1981–82 Leeds United A.F.C. season, First-team squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1981–82 Leeds United A.F.C. season, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1981–82 Leicester City F.C. season
During the 1981–82 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.


1981–82 Leicester City F.C. season, Season summary
In the 1981–82 season where the Football League decided to increase the points total on a win to three instead of two points, Leicester's start was inconsistent but during the last couple of months of the campaign, the Foxes revived strongly and finished in eighth. At the end of the season, Wallace left to join Motherwell.


1981–82 Leicester City F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1981–82 Liga Alef
The 1981–82 Liga Alef season saw Hapoel Hadera (champions of the North Division) and Hapoel Ashkelon (champions of the South Division) win the title and promotion to Liga Artzit. Maccabi Shefa-'Amr also promoted after promotion play-offs.


1981–82 Liga Alef, South Division
Maccabi Lazarus Holon suspended from the league and demoted to Liga Bet, due to riot in their eighteenth match against Hapoel Holon, which abandoned in the 44th minute.


1981–82 Liga Artzit
The 1981–82 Liga Artzit season saw Hapoel Lod win the title and win promotion to Liga Leumit. Hapoel Ramat Gan and Maccabi Yavne were also promoted.


1981–82 Liga Artzit
Maccabi Kiryat Gat, Beitar Netanya and Hapoel Tiberias were all relegated to Liga Alef.


1981–82 Liga Bet
The 1981–82 Liga Bet season saw Maccabi Bnei Hatzor, Hapoel Nahliel, Tzafririm Holon and Ironi Ashdod win their regional divisions and promoted to Liga Alef.


1981–82 Liga Bet
At the bottom, Maccabi Neve Sha'anan, Beitar Nahariya (from North A division), Maccabi Fureidis, Maccabi HaSharon Netanya (from North B division), Hapoel Ganei Tikva, Hapoel Kiryat Shalom (from South A division), Hapoel Bnei Zion and Hapoel Mevaseret Zion (from South B division) were all automatically relegated to Liga Gimel.


1981–82 Liga Bet, South Division B
Hapoel Mevaseret Zion suspended from the league and demoted to Liga Gimel.


1981–82 Liga Española de Baloncesto
The 1981–82 season was the 26th season of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. Real Madrid won the title.


1981–82 Liga Gimel
The 1981–82 Liga Gimel season saw 107 clubs competing in 8 regional divisions for promotion to Liga Bet.


1981–82 Liga Gimel
Hapoel Kafr Sumei, Hapoel Bnei Tamra, Beitar al-Amal Nazareth, Hapoel Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Beitar Hod HaSharon, Beitar Beit Dagan, Maccabi Kiryat Ekron and Beitar Kiryat Gat won their regional divisions and promoted to Liga Bet.


1981–82 Liga Leumit
The 1981–82 Liga Leumit season saw Hapoel Kfar Saba win their first, and to date only title. Oded Machnes of runners-up Maccabi Netanya was the league's top scorer with 26 goals. Hapoel Rishon LeZion, Beitar Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petah Tikva were all relegated.


1981–82 Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo season
The 1981–82 Superliga Espanola de Hockey Hielo season was the 10th season of the Superliga Espanola de Hockey Hielo, the top level of ice hockey in Spain. Six teams participated in the league, and CH Vizcaya Bilbao won the championship.


1981–82 Liverpool F.C. season
After ending fifth the previous season Liverpool F.C. came back and won their thirteenth league title, after being twelfth in the league table at Christmas. They also won for the second successive season the Football League Cup beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley Stadium.


1981–82 Liverpool F.C. season
However Liverpool were decisively beaten by Flamengo at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup final. Neither did they regain the European Cup, having been knocked out by CSKA Sofia in the Quarter Finals and surprisingly being knocked out by 2nd Division Chelsea in the 5th Round of the FA Cup.


1981–82 Liverpool F.C. season
It was also a season when there would be major changes in the team, with many of the players who won all the trophies over the previous few season, and replaced by players who would go on to be part of the team that remained successful for the rest of the decade. Players such as Bruce Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Ian Rush, Ronnie Whelan and Craig Johnston came into the team during the season and would make their mark on changing the side, that would go forward into the decade.


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season
The 1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 15th season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings make the playoffs, winning the first round before falling in the second round to the Vancouver Canucks. The first round upset of the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in NHL history.


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, Offseason
The Kings were moved to the Smythe Division. The Kings now were in a division with western teams.


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, Transactions
The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1981–82 season.


1981–82 Los Angeles Kings season, Draft picks
Los Angeles's draft picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.


1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season
The 1981–82 NBA season saw the Lakers win their eighth NBA championship.


1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season, Regular season
On November 18, 1981, at halftime while on the road at Utah, Magic Johnson and coach Paul Westhead had a verbal altercation in the locker room. It was stated by teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that Johnson had offered input on the game, which resulted in Westhead twice telling him to "Shut up." Johnson then told reporters after this game that he would like to be traded anywhere, resulting in a barrage of media coverage.


1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season, Regular season
One day after these events, Lakers owner Jerry Buss held a press conference at The Forum, where he announced the firing of Westhead, with his replacement being Pat Riley as "coach" and general manager Jerry West as "offensive coach". West came to the podium and clarified to media that Riley was indeed the head coach and that West himself would simply provide him support on the bench, which lasted for a period of 12 games.


1981–82 Los Angeles Lakers season, Regular season
Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing, he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans However, Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the Westhead–Johnson altercation, but assistant GM West and GM Bill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision.


1981–82 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1981-82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 69th season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum, who was in his eleventh season. The team played its home games at Freedom Hall.


1981–82 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
Louisville defeated Alabama Birmingham 75–68 to win the NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional and advance to the Final Four (their 5th) where they fell to eventual runner-up Georgetown 50–46. The Cardinals finished with a 23–10 (8–4) record.


1981–82 Luxembourg National Division
The 1981–82 Luxembourg National Division was the 68th season of top level association football in Luxembourg.


1981–82 Luxembourg National Division, Overview
It was performed in 12 teams, and FC Avenir Beggen won the championship.


1981–82 Macedonian Republic League
The 1981–82 Macedonian Republic League was the 38th since its establishment. FK Pelister won their 4th and last championship title.


1981–82 Magyar Kupa
The 1981–82 Magyar Kupa (English: Hungarian Cup) was the 42nd season of Hungary's annual knock-out cup football competition.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season
The 1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the fourth in league history and would end with the New York Arrows  repeating once again as MISL champions.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Recap
It was a year of expansion, as the New Jersey Rockets were added and the schedule was lengthened by almost two months. The 44-game regular-season schedule was an increase of four games, and the playoff schedule was expanded to two best-of-three rounds and one best-of-five championship series. This was done to, as a league spokesman put it, force players to decide on either the indoor or outdoor game


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Recap
With the Hartford Hellions moving to Memphis and the San Francisco Fog moving to Kansas City, the league went back to a two-division setup. The top four finishers in each division would advance to the MISL playoffs. The Pittsburgh Spirit returned, and had the second-best record in the league.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Recap
While the Arrows had the best record in the league and Steve Zungul won the scoring title again, New York was pushed hard in the playoffs. In their first round matchup with the Buffalo Stallions, the Stallions won the first game of the series in New York and held a 4-2 lead with 1:20 remaining in Game 2. Zungul and Omar Gomez scored 36 seconds apart to tie the match, and Dragan Simic scored in overtime to even the series. New York won Game 3 to advance.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Recap
New York and St. Louis would eventually meet in a five-game championship series that would see every game decided by two goals or less, including two in overtime.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Recap
After the season, the Philadelphia Fever would fold  and the New Jersey Rockets and Denver Avalanche suspended operations.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Regular season schedule
The 1981–82 regular season schedule ran from November 13, 1981, to April 25, 1982. The 44 games per team was an increase of four over the 1980–81 schedule of 40 games.


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Regular season player statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Regular season player statistics, Leading goalkeepers
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Playoff player statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points


1981–82 Major Indoor Soccer League season, Playoff player statistics, Leading goalkeepers
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses


1981–82 Maltese Premier League
The 1981–82 Maltese Premier League was the 2nd season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 67th season of top-tier football in Malta. It was contested by eight teams, and Hibernians F.C. won the championship.


1981–82 Manchester United F.C. season
The 1981–82 season was Manchester United's 80th season in the Football League, and their 7th consecutive season in the top division of English football.


