scarman Report
The Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, commissioned a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman. The Scarman report was published on 25 November 1981.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Scarman Report
Scarman found unquestionable evidence of the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of 'stop and search' powers by the police against black people. As a consequence, a new code for police behaviour was put forward in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; and the act also created an independent Police Complaints Authority, established in 1985, to attempt to restore public confidence in the police. Scarman concluded that "complex political, social and economic factors [created a] disposition towards violent protest".


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Scarman Report
The 1999 Macpherson Report, an investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the failure of the police to establish sufficient evidence for the prosecution of the charged suspects, found that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman Report had been ignored. The report concluded that the police force was "institutionally racist". This report, which did not cover the events of the Brixton Riots, disagreed with the conclusions made by Scarman.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Scarman Report
On 25 March 2011, BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Reunion, a programme featuring reminiscences by participants, including police and black Brixton residents.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Other rioting
On 13 April, Margaret Thatcher dismissed the notion that unemployment and racism lay beneath the Brixton disturbances claiming  "Nothing, but nothing, justifies what happened." Overall unemployment in Brixton stood at 13 percent, with 25.4 percent for ethnic minorities. Unemployment among black youths was estimated at 55 percent. Rejecting increased investment in Britain's inner cities, Thatcher added, "Money cannot buy either trust or racial harmony." Lambeth London Borough Council leader, Ted Knight, complained that the police presence "amounted to an army of occupation" that provoked the riots; Thatcher responded, "What absolute nonsense and what an appalling remark ... No one should condone violence. No one should condone the events ... They were criminal, criminal."


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Other rioting
Small-scale disturbances continued to simmer throughout the summer. After four nights of rioting in Liverpool during the Toxteth riots, beginning 4 July, there were 150 buildings burnt and 781 police officers injured. CS gas was deployed for the first time on the British mainland to quell the rioting. On 10 July, there was fresh rioting in Brixton. It was not until the end of July that the disturbances began to subside.


1981 Brixton riot, Aftermath, Other rioting
The recommendations of the Scarman Report to tackle the problems of racial disadvantage and inner-city decline were not implemented. Rioting would break out again in the 1985 and 1995 Brixton riots.


1981 Brown Bears football team
The 1981 Brown Bears football team was an American football team that represented Brown University during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Brown tied for fifth place in the Ivy League.


1981 Brown Bears football team
In their ninth season under head coach John Anderson, the Bears compiled a 3–7 record and were outscored 250 to 153. T. Holcombe and D. Finneran were the team captains.


1981 Brown Bears football team
The Bears' 2–5 conference record tied for fifth in the Ivy League standings. They were outscored 185 to 102 by Ivy opponents.


1981 Brown Bears football team
This would be Brown's last season in the NCAA's top level of football competition. Shortly after the season ended, the NCAA reassigned all of the Ivy League teams to the second-tier Division I-AA, which would later be renamed the Football Championship Subdivision.


1981 Brown Bears football team
Brown played its home games at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.


1981 Brownlow Medal
The 1981 Brownlow Medal was the 54th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Victorian Football League (VFL) home and away season. Bernie Quinlan of the Fitzroy Football Club and Barry Round of the South Melbourne Football Club both won the medal by polling twenty-two votes during the 1981 VFL season.


1981 Bucknell Bison football team
The 1981 Bucknell Bison football team was an American football team that represented Bucknell University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season.


1981 Bucknell Bison football team
In their sixth year under head coach Bob Curtis, the Bison compiled a 4–6 record. Ken Jenkins and Jeff Miller were the team captains.


