The Minnesota Vikings, favored by two touchdowns in the
Super Bowl, lose 23-7 to the Kansas City
Chiefs.
12•14•1970
Texas, 10-0 and enjoying a 30-game winning streak, fumbles
nine times in its next game, a 24-11 loss to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
7•17•1972
Shortly after Jim Ryun makes an appearance on SI's cover,
Olympic officials in Munich misread his entry form and place him in an opening
heat of the 1,500-meter with the formidable Kip Keino of Kenya. Ryun winds up
losing, fails to advance to the finals and soon thereafter ends his amateur
career.
12•3•1973
Alabama is 11-0 going into its Sugar Bowl date with Notre
Dame. But after coach Bear Bryant graces the cover, the Tide ebbs, losing 24-23
to the Irish.
9•2•1974
Evel Knievel, after our preview of his much-heralded canyon
leap, fails miserably and thereafter loses much of his
mystique.
10•14•1974
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is featured on the cover of the NBA Preview Issue. His Bucks
start the year 2-13 and he misses 15 games with hand and eye injuries.
12•16•1974
Rick Barry and the Warriors lead the NBA's Pacific Division.
In their first game after this issue appears, the Warriors lose to the 2-23 New
Orleans
Jazz.
6•16•1975
With a 10-3 record, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan makes a cover appearance. He loses
his next eight
decisions.
12•8•1975
Texas A&M and Bubba Bean make the cover for the 10-0
Aggies, who lose their next two games by a combined
51-6.
6•14•1976
After being featured on the preview to the Montreal
Olympics, high jump favorite Dwight Stones struggles in heavy rains and takes
home a
bronze.
8•23•1976
They may have COME ABOARD, but the Bucs
and Steve Spurrier walk the plank in their inaugural NFL season, getting shut
out in back-to-back games and winding up
0-14.
12•5•1977
Earl Campbell and the 11-0 Texas Longhorns lose their next
game, the Cotton Bowl, to Notre Dame
38-10.
5•1•1978
After SI honors Gary Player with THREE
IN A ROW
FOR GARY cover billing,
he fails to win his next
tournament.
6•26•1978
Andy North gets the SI cover treatment after winning his
first tournament, the U.S. Open. He then fails to win another event on the PGA
Tour for seven years. In 1985 he finally wins his second tournament, another
U.S. Open, and again makes an appearance on our cover. He fails to win another
PGA tournament for the rest of his
career.
8•28•1978
It takes a while, but ill things befall the Double Eagle II
crew. One crewman dies in a ballooning mishap in 1983. Another dies in a plane
crash in '85. In '95 the third nearly dies in a skydiving
accident.
10•30•1978
After winning his seventh marathon in a row, Bill Rodgers
finally makes the cover. In his next marathon he finishes
sixth.
Photographs by: Neil Leifer, Walter Iooss Jr., Neil Leifer (3), Heinz Kluetmeier, Heinz Kluetmeier, Sheedy & Long, John G. Zimmerman, Walter Iooss Jr., James Drake, Heinz Kluetmeier, Neil Leifer, Walter Iooss Jr., Tony Triolo, AP, Heinz Kluetmeier