1981–82 Manchester United F.C. season
United had finished eighth in the league the previous season, with manager Dave Sexton being sacked after his four-year spell in charge had failed to deliver a major trophy. His successor was West Bromwich Albion manager Ron Atkinson. One of Atkinson's first moves as manager was to bolster the club's attack with the £950,000 signing of Frank Stapleton from Arsenal, while the previous season's top scorer Joe Jordan was sold to AC Milan. Atkinson retained the services of Garry Birtles, who had been a disappointment in his first season with United, scoring just once in his first 28 games. Birtles had a more successful second season at Old Trafford, finding the net 11 times.


1981–82 Manchester United F.C. season
In early October, he brought midfielder Bryan Robson to Old Trafford from his former club West Bromwich Albion for a British record fee of £1.5million. He also signed fellow Albion midfielder Remi Moses for £500,000.


1981–82 Manchester United F.C. season
After constantly leading the league during the first half of the season, United finished the season third in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup, while the league title went to Liverpool (who surged in the second half of the season after being mid table at Christmas) and Ipswich Town finished second. Late in the season came the debut of teenage forward Norman Whiteside, who at the age of 17 was selected for the Northern Ireland squad at the FIFA World Cup. He also scored for United on the last day of the league season in only his second senior appearance for the club.


1981–82 Mansfield Town F.C. season
The 1981–82 season was Mansfield Town's 45th season in the Football League and 8th in the Fourth Division they finished in 20th position with 49 points.


1981–82 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team represented the Marquette University in the 1981–82 season. The Warriors finished the regular season with a record of 23–9. As a 7 seed, the Warriors defeated the 10 seed Evansville in the first round, 67–62. Marquette would fall to Missouri in the second round.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season
Mersin İdmanyurdu (also Mersin İdman Yurdu, Mersin İY, or MİY) Sports Club; located in Mersin, east Mediterranean coast of Turkey in 1981–82. At the end of 1981–82 season Mersin İdmanyurdu has promoted to First League for the fourth time. The 1981–82 was the eighth season of Mersin İdmanyurdu (MİY) football team in Second League, the second level division in Turkey. They finished 1st in Group C.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season
Mersin İdmanyurdu Executive Committee was consisting of the following: Mehmet Fatih Deveci (president), Mahir Turan and Mustafa Nihat Sözmen (vice-presidents), Remon Kumdereli (general captain), Mircan Fırat (general secretary), Hamit Hayfavi (audit), Mehmet Biricik (captain of amateur branches), Şefik Balcı (treasurer), Aydın Özlü (club physician), Sever Yıldızçelik, Ramazan Balta, Özge Cadun, Basil Dumani, Nesimi Sağay and Erol Tarhan (members). The club's address was: "Atatürk Cad. Toros Ofis İşhanı, Kat: 3 Mersin" "Telefon: 153 17".


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season
Candan Dumanlı became the head coach. His assistant was Kahraman Karataş. İlhami Özata was press officer.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Second League participation
In its 19th season (1981–82) Second League was played with 60 teams, 15 in four groups: Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D. Group winners promoted to First League 1982–83. Bottom teams in each group relegated to promotion league (Third league was abandoned previous year). Mersin İY became 1st with 21 wins and 46 goals in Group C. No second league championship game played starting from 1980–81.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Second League participation, Results summary
Mersin İdmanyurdu (MİY) 1981–82 Second League Group C league summary:


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Second League participation, League table
Mersin İY's league performance in Second League Group C in 1981–82 season is shown in the following table.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Second League participation, League table
Note: Won, drawn and lost points are 2, 1 and 0. F belongs to MİY and A belongs to corresponding team for both home and away matches.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Second League participation, Results by round
Results of games MİY played in 1981–82 Second League Group C by rounds:


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Turkish Cup participation
1981–82 Turkish Cup was played for the 20th season as Federasyon Kupası by 146 teams. First elimination round was played in one-leg elimination system. Second through sixth elimination rounds and finals were played in two-legs elimination system. Mersin İdmanyurdu participated in 1981–82 Turkish Cup from round 2 and was eliminated at round 6 (1/16) by Samsunspor. Samsunspor was eliminated at quarterfinals. Galatasaray won the Cup for the 7th time and became eligible for 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Turkish Cup participation, Cup track
The drawings and results Mersin İdmanyurdu (MİY) followed in 1981–82 Turkish Cup are shown in the following table.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 Turkish Cup participation, Game details
Mersin İdmanyurdu (MİY) 1981–82 Turkish Cup game reports is shown in the following table. Kick off times are in EET and EEST.


1981–82 Mersin İdmanyurdu season, 1981–82 squad
Stats are counted for 1981–82 Second League matches and 1981–82 Turkish Cup (Federasyon Kupası) matches. In the team rosters five substitutes were allowed to appear, two of whom were substitutable. Only the players who appeared in game rosters were included and listed in the order of appearance.


1981–82 Mexican Primera División season
Statistics of Primera División de México for the 1981–82 season.


1981–82 Mexican Primera División season, Overview
It was contested by 20 teams, and UANL won the championship.


1981–82 Mexican Primera División season, Overview
After the season, the owner of Atlético Español decided to sell the team to the Mexican league. This gave way for Necaxa to come back to play in the 1982-83 season.


1981–82 Mexican Primera División season, Overview
Tampico was relegated to Segunda División, however, the oil workers' syndicate acquired the Atletas Campesinos franchise and created a new team called Tampico Madero.


1981–82 Mexican Primera División season, Relegation Playoff
Atlas won 4-2 on aggregate. Tampico was relegated to Segunda División.


1981–82 Mexican Segunda División season
The 1981–82 Segunda División was the 33rd season of the Mexican Segunda División. The season started on 15 August 1981 and concluded on 24 July 1982. It was won by Oaxtepec.


1981–82 Mexican Segunda División season
It was the last season played by 24 teams, so this time there were five relegations to Segunda División B, a new intermediate category between Segunda and Tercera División.


1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his sixth year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with a record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in a tie for seventh place in Big Ten play.


1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
Due to NCAA sanctions against Wisconsin for providing improper benefits for players, MSU's official record for the year is 12–16, 7–11.


1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, Previous season
The Spartans finished the 1980–81 season 13–14, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place in conference.


1981–82 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team, Schedule and results
* Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll,. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time


1981–82 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1981–82 season. The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference. Under the direction of head coach Bill Frieder, the team finished tied for seventh in the Big Ten Conference. The team failed to earn an invitation to either the 1982 National Invitation Tournament or the 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The team was unranked for all eighteen weeks of Associated Press Top Twenty-Five Poll, and it also ended the season unranked in the final USA Today/CNN Poll.


1981–82 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team, Team players drafted into the NBA
Five players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft. McCormick accumulated no statistics for the season.


1981–82 Midland Football Combination
The 1981–82 Midland Football Combination season was the 45th in the history of Midland Football Combination, a football competition in England.


1981–82 Midland Football Combination, Division One
Division One featured 20 clubs which competed in the division last season along with two new clubs, promoted from Division Two:


1981–82 Midland Football League
The 1981–82 Midland Football League was the 82nd and the last in the history of the Midland Football League, a football competition in England.


1981–82 Midland Football League
At the end of the season the league merged with Yorkshire Football League and formed new Northern Counties East Football League. Most of the Midland League clubs were transferred to the Northern Counties East League divisions.


1981–82 Midland Football League, Premier Division
The Premier Division featured 17 clubs which competed in the previous season, along with one new club:


1981–82 Midland Football League, Division One
Division One featured 14 clubs which competed in the previous season, along with two new clubs:


1981–82 Milwaukee Bucks season
The 1981–82 Milwaukee Bucks season was the 14th season for the Bucks.


1981–82 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Jim Dutcher, the Gophers won the Big Ten title with a conference record of 14–4, and finished with an overall record of 23–6.


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season
The 1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season was their 15th season. Dino Ciccarelli, in his second season, scored 55 goals, a franchise record. Minnesota won their first division title, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Chicago Black Hawks.


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Regular season
Glen Sonmor took a temporary leave of absence in January 1982, leaving assistant coach Murray Oliver in charge for four games, three of which the North Stars won.


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Playoffs
The North Stars lost in the first round to Chicago. The Black Hawks won the best-of-five series, three games to one.


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Final standings
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Player statistics, Forwards
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Player statistics, Defencemen
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Player statistics, Goaltending
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average


1981–82 Minnesota North Stars season, Draft picks
Minnesota's draft picks at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.