1981 Bucknell Bison football team
Bucknell played its home games at Memorial Stadium on the university campus in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400
The 1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 7, 1981, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Background
Texas World Speedway was built in 1969 and was one of seven superspeedways of two miles (3 km) or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega, Auto Club, and Michigan (there are several tracks of similar size used for vehicle testing). TWS was located on approximately 600 acres (2.4 km²) on State Highway 6 in College Station, Texas. There is a 2-mile (3 km) oval, and several road course configurations.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Background
The full oval configuration was closely related to that of Michigan and is often considered the latter's sister track, though featuring steeper banking, at 22 degrees in the turns, 12 degrees at the start/finish line, and 2 degrees along the backstretch, compared to Michigan's respective 18, 12, and 5 degrees. The last professional race occurred at the track in 1981. The track was used by amateur racing clubs such as the SCCA, NASA, Porsche Club of America, Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing, CMRA, driving schools and car clubs, as well as hosting music concerts and the like. The speedway was also a race track location for the video game, Need for Speed: Pro Street.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Background
During the 1980s the track fell into a state of disrepair, and both NASCAR and the Indy cars chose to drop it from their respective schedules. It continued to operate in a limited role for amateur racing. It is currently being dismantled.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
34 drivers qualified for this 200-lap race; with Baxter Price, Kirk Shelmerdine and D.K. Ulrich retiring early. Morgan Shepherd's vehicle developed a problematic radiator on lap 17 while a faulty cylinder head forced Darrell Waltrip out of the race on lap 33.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
The track was evidently in horrible shape even then. It had rained non-stop for the two days prior to the race, and a couple of drivers spun and got stuck in the mud. Kyle Petty's engine stopped working on lap 34; the wreckers could not get to him for fear of getting stuck. Rick Newsom inflicted terminal vehicle damage on lap 40. Engine problems would claim the cars of Roger Hamby on lap 72 in addition to Bobby Wawak on lap 92 and James Hylton on lap 115.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
Ricky Rudd's engine stopped working on lap 122 while Terry Labonte was involved in a crash on lap 131. Before Labonte's crash, he had put on a daring move to barely beat leaders Parsons and Earnhardt to the line to get back on the lead lap. Randy Ogden lost the rear end of his vehicle on lap 137 while Rick Baldwin fell out with engine failure on lap 149.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
It was a battle between Benny Parsons and Dale Earnhardt over the last 90 laps. The lead was traded between them 16 times with Parsons coming out on top; beating the Intimidator by more than half a second. All of the drivers were born in the United States of America. Only three drivers remained on the lead lap at the end of the race: Benny Parsons, Dale Earnhardt, and Bobby Allison. Eighteen thousand people would see 35 different lead changes. Regardless of the problems that the drivers faced during the race and the resulting separation of the field at the finish, there was still tight competition for the lead throughout the entire race.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
Other notable participants at the race were: Richard Petty, J.D. McDuffie, Richard Childress, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, and Kyle Petty. Crashes and engine problems also made up the bulk of the drivers who failed to finish. The winner received $22,750 in total winnings ($64,761 when considering inflation) while last-place finisher Baxter Price received $900 ($2,562 when considering inflation).


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
Notable crew chiefs for this event included Junie Donlavey, Joey Arrington, Darel Dieringer, Elmo Langley, Travis Carter, Waddell Wilson, Jabe Thomas, Tim Brewer, and Kirk Shelmerdine.


1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400, Race report
The total purse for this event was $179,075 ($509,761 when considering inflation).


1981 Buffalo Bills season
The 1981 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League, and the 22nd overall.


1981 Buffalo Bills season
The season's most memorable moment was probably a Hail Mary catch against the New England Patriots in Week Twelve. The 36-yard touchdown pass from Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson to running back Roland Hooks as time expired won the game for Buffalo, 20–17. The win proved to be crucial in giving Buffalo the final playoff spot in the AFC in 1981. The Bills qualified for the playoffs, but lost, 28-21, to the Cincinnati Bengals.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Offseason
The Bills were coming off of their first division title since 1966, and their first since the merger. Coach Chuck Knox's Bills, in his fourth season with the team, were considered a contender in the AFC.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Offseason
In their 1981 NFL preview, Sports Illustrated's Paul Zimmerman wrote, "A word of advice: Go to Vegas and take the price on Buffalo to go all the way. The odds are right. Just look at how close the Bills came last year. ... The Bills are a hungry team, on the rise.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Offseason
They'll have to stay almost injury-free, though, because they're in big trouble if one of the big boys goes down, i.e., [Joe] Ferguson, Nose Guard Freddy Smerlas, Wide Receiver Jerry Butler or Halfback Joe Cribbs, who handled the ball more times (389) than any back in the NFL, counting passes caught and punt and kick returns as well as his rushes."


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Offseason, NFL Draft
Running back Robb Riddick played eight seasons for the Bills; he started eight games and ran for 632 total yards in 1986, and he became a short-yardage specialist in 1988


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Offseason, NFL Draft
Said Zimmerman about the team's first pick, "(Coach Chuck) Knox is a ball control coach, and he's been desperately trying to juice up the fullback position, to take some heat off the 190-pound Cribbs. But No. 1 draft choice Booker Moore from Penn State came down with a nerve disorder called Guillain–Barré syndrome."


