November 1978 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Sports History

Nov 2 Wayne Gretzky is sold to the Edmonton Oilers after just 8 games with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA (scoring 6 points); scores 104 points in 72 games (both teams combined) and is named WHA rookie of the year

Nov 4 Islanders start 15 game undefeated streak (12-0-3)

Sports History

Nov 4 3rd annual reentry free-agent draft, Pete Rose, Tommy John, & Darrell Evans, available

Sports History

Nov 5 Oakland Raider's John Madden becomes 13th coach to win 100 NFL games

Nov 7 Boston Red Sox Jim Rice wins AL MVP
Nov 9 North American Soccer League (NASL) realigns its 24 teams into 6 divisions

Boxing Title Fight

Nov 10 Larry Holmes KOs Alfredo Evangelist in 7 for heavyweight boxing title

Nov 10 NY Yankees trade Lyle, Rajsich, McCall, Heath and Ramos to Texas for Righetti, Mirabella, Beniquez, Jemison and Griffin
Nov 15 Pirates outfielder Dave Parker wins NL MVP
Nov 16 Major Indoor Soccer League holds its 1st draft
Nov 19 "The Miracle at the Meadowlands", Eagles Herman Edwards returns a fumble for a touchdown with 31 seconds left to give Philadelphia a 19-17 victory over the rival New York Giants
Nov 19 28th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Cale Yarborough wins
Nov 21 Bob Horner of Braves wins NL Rookie of Year Award
Nov 26 CFL Grey Cup, CNE Stadium, Toronto: Edmonton Eskimos first of 5 straight titles; beat Montreal Alouettes, 20-13
Nov 28 44th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Sims, Oklahoma (RB)

Sports History

Nov 28 Reds fire manager Sparky Anderson after 9 years

Birthdays in Sport

Nov 1 Danny Koevermans, Dutch soccer striker and coach (4 caps; Sparta Rotterdam), born in Schiedam, Netherlands
Nov 4 John Grabow, American baseball player, born in Arcadia, California
Nov 5 Bubba Watson Jr., American golfer (US Masters 2012, 2014), born in Bagdad, Florida
Nov 6 Scott Piercy, American golfer (US Open 2016 runner-up), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 6 Zak Morioka, Brazilian racing driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
Nov 7 Rio Ferdinand, English footballer (England national team 1997-2001), born in Camberwell, England
Nov 7 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dutch footballer (PSV Eindhoven), born in Oldenzaal, Netherlands
Nov 8 Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer, born in Karaj, Iran
Nov 8 Júlio Sérgio Bertagnoli, Brazilian footballer, born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Nov 8 Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer, born in Corfu Island, Greece
Nov 8 Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer, born in Leiden, Netherlands

Nov 11 Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer, born in Warkworth, New Zealand
Nov 12 Lena Yada, American actress, model, surfer and WWE Diva, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Nov 14 Xavier Nady, American baseball player
Nov 14 Bobby Allen, American ice hockey player
Nov 16 Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Nov 16 Kip Bouknight, American baseball player, born in Columbia, South Carolina
Nov 16 Eric Crouch, American football quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2001, U of Nebraska; Green Bay Packers; Toronto Argonauts), born in Omaha, Nebraska
Nov 17 Reggie Wayne, American football player
Nov 18 Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
Nov 19 Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová, Czech athlete, born in Litoměřice, Czechoslovakia
Nov 22 Magdalena Grzybowska, Polish tennis star (1995 Futures Slovakia), born in Poznań, Poland
Nov 25 Lauren Hewitt, Australian 100m/200m runner (Olympics 1996)
Nov 27 Jimmy Rollins, American baseball player
Nov 28 Mehdi Nafti, Tunisian footballer
Nov 28 Haytham Tambal, Sudanese footballer
Nov 28 Freddie Mitchell, American football player
Nov 29 Dimitrious Konstantopolous, Greek footballer, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
Nov 29 Alessandro Fei, Italian volleyball player, born in Saronno, Italy

Deaths in Sport

Nov 6 Heiri Suter, Swiss cyclist, dies at 79
Nov 7 Gene Tunney, American boxer (world heavyweight champion 1926-28), dies at 80
Nov 11 Bennie Borgmann, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward and coach (Kingston Colonials, Original Celtics; coach Syracuse Nationals), dies at 77
Nov 13 George Hearne, South African cricket batsman (3 Tests; Western Province), dies at 90
Nov 15 Dick Chapman, American golfer (1940 US amateur, 1951 British amateur), dies of a stroke at 67