1981–82 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team
The 1981–82 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Missouri as a member of the Big Eight Conference during the 1981–82 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by head coach Norm Stewart, the Tigers won the Big Eight regular season and tournament titles, reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, and finished with an overall record of 27–4 (12–2 Big Eight).


1981–82 Montenegrin Republic League
The 1981–82 Montenegrin Republic League was the 37th season of Montenegrin Republic League, the third league in Montenegrin football. The season started in August 1981 and finished in May 1982.


1981–82 Montenegrin Republic League, Season
In Montenegrin Republic League 1981-82 participated 14 teams. Among the clubs which didn't play on previous season were Lovćen (relegated from Yugoslav Second League) and three best teams from lower tier - Zabjelo, Tara Cetinje and Ivangrad. The title won Lovćen, with three points more than Čelik


1981–82 Montenegrin Republic League, Higher leagues
On season 1981–82, four Montenegrin teams played in higher leagues of SFR Yugoslavia. Budućnost participated in 1981–82 Yugoslav First League, while three other teams (Sutjeska, OFK Titograd and Mogren) played in 1981–82 Yugoslav Second League.


1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season
The 1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 73rd season. The club finished with over 100 points in the regular season, and were third overall in the NHL standings. The season involved being eliminated in the Adams Division semi-final versus the Quebec Nordiques 3 games to 2.


1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season, Offseason
Montreal along with Hartford were moved to the Adams Division which was a more geographical grouping of teams, including Boston, Buffalo and Quebec. Before the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, general manager Irving Grundman announced that Bob Berry would be the new head coach of the Canadiens.


1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season, Offseason
Bob Gainey is named captain, following Serge Savard's signing with the Winnipeg Jets.


1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals againstNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


1981–82 Montreal Canadiens season, Playoffs
The Canadiens were seeded 3rd overall in the playoffs, while their opponents, the Quebec Nordiques were seeded 10th overall. The clubs were 27 points apart in the league standings. The fifth and final game of the series went into overtime. Twenty-two seconds into overtime, Nordiques' Dale Hunter scored against Canadiens goalie Rick Wamsley to clinch the series.


1981–82 Moroccan Throne Cup
The 1981–82 season of the Moroccan Throne Cup was the 26th edition of the tournament.


1981–82 Moroccan Throne Cup
Raja Club Athletic won the cup, beating Renaissance de Kénitra 1–0 in the final, played at the stade Roches Noires in Casablanca. Raja Club Athletic won the competition for the third time in their history.


1981–82 Moroccan Throne Cup, Tournament, Final
The final featured the winners of the two semi-finals, Raja Club Athletic and Renaissance de Kénitra, on 14 March 1982 at the Stade Roches Noires in Casablanca.


1981–82 NASL Indoor season
The 1981–82 season was the North American Soccer League's third indoor soccer season.


1981–82 NASL Indoor season, Overview
Thirteen of a possible 14 NASL teams participated. Fort Lauderdale was the only non-participant in the 18-game regular season. The Los Angeles Aztecs and the Minnesota Kicks had been scheduled to participate but were unable to do so, due to mounting financial issues. By early December both teams had folded. Other changes in the indoor structure included the separating of the teams into two conferences, each with two divisions. The Atlantic Conference contained the East and Central Divisions, while the Pacific Conference held the West and Northwest Divisions. During the regular season teams played eighteen matches within their conference only.


1981–82 NASL Indoor season, Overview
Four teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs, which included the two division winners, along with the two non-division winners with the best won-loss record. The championship series was broadcast live on ESPN. The San Diego Sockers won the championship with a two-game finals sweep of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. This was the Sockers' first ever NASL title. Juli Veee of San Diego won both the regular season and playoff MVP awards.


1981–82 NASL Indoor season, Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games behind 1st place, % = Winning percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against


1981–82 NASL Indoor season, Playoffs, 1st round
If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played.


1981–82 NASL Indoor season, Playoffs, Semi-finals
#Although Edmonton was the higher seed, a scheduling conflict forced both games to be played in San Diego.


1981–82 NBA season
The 1981–82 NBA season was the 36th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.


1981–82 NBA season, Playoffs
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.


1981–82 NBA season, NBA awards
Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on


1981–82 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team
The 1981–82 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 1981–82 men's college basketball season. It was Jim Valvano's 2nd season as head coach.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
The 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings was made up of two human polls, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, in addition to various other preseason polls.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings, AP Poll
The final writers' poll was released on Monday, March 8.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings, UPI Poll
The final coaches' poll was released on Monday, March 8.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 27, 1981, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 29, 1982, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The North Carolina Tar Heels won their second NCAA national championship with a 63–62 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Season outlook, Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Regular season, Conference winners and tournaments
Note: From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1982 ECAC tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did. After this season, all remaining Northeastern independents joined conventional conferences, and the ECAC discontinued Division I basketball tournaments. The ECAC North was a separate, conventional conference.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason tournaments, NCAA Tournament
North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot as Dean Smith won his first national championship after many near-misses over his career, defeating the Georgetown Hoyas 63–62 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Fred Brown's errant pass to James Worthy in the closing seconds sealed the game, which featured star freshmen Jordan and the Hoyas' Patrick Ewing. Worthy was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Postseason tournaments, National Invitation Tournament
The Bradley Braves, led by coach Dick Versace, defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 67–58 to win their fourth National Invitation Tournament, tying them with St. John's for the most NIT championships (St. John's has since won two additional titles). Bradley's Mitchell Anderson was named NIT Most Valuable Player.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season
The 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began in October 1981 and concluded with the 1982 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 27, 1982 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. This was the 35th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 87th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Leading goaltenders
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.


1981–82 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, Player stats, Leading goaltenders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average


1981–82 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
A single human poll represents the 1981–82 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings, the AP Poll, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. The AP poll is currently a poll of sportswriters. The AP conducts polls weekly through the end of the regular season and conference play.


1981–82 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
While there was only one major poll this season, championships were conducted under the auspices of both the AIAW and the NCAA. The AIAW champion was Rutgers, while the NCAA champion was Louisiana Tech.


1981–82 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season
The 1981–82 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1981 and concluded on March 20 of the following year. This was the 18th season of second-tier college ice hockey.


1981–82 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season
Boston State began merging with Massachusetts–Boston in September of 1981. Because of this Boston State did not field a team for the 1981–82 season though they were still considered members of ECAC 2. After the merger was completed Massachusetts–Boston promoted their program from Division III to Division II beginning with the 1982–83 season.


1981–82 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season
The 1981–82 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season began in November 1981 and concluded on March of the following year. This was the 9th season of Division III college ice hockey.


1981–82 NCAA football bowl games
The 1981–82 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games played in December 1981 and January 1982 to end the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. A total of 16 team-competitive games, and two all-star games, were played. The post-season began with the Independence Bowl on December 12, 1981, and concluded on January 16, 1982, with the season-ending Senior Bowl.


1981–82 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1981 season began on December 27, 1981. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, 26–21, on January 24, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.


1981–82 NFL playoffs
Both conference champions had losing records the previous season, the only time this has happened. All four AFC playoff games were between teams who had never faced each other in the postseason before. This was the only time this happened in either conference since the playoffs were expanded to 10 teams in 1978.