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Regular season, Week 14
Coming off their win at home against the Washington Redskins, the Buffalo Bills traveled to San Diego to face the Chargers and their potent offense. Buffalo's defense would face a tall task in slowing the Chargers who, in their previous two games, outscored their opponents 89–38. This game was a clash of style that pitted the Chargers and their pass-oriented Air Coryell offense versus Chuck Knox and his run-heavy, ball control offense. Defensively the teams also contrasted starkly with the Chargers ranking near the bottom of the NFL (26th overall), and the Bills ranking among the top defenses (6th overall).


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Regular season, Week 14
In the 1st quarter both teams traded rushing touchdowns as Chuck Muncie scored on a 9-yard run to give the home a lead, and Bills' quarterback Joe Ferguson scored on a 3-yard run to tie the game. The 2nd quarter produced a 21-point flurry that began when Dan Fouts threw a touchdown pass of 17 yards to Wes Chandler. The Bills answered when Roosevelt Leaks scored on a 9-yard run to tie the game briefly at 14–14. Dan Fouts put the Chargers ahead before the half when he connected with Kellen Winslow on a 67-yard touchdown pass.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Regular season, Week 14
In the 3rd quarter the Bills tied the game when Roosevelt Leaks scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. The Chargers took back the lead with Rolf Benirschke kicking a 29-yard field goal to give the Chargers a 24–21 lead. The Bills answered with a fourth rushing touchdown when Joe Cribbs scored on a 1-yard run. The Chargers cut the Bills' lead to 28–27 in fourth quarter when Rolf Benirschke kicked a 27-yard field. The Bills hung on to win the game and upset the heavily favored Chargers. Despite the Chargers outgaining the Bills 482 to 318 in total yards, the Bills forced three Chargers turnovers (1 fumble, 2 INTs) that allowed the Bills to keep the Chargers' potent offense on the sideline. With the win the Bills improved to 9–5.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Wild Card
The Bills traveled to Shea Stadium, where the Jets were playing in their first playoff game since the 1970 merger. In a cold rain the Jets got off to a poor start as Bruce Harper fumbled the opening kickoff at his 25 and Charles Romes ran back the fumble for a touchdown only sixteen seconds into the matchup.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Wild Card
The Bills raced to a 24–0 lead in the second quarter as Frank Lewis caught two Joe Ferguson passes for touchdowns; the first was a pass from the Bills 40 yard line caught by Lewis at the Jets 32 and run in, then Joe Cribbs caught a 50-yarder, setting up Lewis' second catch; later Rufus Bess picked off Richard Todd and ran back 49 yards, setting up a field goal.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Wild Card
But in the second the Jets began clawing back as Mickey Shuler caught a 30-yard touchdown in traffic (it was Shuler's first catch of the entire 1981 season) from Todd and following a Greg Buttle interception of Ferguson Pat Leahy booted a 26-yard field goal. A 19-yarder from Leahy was the only score in the third, then early in the fourth Ferguson was picked off by Donald Dykes, but Todd was intercepted by Bill Simpson.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Wild Card
Following the Simpson pick Ferguson was intercepted again, by Jerry Holmes, but the Bills defense forced a mediocre punt by Chuck Ramsey caught at the 50. Three plays later Joe Cribbs caught a toss-sweep and ran in a 45-yard touchdown for Buffalo. But the Jets refused to give in; Todd tossed a 30-yard score to Bobby Jones and later Kevin Long ran in a 1-yard score.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Wild Card
The Jets got the ball back in the final minutes, but a sack by Fred Smerlas led to a last-ditch Todd drive to the endzone; after completions to Gaffney and Scott Dierking Todd fired from the Bills 11 for the endzone but was picked off by Bill Simpson, ending a 31–27 Bills playoff win, only the third in the team's history and first since winning back-to-back AFL titles in the 1964 and '65 seasons.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Divisional
After their thrilling Wild Card win in Shea Stadium, the Buffalo Bills traveled to Riverfront Stadium to play the #1 seeded Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills fell behind early when Cincinnati scored two rushing touchdowns in the 1st quarter to take a 14-0 lead. The Bills began chipping away at the deficit in the 2nd quarter when Joe Cribbs scored from 1 yard out and cut Cincinnati's lead to 14-7 at the half. In the 3rd quarter the Bills tied the game when Joe Cribbs scored on a 44-yard touchdown run.


