Football, baseball and basketball were big in the 80's. The 1980 winter olympics were held in Lake Placid NY where the US mens Hockey team defeated Russia for the gold medal.
The 1984 Summer olympics were held in LA California.
The 49ers won 4 Super Bowls to be the team of the decade.
The 1989 World Series between the Giants and A's was
interrupted by a 7.1 earthquake during game 3 pregame warmups. This delayed the series 10 days before it was resumed.
The Lakers/Celtics NBA rivalry was intense with the Lakers
led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar going against the Celtics led by Larry Bird and Robert Parish.