1981–82 NFL playoffs
This was also the first year that both New York City area teams, the Giants and the Jets, made the playoffs together in the same year. The Giants qualified for the first time since 1963, and the Jets for the first time since 1969.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Participants
Within each conference, the three division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The three division winners were seeded 1 through 3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the fourth seed wild card hosted the fifth seed. All three division winners from each conference then received a bye in the first round.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Participants
The second round, the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division cannot meet: the surviving wild card team visited the division champion outside its own division that had the higher seed, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Schedule
In the United States, NBC broadcast the AFC playoff games, while CBS televised the NFC games and Super Bowl XVI.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Schedule
This was last season that local times were considered in scheduling afternoon playoff games for the first three rounds, and not strictly in the 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST time slots.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Bills defensive back Bill Simpson's interception at the Buffalo 1-yard line with two seconds left in the game preserved a 31–27 victory and gave Buffalo their first playoff win since 1965. This would also turn out to be the final NFL playoff game at Shea Stadium, as the Jets moved to Giants Stadium three years later.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
The Bills jumped to a 24–0 lead by the second quarter against a Jets defense that had only given up 37 first quarter points all season. First New York's Bruce Harper fumbled the opening kickoff while being tackled by Ervin Parker, and Charles Romes returned the ball 26-yards to the end zone. After a few punts, New York had a great chance to respond when Richard Todd completed a 37-yard pass to tight end Jerome Barkum on the Bills 30-yard line.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
On the next play, receiver Wesley Walker broke open in the end zone and Todd threw him the ball, only to watch it go right through Walker's hands. The next two plays resulted in the team being pushed back to the 35, where  Pat Leahy missed a 52-yard field goal attempt. Then Buffalo drove 66 yards in three plays to score on quarterback Joe Ferguson's 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank Lewis. On the Jets next drive, defensive back Rufus Bess intercepted a pass from Todd and returned it 49 yards to the New York 12, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Nick Mike-Mayer.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Now down 17-0, New York had a good chance to get back in the game when Mark Gastineau forced a fumble from Ferguson on the Bills next drive. Gastineau got to the ball before anyone else, but wound up accidentally knocking the ball forward twice while trying to pick it up, and Buffalo lineman Ken Jones ended up recovering it.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Following a missed 37-yard field goal attempt by Mike-Mayer after the fumble recovery, Todd led the Jets to the Bills 38-yard line, only to throw another interception, this one to linebacker Phil Villapiano, who returned it 18 yards to the 40. The Bills converted this turnover into a 24-0 lead as Ferguson completed a 28-yard pass to running back Joe Cribbs before hooking up with Lewis for a 26-yard scoring completion. However, New York got a big boost from receiver Kurt Sohn, who returned the kickoff 28 yards to the 48-yard line.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
From there, Todd led the team 52 yards in five plays to score on his 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mickey Shuler, Shuler's first reception of the season. After a pair of punts, Jets linebacker Greg Buttle returned an interception from Ferguson 29 yards to the Bills 14-yard line, setting up's Leahy's 26-yard field goal that cut the score to 24-10 at the end of the half.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Buttle intercepted another pass from Ferguson on the opening drive of the third quarter, returning this one 11 yards to the Bills 44. The Jets took advantage again with another Leahy field goal to bring the team within 11 points at 24-13. Then Ferguson threw his third consecutive interception on the next drive, which Donald Dykes picked off and returned 22 yards, giving New York a first down on the Buffalo 35. But this time the Jets could not take advantage, as Simpson put an end to the next drive with an interception of his own.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
The Bills next drive resulted in Ferguson's 4th consecutive interception, this one thrown to Jerry Holmes, but the Jets were forced to punt, and Lou Piccone returned Chuck Ramsey's 29-yard punt 5 yards to the New York 45-yard line. Then with just over 10 minutes left in the game, Cribbs ran for a 45-yard touchdown, increasing the Bills lead to 31–13. Todd then led the Jets 80 yards in eight plays and completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Jones.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Then after forcing a punt that Harper returned 6 yards to his own 42, New York drove for another score, aided by a pass interference call against Bills defensive back Mario Clark that nullified an interception. Kevin Long finished the 58-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 31–27. The Jets got the ball back with 2:36 remaining and then drove 69 yards to the Buffalo 11-yard line, aided by a holding penalty that wiped out an interception by defensive back Steve Freeman. Todd also made several key completions, including a 29-yarder to Shuler and a 26-yard pass to Derrick Gaffney on third and 20. However, Simpson's interception at the 1-yard line halted New York's comeback with two seconds left.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
Simpson recorded two interceptions, while Lewis caught seven passes for a franchise postseason record 158 yards and two touchdowns. Shuler caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Todd threw for 377 yards, while Ferguson threw for 268. Both quarterbacks threw two touchdowns and were intercepted four times. Simpson and Buttle each had two interceptions. Cribbs rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 4 passes for 64 yards.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, AFC: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
This was the first postseason meeting between the Bills and Jets.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Despite playing without starting quarterback Phil Simms and linebacker Brad Van Pelt, the Giants jumped to a 20–0 lead in the first quarter and withstood an Eagles comeback at the end to hold on to a 27–21 win.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
In the first quarter, Eagles kick/punt returner Wally Henry fumbled a punt due to a hit from Lawrence Taylor and Beasley Reece recovered the ball for the Giants at the Philadelphia 26-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Scott Brunner then threw a 9-yard touchdown to running back Leon Bright (the extra point attempt failed). Then after forcing a punt, the Giants drove 74 yards, including an 11-yard scramble by Brunner on 3rd and 11, to score on his 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Mistler.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Henry muffed the ensuing kickoff, and as he tried to pick it up, he lost the ball while being hit by Mike Dennis. Giants defensive back Mark Haynes recovered the ball in the end zone to give New York a 20–0 lead. After the ensuing kickoff, the first quarter ended with Giants having a 104 to 1 advantage over Philadelphia in total yards gained.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
In the second quarter, New York had a chance to increase their lead with a drive into Eagles territory, but Philadelphia's defense dug in and stuffed Brunner for no gain on a 4th and 1 conversion attempt on the 35. Later on, Herman Edwards' interception of a Brunner pass gave the Eagles a first down on the New York 36-yard line, which they converted to a 20-7 score with quarterback Ron Jaworski's 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Harold Carmichael.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
However, Reece returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the 38-yard line, where the Giants proceeded to drive 62 yards in 5 plays to score on Brunner's 22-yard touchdown pass to Tom Mullady, giving them a 27–7 halftime lead. The key play of the drive was a 21-yard run by Rob Carpenter on 2nd and 8 from the 40 with 2:04 left on the clock.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
New York was shut out in the second half, while the Eagles opened the third quarter by marching 82 yards in 15 plays on a drive that consumed 7:58 and ended on running back Wilbert Montgomery's 6-yard rushing touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter, New York drove inside the Eagles 20 and had a chance to put the game away, only to have Joe Danelo miss a 32-yard field goal attempt.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Philadelphia then drove 80 yards, 44 of them coming from 3 Giants penalties, in 9 plays to score on Montgomery's 1-yard touchdown run, cutting their deficit to 27-21 with 2:51 left in the game. But the Giants were able to run out the rest of the clock, picking up gains of six, three, and five yards on runs by Carpenter for a key first down. It marked the Giants first postseason victory since 1956.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
Brunner completed only nine of 14 passes for 96 yards, but threw three touchdowns and only one interception. Most of the Giants offense came from Carpenter, who had 33 carries for 161 yards and four receptions for 32. This game marked a disappointing end to a promising season for the Eagles, who had started out 9-2, but then lost all but one of their remaining games.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Wild Card playoffs, Sunday, December 27, 1981, NFC: New York Giants 27, Philadelphia Eagles 21
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Eagles.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
The Cowboys crushed the Buccaneers, limiting them to 24 rushing yards and 222 total yards. Bucs quarterback Doug Williams threw four interceptions (three of which resulted in touchdowns), committed two intentional grounding penalties, and was sacked four times.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
After the first quarter was scoreless, Dallas defensive back Dennis Thurman's 19-yard interception return to the Bucs 47-yard line set up Danny White's 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tony Hill. Tampa Bay responded with a 59-yard drive to the Cowboys 21-yard line. But on second down and 6, Dallas lineman Ed "Too Tall" Jones plowed through a block attempt by Charley Hannah and chased Williams all the way back to the 49-yard line before he grounded the ball with a desperate throw.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
The lost yardage on the grounding penalty pushed the Buccaneers out of field goal range and they ended up punting. Cowboys kicker Rafael Septién later added a 32-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 10–0 halftime lead. A key aspect that had worked against Tampa Bay in the first half was starting field position. Their first half drives started from the 21, 20, 8, 20, 8 and 19-yard lines. Cowboys coach Tom Landry twice rejected long field-goal attempts from the 34 and 37, and each time White (who also played punter) punted the ball out of bounds at the 8.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
Dallas took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 80-yards, including a 25-yard gain on a screen pass reception by Tony Dorsett, to score on running back Ron Springs' 1-yard rushing touchdown. Then rookie free safety Michael Downs picked off a pass from Williams and returned it 21 yards to the Tampa Bay 33, leading to Dorsett's 5-yard score that put the team up 24-0.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
On the next drive, defensive tackle John Dutton deflected Williams' pass into the arms of Ed "Too Tall" Jones for an interception on the Bucs 25-yard line, and the Cowboys scored another touchdown with a 5-yard run by James Jones. In the fourth quarter, Williams completed a 75-yard pass to Jimmie Giles on the Cowboys 5-yard line, but the Buccaneers were still unable to get any points on the drive. On second and 8, Williams was sacked by Harvey Martin for a 9-yard loss, and then turned the ball over with consecutive incompletions. Later on, a pass interference penalty in the end zone against Tampa Bay defensive back Cedric Brown set up the final score of the game on Timmy Newsome's 1-yard run.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
White completed 15 of 26 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown. Dorsett was the top rusher of the game with 85 yards and a touchdown, while also catching four passes for 48 yards. Thurman had two interceptions and 50 return yards.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, NFC: Dallas Cowboys 38, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
This was the first postseason meeting between the Buccaneers and Cowboys.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Chargers placekicker Rolf Benirschke kicked the winning 29-yard field goal after 13:52 of overtime, ending a game that became known in National Football League lore as the Epic in Miami. This game set playoff records for the most points scored in a playoff game (79), most total yards by both teams (1,036), and most passing yards by both teams (809).