1981 Buffalo Bills season, Playoffs, Divisional
The Bengals promptly retook the lead with a 20-yard touchdown run from Charles Alexander. The Bills fought back and tied the game again in the 4th quarter when Jerry Butler caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Joe Ferguson. The Bengals broke the deadlock and took a 28-21 lead when Cris Collinsworth scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ken Anderson. The Bills attempted to tie the game at the end of regulation, but Joe Ferguson's fourth down pass fell incomplete and Cincinnati held on for the win.


1981 Buffalo mayoral election
The Buffalo mayoral election of 1981 took place in Buffalo, New York, USA, on November 4, 1981, and resulted in the incumbent mayor Jimmy Griffin winning a second term over his opponent, the local politician Alfred Coppola, who ran on a minor party line.


1981 Bulgarian Cup Final
The 1981 Bulgarian Cup Final was the 41st final of the Bulgarian Cup (in this period the tournament was named Cup of the Soviet Army), and was contested between Botev Plovdiv and Pirin Blagoevgrad on 5 May 1981 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. This was Botev's sixth appearance in a final to Pirin's first. Botev won the final 1–0 with a goal from Mitko Argirov to win the cup for the second time, the first having come in 1962.


1981 Bulgarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 7 June 1981. The Fatherland Front, dominated by the Bulgarian Communist Party, was the only organisation to contest the election; all candidate lists had to be approved by the Front. The Front nominated one candidate for each constituency. Of the 400 candidates 271 were members of the Communist Party, 99 were members of the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union and the remaining 30 were unaffiliated. Voter turnout was reportedly 99.9%.


1981 Burlington mayoral election
The 1981 Burlington mayoral election was held March 3, 1981. Bernie Sanders, who ran as an independent candidate, defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Gordon Paquette, who was seeking a sixth term as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and Richard Bove.


1981 Burlington mayoral election
Paquette had easily won reelection to the mayoralty in the 1973, 1975, and 1979 elections and the Democratic Party controlled ten of the thirteen city council seats. Sanders ran in the election due to the amount of support he received in Burlington during his 1976 gubernatorial campaign. Bove initially ran as a Democrat, but became an independent after losing in the primary to Paquette. The Republican Party did not field a candidate and the Citizens Party endorsed Sanders after failing to run Greg Guma. Sanders initially led Paquette by twenty-two votes, but his total vote lead was later decreased to ten votes following a recount.


1981 Burlington mayoral election
Sanders' victory was the first time a socialist was elected mayor of a place in New England since the election of Jasper McLevy as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut during the 1950s. Sanders would later be reelected as mayor in the 1983, 1985, and 1987 elections before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1990 and then the United States Senate in 2006.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Background
Gordon Paquette, a member of the city council, won election to the mayoralty of Burlington, Vermont, with the Democratic nomination in the 1971 election. Paquette was reelected as mayor in the 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1979 elections with him taking over seventy percent of the popular vote in each election except in 1977. After the 1980 elections the Democratic Party controlled ten of the thirteen city council seats.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Candidates, Democratic
Paquette announced on January 6, 1981, that he would seek reelection to a sixth term. Richard Bove, a former member of the Burlington Board of Alderman and a member of Burlington's Fire Commission, announced on January 16, that he would seek the Democratic nomination for mayor against Paquette. Bove's decision to run was inspired by discontent with Paquette's raise of taxes, as well as a perceived lack of benefits from Burlington's "urban renewal" projects. Paquette defeated Bove for the Democratic nomination by a vote of 133 to 19.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Candidates, Republican
The Republican Party did not run a candidate in the 1979 mayoral election. The party asked former Chief of Police Robert G. Abare and state Representative Theodore M. Riehle III to run in the mayoral election. The party did not select a candidate to run in the mayoral election.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Candidates, Other candidates
Bernie Sanders announced on November 8, 1980, that he would seek the mayoral office and formally announced his campaign on December 16, at a press conference in city hall. Sanders had been convinced to run for the mayoralty by Richard Sugarman, an Orthodox Jewish scholar at the University of Vermont, had shown Sanders a ward-by-ward breakdown of the 1976 Vermont gubernatorial election, in which Sanders had run, which showed him receiving 12% of the vote in Burlington despite only getting 6% statewide. Sanders selected Linda Niedweske to serve as his campaign manager. The Citizens Party attempted to have Greg Guma run with their nomination for mayor, but Guma declined as it would be "difficult to run against another progressive candidate".