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
On San Diego's opening drive, Dan Fouts' 47-yard completion to Wes Chandler set up Benirschke's 32-yard field goal. Then Miami was forced to punt and Chandler returned the ball 56 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball hit the ground and bounced back in the Chargers direction, enabling them to recover it and eventually score on running back Chuck Muncie's 1-yard rushing touchdown. On the Dolphins next possession, Chargers safety Glen Edwards intercepted a pass from David Woodley and returned it 35 yards to set up Fouts' 8-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back James Brooks, which increased the score to 24–0.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Early in the second quarter, Woodley was replaced by Don Strock who started off his first play with a 17-yard completion to Duriel Harris on a drive that Uwe von Schamann finished with a 34-yard field goal. Miami's defense subsequently recovered a fumble from Fouts, giving their offense the ball on the Chargers 39-yard line, and Strock took advantage, leading them to score on his 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joe Rose. Later on, Benirschke missed a 55-yard field goal attempt, giving Miami the ball with good field position.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Three plays later from the 40-yard line, Strock took the snap and threw a pass intended for Harris at the 20-yard line. Harris caught the ball and immediately lateraled it to Tony Nathan, who then took it 25 yards to the end zone as time expired in the half, cutting the deficit to 24–17.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
In the third quarter, Miami drove 74 yards and tied it at 24, with Strock's 15-yard touchdown completion to Rose. San Diego countered with a 6-play, 60-yard drive to score on Fouts' 25-yard touchdown completion to tight end Kellen Winslow. But Miami re-tied the game with Strock completing six consecutive passes, the last a 50-yard score to Bruce Hardy. Then Miami defensive back Lyle Blackwood's interception set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Nathan, giving Miami their first lead of the game, 38–31, on the first play of the fourth quarter.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Later on, with Miami just trying to maintain their lead and run out the clock, Chargers safety Pete Shaw recovered a fumble from Andra Franklin on San Diego's 18-yard line with 4:39 left in regulation. Fouts then led his team down to Miami's nine-yard line. With only 58 seconds left in the game, a heavy Dolphins pass rush forced Fouts to throw a blind pass intended for Winslow in the end zone. The pass sailed over Winslow's head, but went right into the arms of Brooks for a touchdown to tie the game.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Miami took over on their own 40-yard line following Benirschke's squib kick, needing only a field goal to win. Following an incomplete pass, Strock's next throw was intercepted by Willie Buchanon, but as he made the diving catch, he fumbled the ball back to Miami when he hit the ground.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
After that, Nathan's 17-yard reception and Tommy Vigorito's 6-yard run moved the Dolphins to the Chargers 26-yard line where von Schamann attempted a 43-yard field goal, but at the last second, Winslow extended his 6'5" frame at the line just enough to deflect the kick with his fingers, causing it to fall short of the goal posts and sending the game into overtime.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
In overtime, the Chargers took the opening kickoff and advanced to the Miami 8-yard line, but Benirschke missed a 27-yard field goal attempt. Then after both teams exchanged punts twice, the Dolphins reached the San Diego 17-yard line, only to see von Schamann's 34-yard attempt get blocked by defensive lineman Leroy Jones. Aided by two receptions from Charlie Joiner for 49 yards, the Chargers then drove 74 yards to the Miami 10-yard line, where Benirschke eventually kicked the winning field goal.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
Strock turned in the best game of his life, completing 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns, while Fouts put on one of the best performances of his Hall of Fame career, completing 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. Harris caught six passes for 106 yards. Nathan rushed for 48 yards, caught nine passes for 114 yards, and scored two touchdowns. Muncie rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown. In addition to his 56-yard punt return touchdown, Chandler caught six passes for 106 yards. Brooks recorded 143 all-purpose yards. The image of an exhausted Winslow, who finished the game with 13 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, being helped off the field by two of his Chargers teammates is now an iconic visual of NFL Films.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Saturday, January 2, 1982, AFC: San Diego Chargers 41, Miami Dolphins 38 (OT)
This was the first postseason meeting between the Chargers and Dolphins.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
The Bengals earned their first playoff win in team history after Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson's fourth-down pass fell incomplete while attempting to drive for the tying touchdown.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
Two key plays allowed the Bengals to start their first two drives in Buffalo territory, and they took advantage of their field position with touchdowns on each one. First, defensive back Mike Fuller returned a punt 27 yards to the Bills 42-yard line. Six plays later (one a 14-yard catch by tight end Dan Ross), Charles Alexander scored on a 4-yard touchdown run. On Buffalo's ensuing drive, defensive back Ken Riley intercepted a pass from Ferguson on the Bills 48-yard line. Cincinnati then drove 48 yards in eight plays, including Isaac Curtis' 22-yard reception on second and 17, to score with fullback Pete Johnson's 1-yard run, giving them a 14–0 lead before Buffalo had gained a single first down or completed a pass.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
After another Buffalo punt, Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson completed an 18-yard pass to Ross to give his team a first down on the Bills 41-yard line. Cincinnati eventually drove inside the 10, but the Bills made a key defensive stand, as defensive end Ken Johnson sacked Anderson at the 15 on third down and then Robb Riddick leaped high in the air to block Jim Breech's 33-yard field goal attempt.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
This seemed to spark Buffalo's offense, which subsequently picked up three first downs on a drive to the Bengals 30-yard line, but they also came up empty when linebacker Bo Harris intercepted Ferguson's pass and returned it 16 yards to the 24. Following a Bengals punt, Ferguson's 54-yard completion to Jerry Butler set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Joe Cribbs, cutting the score to 14–7 by halftime.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
Early in the third quarter, the Bills advanced 69 yards in five plays, starting with Ferguson's 15-yard pass to Frank Lewis and ending with a 44-yard touchdown run by Cribbs to tie the game. Cincinnati's David Verser returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to their 35-yard line, and the team responded with a 7-play 65-yard drive, including a 13-yard scramble by Anderson, to retake the lead with a 20-yard touchdown run by Alexander. Buffalo struck right back with a 79-yard scoring drive.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
Cribbs was injured and knocked out of the game on the first play, but his replacement Roland Hooks rushed five times for 24 yards and caught a pass for 6, while Ferguson finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Butler, tying the game back up at 21 on the first play of the fourth quarter.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
With 10:39 left in the game, Anderson threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Cris Collinsworth, giving the Bengals a 28–21 lead at the end of a 9-play, 79-yard drive that saw him burn the Bills with a 42-yard completion on a short pass to Steve Kreider on third and 1 from the Bengals 42-yard line. The Bills drove to the Cincinnati 21-yard line with about three minutes left to play, and it appeared that Ferguson completed a fourth-down pass to Lou Piccone to gain a first down. However, Buffalo was called for a delay of game penalty, and Ferguson's pass attempt on the next snap fell incomplete. The Bills defense managed to force a punt with under a minute left, but Ferguson threw four consecutive incompletions as time expired in the game.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
Buffalo's miscue on their final drive was particularly noteworthy in that it came after they had called a timeout, making a subsequent delay of game penalty highly unusual. One cited reason for this was the last second substitution of receivers Piccone and Ron Jessie into the huddle. Bills coach Chuck Knox later explained this was an attempt to prevent the defense from adjusting to new personnel, an attempt that would have paid off if the ball had been snapped on time, as Piccone did make a first down catch on the ensuing play.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
Anderson finished the game with 14 of 21 completions for 192 yards and a touchdown. Johnson, the team's leading rusher with 1,077 yards during the season, was held to just 45 yards, but it did not matter as the Bengals still racked up 136 yards on the ground, 72 of them and two touchdowns from Alexander. Ferguson threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, but completed only 15 of 31 passes and was intercepted twice. Cribbs finished with a career postseason high 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Butler caught four passes for 98 yards and a score.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
This was the first postseason meeting between the Bills and Bengals.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
25-year-old San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana led the 49ers to victory in his first playoff game, completing 20 of 31 passes for a career-high 304 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
The 49ers jumped to a 24–7 lead in the second quarter, and scored two touchdowns in the final quarter to secure the victory. San Francisco took the opening kickoff and advanced 85 yards in 13 plays, assisted by a defensive holding penalty on a punt that allowed them to keep the drive going. Montana finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown to tight end Charle Young.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
Two drives later, the Giants countered when quarterback Scott Brunner threw a pass to wide receiver Earnest Gray, who caught it at his own 40, evaded three 49ers defensive backs, and raced to the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown reception. 49ers running back Amos Lawrence returned the following kickoff 47 yards to the Giants 48-yard line. The 49ers soon faced 3rd and 17 from the 44, but Montana was able to convert with a 39-yard completion to Dwight Clark, which led to a 22-yard field goal by Ray Wersching that gave them a 10-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
On the Giants next possession, defensive back Ronnie Lott's interception gave the 49ers a first down on their own 31-yard line, where they drove to a 17-7 lead on Freddie Solomon's 58-yard touchdown reception. Linebacker Keena Turner recovered a fumble from Leon Bright on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, and Ricky Patton scored on a 25-yard touchdown run a few plays later to give the 49ers a 24–7 lead. New York then drove 52 yards in 13 plays to score on 48-yard field goal by Joe Danelo, making it 24–10. The 49ers had a chance to increase their lead before halftime, but Wersching missed a 50-yard field goal attempt with less than a minute left.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Montana threw an interception to Bill Currier on the Giants 41-yard line. Brunner completed a 59-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Johnny Perkins on the next play to make it 24–17. The next time they had the ball, New York drove 85 yards to the 49ers 4-yard line, but it ended there and Danelo hit the uprights on a 21-yard field goal attempt.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
In the fourth quarter, Solomon returned a Giants punt 22 yards to the New York 36-yard line, and the 49ers went on to score on Bill Ring's 3-yard rushing touchdown. Later on, Lott returned his second interception of the game 20 yards to the end zone to give San Francisco a 38-17 lead and clinch the game. Brunner then made a 17-yard touchdown to Perkins to close out the scoring.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
Solomon was the 49ers top receiver with 6 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 12 yards and returning a punt for 22. Clark added 5 receptions for 104 yards. Perkins finished the day with 7 receptions for 121 yards, while Gray had 3 for 117.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
CBS's broadcast of the Giants-49ers NFC Divisional Playoff game also featured the introduction of the telestrator to a national audience.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Divisional playoffs, Sunday, January 3, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 38, New York Giants 24
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and 49ers.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
In a game subsequently known as the Freezer Bowl, the Bengals defeated the Chargers 27–7. Despite a game-time temperature of −9 °F (−23 °C) and a 35-mile-per-hour wind that sent wind chills  as low as −59 °F, Bengals' quarterback Ken Anderson threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, and rushed for 39 yards to lead his team to a victory. Cincinnati's defense intercepted San Diego quarterback Dan Fouts twice and recovered two fumbles, while their offense did not commit a single turnover until late in the third quarter when they already had a solid lead.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
Aided by an 18-yard completion from Anderson to tight end Dan Ross, Cincinnati scored first with a 31-yard field goal from kicker Jim Breech. Then linebacker Rick Razzano forced a fumble from Chargers' rookie kick returner James Brooks, and Don Bass recovered for the Bengals on the San Diego 12-yard line. Following a 4-yard run by Charles Alexander, the Bengals scored a touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Anderson to tight end M. L. Harris, increasing their lead to 10–0. Brooks returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to the 43-yard line. Then on third down and 9, Fouts' 21-yard completion to Wes Chandler moved the ball to the Bengals 33. But Cincinnati's defense halted the drive at the 18-yard line and it ended with no points when Rolf Benirschke missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
After a Bengals punt, Chandler gave the Chargers good field position with a 7-yard return to the 45-yard line. San Diego then drove 55 yards and cut their deficit to 10–7 when Fouts, desperately trying to avoid a hit from lineman Eddie Edwards, managed to fire a pass to Kellen Winslow at the line of scrimmage, who subsequently raced 33 yards down the right sideline for a score. But the Bengals stormed right back on a drive set up by David Verser's 40-yard kickoff to the 46-yard line. Faced with third down and 7 inside the red zone later in the drive, Anderson kept the drive going with a 16-yard completion to Isaac Curtis on the Chargers 1-yard line, and fullback Pete Johnson scored a touchdown run on the next play, giving them a 17–7 lead.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
The Bengals completely took over the game from that point on. The Chargers would move the ball inside the Bengals 40-yard line five times during the rest of the game, but failed to score on each possession. San Diego responded with a drive to the Bengals 33-yard line, but came up empty when defensive back Louis Breeden intercepted a deep pass intended for Charlie Joiner at the 5-yard line. The Chargers defense quickly gave the offense another scoring opportunity, forcing a punt from Pat McInally that went just 32 yards to the Bengals 45. But once again this amounted to nothing as Fouts was intercepted in the end zone by rookie safety Bobby Kemp.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
On the opening drive of the second half, San Diego drove to the Bengals 38-yard line, only to lose their fourth turnover of the day when Reggie Williams stripped the ball from Chuck Muncie and Cincinnati lineman Ross Browner recovered it. Then Anderson went to work, rushing three times for 31 yards and completing a 19-yard pass to Ross on a drive that moved the ball inside the San Diego 10-yard line. Following three incompletions and a touchdown called back by a holding penalty, Breech's 38-yard field goal made the score 20–7.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
On their next drive, Anderson's five completions moved the ball deep into Chargers territory, but defensive back Willie Buchanon put an end to it when he recovered a fumble from Ross that had been forced by Woodrow Lowe. The Chargers then drove to the Bengals 20-yard line, but on third down, Fouts tripped over the foot of guard Doug Wilkerson and was downed for an 11-yard loss. Then Benirschke missed a 50-yard field goal try on the next play.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
Taking the ball back after the missed field goal, Cincinnati put the game away with a 14-play touchdown drive. Anderson was injured early in the drive and replaced for two plays by Jack Thompson. But Johnson kept the Bengals moving on those plays, first rushing for eight yards and then gaining 14 yards on a screen pass on third down and 8. Later on the drive, Johnson converted a fourth and inches situation with a 7-yard run, and Anderson eventually finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Bass, making the final score 27–7. San Diego responded with a drive to the Bengals 5-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs with less than three minutes left.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, AFC: Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 7
This was the first postseason meeting between the Chargers and Bengals.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
In a play that would become known as The Catch, 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab at the back of the end zone to score the winning touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game. The win sent the 49ers to their first Super Bowl and snapped their three-game playoff losing streak to the Cowboys.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
After forcing Dallas to punt on the opening drive, San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana completed a 17-yard pass to Charle Young and a 24-yarder to Lenvil Elliott before throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Solomon. Dallas responded with Danny White's 20-yard pass to Butch Johnson setting up a 44-yard field goal by Rafael Septién. Then 49ers running back Bill Ring lost a fumble on his own 29, leading to White's 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hill that put the Cowboys up 10-7.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
In the second quarter, San Francisco reached the Cowboys 27-yard line, only to lose the ball when Everson Walls intercepted a pass from Montana in the end zone. But after forcing a Dallas punt, Montana threw a 20-yard touchdown to Clark to retake the lead, 14–10. Dallas responded with an 80-yard drive, including a controversial pass interference penalty on 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott which nullified his interception and gave the Cowboys a 35-yard gain at the San Francisco 12-yard line. Three plays later, running back Tony Dorsett scored on a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give Dallas a 17–14 lead.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
The 49ers got another chance to score before halftime when they recovered a fumbled punt on the Dallas 42. But after a 15-yard illegal block penalty on Clark, Montana lost a fumble while being sacked by Harvey Martin. The Cowboys fared no better as White was sacked twice on their next drive, once by Jim Stuckey and once by Lawrence Pillers, and the half ended soon after.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
In the third quarter, San Francisco got another scoring opportunity when Dwight Hicks returned a punt 12 yards to midfield. The 49ers then drove to the Dallas 16-yard line, but once again they failed to score when Montana threw a pass that bounced out of Elliott's hands and was intercepted by Randy White. However, the Cowboys soon returned the favor with Danny White's interception to linebacker Bobby Leopold, and this time the 49ers converted, regaining the lead at 21-17 with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Davis.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
One minute into the fourth quarter, Septien kicked a 22-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 21-20. Then Walls recovered a fumble from running back Walt Easley at midfield to set up White's 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Doug Cosbie, giving Dallas a 27–21 advantage. Things got even better for Dallas when Walls recorded his second interception from Montana on the next drive at the Cowboys 27. Dallas managed to pick up a few first downs, but was forced to punt, and White's kick gave San Francisco the ball at their own 11 with 4:54 left in the game.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
Montana subsequently led the 49ers 83 yards to the Dallas 6-yard line. Elliott rushed four times for 30 yards on the drive, while Solomon also made a big impact, catching two passes for 18 yards and rushing for 15 on a wide receiver reverse. Facing third down and 3 on the Cowboys 6 with 58 seconds left, Montana threw a high pass that Clark just managed to break ahead of Walls and reach in the air for the game-winning touchdown reception. Other contributors on the final 89-yard drive that led to the play now referred to as “The Catch” included Freddie Solomon (WR), Lenvil Elliott (RB), Earl Cooper (FB), Mike Wilson, Charle Young (TE), Dan Audick (LT), John Ayers (LG), Fred Quillan (C), Randy Cross (RG), and Keith Fahnhorst (RT).