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Candidates, Other candidates
After losing in the Democratic primary Bove announced that he would seek the mayoral office as an independent candidate. Joseph McGrath also filed to run for the mayoralty of Burlington as an independent candidate.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Results and demographics
Sanders won in the mayoral election initially by twenty-two votes against Paquette, Bove, and McGrath, but it was later reduced to ten votes. Sanders had spent around $4,000 during the campaign. Paquette did not contest the results of the recount. Sanders was the first socialist mayor in New England since Jasper McLevy served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, during the 1940s and 1950s. Sanders was later sworn in as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, on April 6.


1981 Burlington mayoral election, Campaign, Results and demographics
Paquette's loss of the election was attributed to his own shortcomings, as he did not campaign or promote his candidacy since both Sanders and Independent candidate Richard Bove were not seen as serious challengers, and Sanders had not previously won an election. Paquette was also considered to have lost because he proposed an unpopular 65 cent per $100 raise in taxes that Sanders opposed. There was also a significant student population in Burlington caused by the University of Vermont ending the building of dormitories in 1972.


1981 Burmese general election
General elections were held in Burma between 4 and 18 October 1981.> The country was a one-party state at the time, with the Burma Socialist Programme Party as the sole legal party. It therefore won all 475 seats in People's Assembly.


1981 Burundian constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Burundi on 18 November 1981. The new constitution would make the country a presidential republic with a unicameral National Assembly, as well as creating a one-party state with the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) as the sole legal party. It was supported by 99.28% of voters with a 94% turnout.


1981 CARIFTA Games
The 10th CARIFTA Games was held in Nassau, Bahamas on April 20–21, 1981. An appraisal of the results has been given on the occasion of 40th anniversary of the games.


1981 CARIFTA Games, Participation (unofficial)
Detailed result lists can be found on the "World Junior Athletics History" website. An unofficial count yields the number of about 196 athletes (128 junior (under-20) and 68 youth (under-17)) from about 16 countries: Antigua and Barbuda (7), Bahamas (47), Barbados (22), Bermuda (18), British Virgin Islands (1), Cayman Islands (3), Grenada (5), Guadeloupe (11), Guyana (1), Jamaica (50), Lesser Antilles (1), Martinique (6), Saint Kitts and Nevis (2), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (4), Trinidad and Tobago (14), US  Virgin Islands (4).


1981 CARIFTA Games, Medal summary
Medal winners are published by category: Boys under 20 (Junior), Girls under 20 (Junior), Boys under 17 (Youth), and Girls under 17 (Youth). Complete results can be found on the "World Junior Athletics History"website.


1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series
The 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 11 races,  beginning in Avondale, Arizona  on March 22 and concluding at the same location on October 31. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Rick Mears despite missing Round 2 at Milwaukee due to injuries sustained in the Indianapolis 500. Rookie of the Year was Bob Lazier. After the disagreement with the USAC during the previous season, the 65th Indianapolis 500 was not part of the Series, however no competing race was scheduled and most CART teams and drivers did take part.


1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, Drivers and constructors
The following teams and drivers competed for the 1981 CART World Series.


1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, Schedule
Of note is the addition of the inaugural Michigan 500 to replace the California 500 at the now closed Ontario Motor Speedway.


1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, Schedule
- The Detroit News Grand Prix was supposed to run for 150 miles, but was shortened due to a scoring error. O  Oval/Speedway  R  Dedicated road course


1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, Season Summary, Race Results
Note, the total time of the Nortan Michigan 500 does not include red flag stoppage time as the race was stopped for nearly 1 hour due to a bad pit lane fire


1981 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 1981 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the tenth CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 6 and March 14, 1981. All games were played at Lakeview Arena in Marquette, Michigan, the home venue of the Northern Michigan Wildcats. By winning the tournament, Northern Michigan received the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, the first automatic bid for the conference.


1981 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament featured two rounds of play. Only the top four teams in the conference standings were eligible for postseason play. Each of the two rounds were structured so that the two teams facing one another would play two games and the winner would be decided by the goal differential totals of the combined scores. In the semifinal the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds were matched as opponents. The victorious teams would then compete in the finals for the conference championship. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


1981 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Conference Standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


1981 CDCP Road Builders season
The 1981 CDCP Road Builders season was the second and final season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).


1981 CDCP Road Builders season, Summary
The Construction Development Corporation of the Philippines (CDCP), a company owned by Rodolfo Cuenca, assumed the PBA franchise of the Galleon Shippers (a CDCP affiliate) for the 1981 season. The team acquired Manny Paner from Presto and brought in 6-11 Edmund Lawrence and 6-9 James Lister (brother of Alton Lister) for the Open Conference, forming the tallest import combination in PBA history.