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
However, the Cowboys needed only a field goal to win, and still had enough time left in the game for one last drive. White threw a completion to Drew Pearson that almost went for a touchdown, but 49ers defensive back Eric Wright made a key tackle by getting one hand inside Pearson's jersey and dragging him down. One play later, Pillers sacked White, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Stuckey, and the 49ers had their victory. Clark finished the game with eight receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Dallas defensive back Everson Walls intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble, though he had the misfortune of being assigned to cover Clark on "the catch" play. San Francisco won despite losing six turnovers.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Conference Championships, Sunday, January 10, 1982, NFC: San Francisco 49ers 28, Dallas Cowboys 27
This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Cowboys and 49ers. Dallas won all three previous meetings.


1981–82 NFL playoffs, Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21
This was the first Super Bowl meeting between the 49ers and Bengals.


1981–82 NHL season
The 1981–82 NHL season was the 65th season of the National Hockey League. The William M. Jennings Trophy made its debut this year as the trophy for the goaltenders from the team with the fewest goals against, thus replacing the Vezina Trophy in that qualifying criteria. The Vezina Trophy would thereafter be awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position. The New York Islanders won their third straight Stanley Cup by sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in four games.


1981–82 NHL season, League business
Prior to the start of the season, the divisions of the league were re-aligned to reduce travel costs to better reflect their geographic locations, but the traditional names of the divisions and conferences were retained. The Patrick Division, which had heretofore been in the Clarence Campbell Conference, switched to the Prince of Wales Conference, while the Norris Division went the other way, going from the Wales Conference to the Campbell Conference. This divisional alignment existed until the 1993–94 season, at which point both the divisions and the conferences of the league were renamed to reflect geography.


1981–82 NHL season, League business
The schedule and playoff format were also altered. Previously, each team played every other team four times, and the 16-team playoff format had the four divisional champions joined by 12 wild-cards; for all intents and purposes, the divisions were meaningless. Also, under the old format, teams were paired in the first round based on record (i.e., 1st vs. 16th, 2nd vs. 15th, etc. ), and then re-paired in each succeeding round based on record (i.e., highest seeded first round winner vs. lowest seeded first round winner, second highest first round winner vs. second lowest first round winner, etc.)


1981–82 NHL season, League business
The new format called for each team in the three five-team divisions to play their four divisional opponents eight times each (32 games) and the remaining 16 league teams three times each (48 games). In addition, each team in the six-team division was to play their five divisional opponents seven times each (35 games) and the remaining 15 league teams three times each (45 games).


1981–82 NHL season, League business
As to the playoffs, the top four teams in each division qualified — no more wild-cards — with 1st Place playing 4th Place, and 2nd Place playing 3rd Place, in the divisional semifinals; the two winners meeting in the divisional finals; followed by the respective conference finals and the Stanley Cup finals. With the exception of the first round changing from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven in 1987, this schedule and playoff arrangement continued until 1993.


1981–82 NHL season, League business
Beginning with this season, the Prince of Wales Trophy and the Campbell Bowl were awarded to the Wales Conference (Eastern Conference since 1993) playoffs champion and the Campbell Conference (Western Conference since 1993) playoffs champion, respectively.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The New York Islanders led the league with 118 points, seven more than second place Edmonton Oilers. The Islanders also set a league record by winning 15 consecutive games from January 21 to February 20 although this was later eclipsed by the Pittsburgh Penguins' 17-game winning streak  from March 9 to April 10, 1993. However, the Islanders 15-game winning streak was accomplished before the advent of the extra OT period in the NHL regular season.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The Penguins would need to win 2 of their games in the OT period (in games 2 and 15) and would not have accomplished their streak in 1993 without the extra period, as two of their games would have ended in a tie. Likewise, the Islanders in 1982 (unlike the Penguins in 1993) did not have to risk a loss in overtime, thus endangering their winning streak.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The Edmonton Oilers' young superstar Wayne Gretzky broke several records, including the record of 50 goals in 50 games, set by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, by scoring 50 goals in only 39 games. Gretzky also broke Phil Esposito's record of 76 goals in a season with 92, his own assists record of 109 which was set the prior season with 120, and his own point total of 164 which was also set the prior season with 212. He was the first, and thus far only, player to ever score 200 points in a season. The Oilers set a record for most goals in a season with 417, in which Gretzky scored or assisted on over half.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The New York Islanders' Mike Bossy set a regular season scoring record for right-wingers with 147 points in an 80 game season, and finished as runner-up to Gretzky for the Art Ross Trophy.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
This was the final season of the Colorado Rockies before moving to New Jersey to become the Devils. The NHL would return to the Denver area in 1995, when the Quebec Nordiques relocate to become the Colorado Avalanche.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The Winnipeg Jets completed one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in league history as the Jets went from nine wins and 32 points in 1980–81 to 33 wins and 80 points.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season
The Philadelphia Flyers become the first team to wear long pants. The idea was to create a more streamlined uniform with lighter padding, thus making the players faster. The downside was that the players slid into the boards faster after being bodychecked.


1981–82 NHL season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutesNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold


1981–82 NHL season, Playoffs, Playoff bracket
The 1982 playoffs used a new format. Four teams from each division would qualify for the playoffs, and played a best-of-five semifinal round followed by a best-of-seven series to determine the division playoff champions. The Adams and Patrick winners would meet in the Wales Conference Final, while the Norris and Smythe winners played in the Campbell Conference Final. The two Conference Champions played for the Stanley Cup. With the exception of extending the first round to a best-of-seven in 1987, this format remained in place through the 1993 playoffs.


1981–82 NHL season, Playoffs, Playoff bracket
The first round of the 1982 playoffs saw three first-place teams (Edmonton, Minnesota, and Montreal) upset by fourth-place teams, a round which featured what is still the greatest comeback in NHL history:  The Kings' 6–5 win over Edmonton in game three. After trailing 5–0 after two periods, the Kings scored five third period goals—three in the last 5:22, the final goal coming with only five seconds left in regulation. Los Angeles then scored on a face-off early in overtime, thus completing the "Miracle on Manchester".


1981–82 NHL season, Playoffs, Playoff bracket
The eventual champion New York Islanders nearly lost in the first round as well, dropping games three and four of their first round playoff series with Pittsburgh after crushing the Penguins in the first two games. In game five, the Islanders scored twice in the last five minutes to force overtime and then won the series on John Tonelli's goal 6:19 into the extra session. This served as a wake-up call for New York, who lost only two more games the rest of the way as they rolled to their third straight Stanley Cup. Their Final opponents, the Vancouver Canucks, finished the regular season with only 77 points, defeating three teams beneath them in the standings (Calgary 75, Los Angeles 63, and Chicago 72) in the much weaker Campbell Conference.


1981–82 NHL season, Awards
From this season forward, the Prince of Wales and Clarence S. Campbell trophies were given to the playoff champions of the respective conferences.


1981–82 NHL season, Player statistics, Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points


1981–82 NHL season, Milestones, Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1981–82 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):


1981–82 NHL season, Milestones, Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1981–82 (listed with their last team):


1981–82 NK Dinamo Zagreb season
The 1981–82 season was the 36th season of competitive football played by Dinamo Zagreb. Dinamo Zagreb ended up first in the Yugoslav First League and had the highest attendance in the league, in total 510,000 visitors at home (average 30,000 per game) and 316,000 in away matches (average 18,000).