1981 CDCP Road Builders season, Summary
On March 10, 1981, CDCP won its first game of the season by limiting Presto to an all-time lowest output of 69 points in the 95–69 victory. After seven games in the elimination round, Lister was replaced by the returning NBA veteran Jeff Wilkins. The Road Builders were contending for one of the four semifinals berth and were a game behind the Toyota Superdiesels with one scheduled assignment left, but the Superdiesels won their last game against the Finance Funders to join U-Tex, San Miguel and Crispa in the semifinal round, thereby eliminating the Road Builders.


1981 CDCP Road Builders season, Summary
In the Reinforced Filipino Conference, CDCP paraded Ronald McCoy as their import, the Road Builders again fell short to advance into the next round, they won their last game against Presto Fun Drinks on October 8 for a 4-5 won-loss card but failed to create a tie with Tefilin, which secured the 6th and last spot in the round of six by winning over San Miguel Beermen two nights later.


1981 CDCP Road Builders season, Summary
CDCP equalled their overall record from last season with 16 wins and 14 losses in 30 games. The two-year ballclub disbanded before the start of the 1982 season.


1981 CDCP Road Builders season, Scoring record
September 26: Ronald McCoy scored 75 points in CDCP's 149-144 double overtime win over Finance, tying the record for most points set by Harry Rogers of 7-Up back in 1976.


1981 CECAFA Cup
The 1981 CECAFA Cup was the 9th edition of the tournament. It was held in Tanzania, and was won by Kenya. The matches were played between November 14–28.


1981 CFL Draft
The 1981 CFL Draft composed of seven rounds where 81 Canadian football players were chosen from eligible Canadian universities and Canadian players playing in the NCAA. A total of 18 players were selected as territorial exemptions, with every team making at least one selection during this stage of the draft. Through a trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Calgary Stampeders selected first overall in the draft.


1981 CFL Draft, 7th Round
61. Winnipeg Blue Bombers                                   Peter Martell  TB  St. Francis Xavier


1981 CFL season
The 1981 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 28th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 24th Canadian Football League season.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
The Eastern and Western Football Conferences, which had carried on as separate and autonomous entities since the founding of the CFL in 1958, agreed to a full merger prior to the start of the 1981 season.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
With the merger, the Eastern and Western Football Conferences were dissolved and renamed as the East and West Divisions.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
The merger authorizes the CFL to have full authority over decisions, including the adoption of a full interlocking schedule for both divisions. All nine teams played each other twice, once home and once away, regardless of their affiliated division. Other than during the three seasons of the CFL's U.S. expansion era from 1993 to 1995, the League's teams have played at least one game home and one away versus every other team in the League since the 1981 season.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
In addition, the merger set up the CFL Board of Governors and the CFL Management Council to replace the Executive Committee and the General Managers Committee.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
After the 1980 season, after owning the team for over ten years, Montreal Alouettes owner Sam Berger retired and sold the team to Nelson Skalbania, who brought in high priced NFL talent who did not adapt to the Canadian game, bringing a terrible losing season to Montreal (they did, however, make the playoffs due to the weak division that year), and with it, a loss of fan support, and he lost money and because of the high priced talent he bankrupted the team. So the team folded after the season, but a year later, a new team, the Montreal Concordes, owned by Expos owner Charles Bronfman, took over the team's players and history.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
The East was so weak this season that the Calgary Stampeders, despite being the West's fifth place team, finished with a better record than the second place Ottawa Rough Riders. Ottawa nevertheless upset the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and qualified for the Grey Cup despite winning only five games in the regular season finishing seventh overall.


1981 CFL season, CFL News in 1981
The ensuing controversy over having a 5–11 team playing in the Grey Cup played a large part in eventually persuading the league to implement a cross-over rule permitting a fourth place team in one division to qualify for the playoffs in place of a third place team in the other division with a weaker record. Nevertheless, the current rule makes no provision to allow a fifth place team to make the playoffs even if its record is better than that of the second place team in the other division, which occurred in 2018.


1981 CFL season, Regular season standings, Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points


1981 CFL season, Grey Cup playoffs
The Edmonton Eskimos are the 1981 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders, 26–23, at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Edmonton won their fourth-straight championship on a last second Dave Cutler field-goal. The Rough Riders' J.C. Watts (QB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Offence and John Glassford (LB) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player on Defence. The Eskimos' Neil Lumsden (RB) was named Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.