1981–82 NK Hajduk Split season
The 1981–82 season was the 71st season in Hajduk Split’s history and their 36th in the Yugoslav First League. Their 2nd place finish in the 1980–81 season meant it was their 36th successive season playing in the Yugoslav First League.


1981–82 NK Hajduk Split season, Notes
1. Match abandoned due to unknown reasons. Therefore, the match was awarded to Velež.


1981–82 NK Rijeka season
The 1981–82 season was the 36th season in Rijeka’s history and their 20th season in the Yugoslav First League. Their 7th place finish in the 1980–81 season meant it was their eighth successive season playing in the Yugoslav First League.


1981–82 NK Rijeka season, Matches, Squad statistics
Competitive matches only. Appearances in brackets indicate numbers of times the player came on as a substitute.


1981–82 NTFL season
The 1981/82 NTFL season was the 61st season of the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL).


1981–82 NTFL season
The Wanderers Eagles have won their eighth premiership title while defeating St Marys in the grand final by one point.


1981–82 National Basketball League season
The 1981–82 Just Juice National Basketball League season was the tenth season of the National Basketball League formed in 1972.


1981–82 National Basketball League season
The league was sponsored by Just Juice and Crystal Palace once again secured a double (League and Play Off's) but the Solent Stars easily won the National Cup.


1981–82 National Basketball League season, Team changes
Three new teams were entered into the expanded 12 team first division. The three top teams from the previous season's second division; the Solent Stars, TCB Brighton and Liverpool were all admitted and Stockport Belgrade took the decision to move away from their fan base to the new Spectrum Arena in Warrington becoming Birchwood Warrington Vikings. Blackpool Pacemakers dropped out.


1981–82 National Football League (Ireland)
The 1981–82 National Football League was the 51st staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.


1981–82 National Football League (Ireland), Format, Titles
Teams in all four divisions competed for one league title.


1981–82 National Football League (Ireland), Format, Round-Robin Format
Each team played every other team in its division once, either home or away.


1981–82 National Football League (Ireland), Format, Points awarded
2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.


1981–82 National Football League (Ireland), Format, Separation of teams on equal points
In the event that teams finish on equal points, then a play-off will be used to determine group placings if necessary, i.e. where to decide relegation places or quarter-finalists.


1981–82 National Hurling League
The 1981–82 National Hurling League was the 51st season of the National Hurling League.


1981–82 National Hurling League, Division 1
Cork came into the season as defending champions of the 1980-81 season. Carlow entered Division 1 as the promoted team.


1981–82 National Hurling League, Division 1
On 18 April 1982, Kilkenny won the title after a 2-14 to 1-11 win over Wexford in the final. It was their 5th league title overall and their first since 1975-76.


1981–82 Nationale A season
The 1981–82 Nationale A season was the 61st season of the Nationale A, the top level of ice hockey in France. 10 teams participated in the league, and CSG Grenoble won their second league title. Hockey Club de Caen was relegated to the Nationale B.


1981–82 Nationalliga A
The 1981–82 National League A (German: Nationalliga A, French: Ligue Nationale A, Italian: Lega Nazionale A) was the 51st season of the top level association football competition in Switzerland since the establishment of the national league in 1931. Grasshopper, led by Timo Konietzka, won their 18th national title three points ahead of Servette and previous season's champions and cross-town rivals Zürich.


1981–82 Nationalliga A, National League A, Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and Grasshopper Club Zürich won the championship.


1981–82 Nationalliga A, National League A, Overview
The league championship format was expanded from the 1980–81 season to include sixteen teams, including 13 clubs from the previous season and three sides promoted from the 1980–81 Nationalliga A. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 30 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.


1981–82 Nationalliga A season
The 1981–82 Nationalliga A season was the 44th season of the Nationalliga A, the top level of ice hockey in Switzerland. Eight teams participated in the league, and EHC Arosa won the championship.


1981–82 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, Overview
It was contested by 18 teams, and Győri ETO FC won the championship.


1981–82 New Jersey Nets season
The 1981–82 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 6th season in the NBA. The Nets moved their home games from the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway to the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.


1981–82 New York Islanders season
The 1981-82 New York Islanders season was the tenth season in the franchise's history. It involved winning the Stanley Cup.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Regular season, Season standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals againstNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Player statistics
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Record Winning Streak
From January 21 to February 20 the Islanders set a National Hockey League record by winning 15 consecutive games. Since regular season overtime did not yet exist, all of these games had to be (and were) won in regulation time. During the streak, the Islanders outscored the opposition 97-35 for a +62 goal differential over the 15 games. The record was surpassed in 1993 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won 17 consecutive games, two of which were in overtime.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Patrick Division Semi-Finals, Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Islanders won the first two games of the best-of-5 series, outscoring Pittsburgh 15-3. The Penguins then came back to even the series with two victories of their own. In Game 5, the Islanders came from behind to win in overtime. The tying and winning goals were both scored by John Tonelli.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Patrick Division Finals, Islanders vs. New York Rangers
After losing the opener, their first loss at home since December 29th, the Islanders came back to win the next three games and, eventually, the series in six. The key goals were Bryan Trottier's overtime winner of Game 3 and Dave Langevin's in the third period of Game 6 that proved to be the series clincher.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Wales Conference Finals, Islanders vs. Quebec Nordiques
The Islanders defeated the Nords decisively in the first two games played at the Nassau Coliseum. In Quebec, they won Game 3 in overtime on a goal scored by Wayne Merrick and finished the sweep three days later to advance to the Finals.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks had their best chance to win a game in the first one, as a Jim Nill short-handed marker gave them a 5–4 lead with only seven minutes to play in regulation time. However, the Islanders tied it when Mike Bossy banged home a loose puck after goaltender Richard Brodeur had collided with his own defenceman, Harold Snepsts, while trying to smother it.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks
In the dying seconds of the first overtime period, Snepsts attempted to clear the puck up the middle, but it was intercepted by Bossy, who completed his hat trick with two seconds left on the clock to win the game for the Islanders. In game two, the Canucks led 4–3 after two periods, but the Isles came back to win again.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks
The series then shifted to Vancouver, where the Canucks were boosted by a boisterous, towel-waving Vancouver crowd and had a great first period, but failed to score on Billy Smith, who was brilliant. The Islanders went on to win 3–0, and then completed the sweep with a 3–1 victory on May 16 to win their third straight Cup.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks
Mike Bossy scored 7 goals in the four games and won the Conn Smythe Trophy.


1981–82 New York Islanders season, Playoffs, 1982 New York Islanders Stanley Cup Champions
Gord Lane, Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson, Tomas Jonsson, Mike McEwen, Ken Morrow, Dave Langevin, Brent Sutter, Duane Sutter, Clark Gillies,  Hector Marini, Wayne Merrick, Bob Bourne, Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Bob Nystrom, John Tonelli, Anders Kallur, Butch Goring, Billy Carroll, Greg Gilbert, Roland Melanson, Billy Smith, Al Arbour(coach), Bill Torrey(general manager), Ron Waske, Jim Pickard(trainers)


1981–82 New York Knicks season
The 1981-82 NBA season was the Knicks' 36th season in the NBA. The team finished second-to-last in the Eastern Conference with a 33–49 record.


1981–82 New York Knicks season, Regular season
After falling short in the 1981 NBA Playoffs, the Knicks' general manager Eddie Donovan attempted to add some veteran talent with the intention of making a more playoff-ready team. But Donovan's decisions showed he was out of touch with his team, and most importantly, his star player Michael Ray Richardson. First Roy Williams, Richardson's terrific backcourt teammate, was headed to free agency and therefore traded for veteran Maurice Lucas. Another one of Richardson's friends, Mike Glenn was also sent away, rather than being re-signed for a second-round draft pick.


1981–82 New York Knicks season, Regular season
The Knicks were still in a playoff hunt; despite not playing at a high level, they were 19–17 and were ready to make a run for the playoffs, when Donovan signed Paul Westphal; instead, the Knicks lost 16 of the last 21 games and were left out of the playoffs. It was here when Richardson asked what was wrong with the Knicks, he replied "The Ship Be Sinking". After the Season, Holtzman stepped down as Knicks head coach, and Richardson would be shift off to the Golden State Warriors.


1981–82 New York Rangers season
The 1981–82 New York Rangers season was the 56th season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). During the regular season, the Rangers finished second in the Patrick Division with 92 points and qualified for the NHL playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, New York defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, three games to one, to advance to the Patrick Division Finals. There, the Rangers lost to the New York Islanders in six games.