1981 CFU Championship, Qualifying tournament, Second round
Trinidad an Tobago qualified for the finals; Surinam went to the playoff.


1981 CFU Championship, Qualifying tournament, Second round
Guadeloupe qualified for the finals; Saint Vincent and Grenadines went to the playoff.


1981 CFU Championship, Qualifying tournament, Second round
Saint Vincent and Grenadines won and qualified for the finals.


1981 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
The 1981 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 17th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club champion of association football in the CONCACAF region and was played from 26 April 1980 till 2 February 1981.


1981 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
The teams were split in 2 zones, North/Central American and Caribbean, (as North and Central American sections combined to qualify one team for the final), each one qualifying the winner to the final tournament. All the matches in the tournament were played under the home/away match system.


1981 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
Surinamean team Transvaal won the two-legged series v Salvadorean Atlético Marte (21 on aggregate), becoming CONCACAF champions for the second time in their history.


1981 CONCACAF Championship
The 1981 CONCACAF Championship, the eighth edition of the CONCACAF Championship, was held in Honduras from 1 to 22 November. All games were played in the Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. This tournament was won by the host, Honduras, who earned their first title and secured for the first time a place in the FIFA World Cup, as the tournament also served as qualification to Spain 1982. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone was allocated two places (out of 24) in the final tournament.


1981 CONCACAF Championship
This edition was marked by an upset as Mexico, traditional CONCACAF heavyweights and needing a win to go through, were eliminated by Honduras. The 0–0 tie between Mexico and Honduras qualified El Salvador to participate in the World Cup as the CONCACAF runners-up. El Salvador also became the first Central American team to qualify for more than one World Cup. This would be the last tournament which would feature a host nation for the final round.


1981 CONCACAF Championship, Final round
Honduras and El Salvador qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.


1981 CONCACAF Championship, Notes
To date, this was the last time that Mexico failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.


1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification
A total of 15 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. The 15 teams were divided into 3 zones, based on geographical considerations, as follows:


1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification, Caribbean Zone, Group A Preliminary Round
Guyana won 8-4 on aggregate and advanced to Group A.


1981 CRC Chemicals 300
The 1981 CRC Chemicals 300 was a Touring Car race  staged at Amaroo Park Raceway in New South Wales, Australia on 9 August 1981. The race, which was organised by the Australian Racing Drivers Club, was contested over 155 laps, a total distance of 299.1 km. It was a non-championship event which did not count towards either the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship or the 1981 Australian Endurance Championship.


1981 CRC Chemicals 300
The race was won by  Peter Brock and John Harvey driving a Holden Commodore VC entered by the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team.


1981 Cadet World Championship
The 1981 Cadet World Championship was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between 27 December 1981 and 2 January 1982.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
The 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 17, 1981, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It was the fifteenth and final race of the 1981 FIA Formula One World Championship.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
The 75-lap race was won by Australian driver Alan Jones, driving a Williams-Ford, with Frenchman Alain Prost second in a Renault and Italian Bruno Giacomelli third in an Alfa Romeo. Brazilian Nelson Piquet finished fifth in his Brabham-Ford to take the Drivers' Championship by one point from Jones's Argentinian teammate, Carlos Reutemann, who finished eighth having started from pole position. This was the final win by an Australian driver until Mark Webber won the 2009 German Grand Prix.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Championship permutations
Going into this race, three drivers were in contention for the World Championship. Argentine Carlos Reutemann, driving a Williams-Ford, had 49 points having won two races, while Brazilian Nelson Piquet, driving a Brabham-Ford, had 48 having won three. Frenchman Jacques Laffite, driving a Ligier-Matra, had an outside chance on 43, having won two races including the previous race in Canada.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Championship permutations
Laffite needed to win this race with Reutemann finishing no higher than fourth and Piquet no higher than third, or to finish second with neither Reutemann nor Piquet finishing in the top six. If Laffite won with Piquet third and Reutemann fourth, then all three drivers would finish on 52 points, and the Frenchman would then win the Championship on a tie-break, with the same number of wins as Piquet but more second places than the Brazilian (two to one). He would also win the Championship if he finished second with neither Reutemann nor Piquet scoring, as he and Reutemann would both have 49 points and the same numbers of wins and second places, but he would have more third places than the Argentine (three to two).


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Championship permutations
If Laffite failed to finish first or second, then all Reutemann had to do was finish ahead of Piquet, while Piquet had to finish in the top five and ahead of Reutemann.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, The setting
This was the third year in succession that the United States hosted the final round of the World Championship. This time, however, it took place in Las Vegas, instead of Watkins Glen in upstate New York: after twenty years on the Grand Prix schedule, the organizers at Watkins Glen were unable to fulfill financial obligations for 1981.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, The setting
The track, created on the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel, had a smooth surface and provided speeds averaging over 160 km/h or 100 mph, as well as plenty of overtaking opportunities. Unusually, however, its direction was counter-clockwise, which strained the drivers' necks. This, together with the desert heat, meant that the drivers' endurance would be tested in the extreme all weekend. Even in practice, Piquet suffered noticeably and became physically sick; he later got a 90-minute massage from Sugar Ray Leonard's masseur to help sort out his troubled back and "Las Vegas neck".


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Qualifying
The Williams drivers, Alan Jones and Reutemann, were fastest from the start of the first practice with points leader Reutemann the faster of the two. Later, Jones became the only other driver to break 1:18 in qualifying, and the starting front row was all Williams. Reutemann was not expecting any help winning the Championship from teammate Jones, who explained, "I don't see how I can help him; I would not go holding up people as I am a member of the British Commonwealth (Australia, specifically) and I would consider that unsporting."


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
In the race on Saturday, Jones jumped off the line into the lead, but Reutemann was quickly passed by Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Bruno Giacomelli, and finished the first lap in fifth. By the end of lap two, Jones had a five-second lead. Prost passed Villeneuve on lap three, but could not get close enough to challenge Jones for the lead. Villeneuve, meanwhile, kept a line of cars behind him as he fought off the advances of Giacomelli. This allowed Mario Andretti to move right on to Piquet's tail, as he desperately tried to overtake Reutemann.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
The Brazilian was nearly touching the back of the Williams as they approached the last left-hander before the pits on lap 17. Piquet got around Reutemann on the inside when Reutemann, fighting for the Championship, inexplicably braked early. Piquet said, "I saw his car getting worse oversteer, then he braked very early, I think in the hope I would run into him, but I saw it and passed easily." On the next lap, Andretti also went by. Piquet passed John Watson on lap 22, and put himself in a position to score points when he took over sixth place. Reutemann continued to slip backwards with gearbox trouble, having lost fourth gear as early as lap two.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
The Ferrari team was trying to decide whether to call Villeneuve in on lap 23 after he had been disqualified for lining up on the grid improperly, but when he pulled off the track with an engine fire, the point was moot. On lap 30, crowd favorite Andretti retired from fourth place with broken suspension.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
With 15 laps still to go, but a 40-second lead over Prost, Jones began pacing himself to the finish. Giacomelli was third, having worked his way back after spinning from fourth to tenth, and Nigel Mansell had passed Piquet for fourth.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
Piquet, in fact, was on the verge of physical exhaustion with his head visibly rolling around in the cockpit, but he still held fifth place and the two points he needed for the Championship. Piquet's condition was the only question left about how the Championship would turn out, for Reutemann, driving without fourth gear, was passed by Watson and Laffite, dropping to eighth place on lap 69.


1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Summary, Race
Laffite took sixth place and the final point from Watson on the last corner of the last lap, while Giacomelli missed taking second from Prost, on failing tires, by a few car lengths. Piquet took fifteen minutes to recover from heat exhaustion after making it to the finish, but he had collected the two points for fifth place, and was the new World Champion.


1981 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
The 1981 Cal Poly Mustangs football team represented California Polytechnic State University during the 1981 NCAA Division II football season.


1981 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
Cal Poly competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Mustangs were led by 14th-year head coach Joe Harper and played home games at Mustang Stadium in San Luis Obispo, California. They finished the season with a record of four wins and five losses (4–5, 0–2 CCAA).


1981 Cal Poly Mustangs football team
1981 was the last season for CCAA football. The Mustangs ended up with 12 football championships in their 36 years of membership (from 1946 to 1981). All three 1981 football members of the CCAA (Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly) moved their football programs to the new Western Football Conference for the 1982 season.


1981 Cal Poly Mustangs football team, Team players in the NFL
The following Cal Poly Mustang players were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft.


1981 Cal Poly Pomona Broncos football team
The 1981 Cal Poly Pomona Broncos football team represented California State Polytechnic University, Pomona during the 1981 NCAA Division II football season. In the penultimate season of its football program, Cal Poly Pomona competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).