It was mid-February in 1976, and where were you? Most of us reading this column, and probably the rest of you readers, were at the start of your working career or somewhere else along the trail.

More specifically, what do you remember about the sports world at this time?

The Winter Olympics in Innsbruck had recently concluded and the Sixers and Flyers were at different points of their seasons. Phillies’ faithful were ecstatic about the possibilities ahead after finishing above .500 for the first time since 1967.

In this version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I will take a look at some highlights from the 1976 Olympics and the Philly sports teams from that year.

Here are some trivia busters ... What former Celtic wore number 33 before Larry Bird? What former Sixer won an EBA MVP? What US city backed out of hosting the 1976 Olympics? And what former WWWF champion was a two-time All-American defensive tackle?

Innsbust ... The US’s performance in the 1976 Winter Olympics was the bust between the 1972 and the 1980 showings.

This was the Dorothy Hamill show, who won gold in figure skating. Soon after, women across the country and likely some parts of the world, got the Hamill “wedge cut” hairstyle that can still be seen today.

Does anyone remember Sheila Young or Peter Mueller? Young became the first American to win three medals — gold, silver, and bronze— at the Winter Olympics, as she dominated speed skating. Mueller won a gold in speed skating.

The U.S. hockey team had a disappointing tournament, as they finished fifth overall. Buzz Schneider was the only recognizable name from the team, being a member of the famed 1980 squad.

Overall, though, the U.S. managed 10 medals — three gold — for a third-place finish in the count.

Austrian-German Flavor ... Austrian native and skiing legend Franz Klammer didn’t disappoint the natives, winning the men’s downhill. There was a classic showdown between Klammer and defending champion Switzerland’s Bernhard Russi.

Anyone recall West Germany’s Rosi Mittermaier, who commanded the women’s downhill, capturing two golds and a silver?

Back then, we did have some sense of loyalty to the country from our roots.

Rocky Mountain Low ... Many of you may have forgotten — like myself — that Denver was the original site of the 1976 Olympics. In 1970, it was viewed as the ideal spot for the state centennial and the country’s bicentennial celebration.

Unfortunately for the Rocky Mountain faithful, Colorado rejected public funding for the games, and Denver became the only city to ever decline a bid.

Skyrocketing costs that grew to an estimated $60 million at the time were the main reason.

Today, $60 million can be an annual contract for a good player.

By the way, the Broncos were 9-5 in 1976, the ABA Denver Rockets coached by Larry Brown lost to the Julius Erving-led Nets in the finals, and the hockey Colorado Rockies were a year away from their first game.

Sixers Slide ... On Feb. 20, 1976, the Sixers suffered a 111-92 loss at Seattle. It left them with a 33-25 record.

Seattle was led by former NC State seven-footer Tom Burleson, Leonard Gray, former ABA star Bruce Seals, and legend “Slick” Watts. The Supersonics were coached by Bill Russell, whose coaching career may have been forgotten.

Russell was a player-coach for Boston from 1966-69, and began a four-year stint in Seattle in the 1974 season. He coached Sacramento for one season in 1988-89.

As for the Sixers, they finished 46-36 under Gene Shue and featured George McGinnis, Steve Mix and Fred Carter. It was Billy Cunningham’s last year as a player.

The Sixers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Buffalo Braves, then led by Bob McAdoo and Randy Smith. It was Jack Ramsey’s last year as a coach.

Buffalo Blast From The Past ... Anyone remember Steve Kuberski? If you’re a Celtics fan, you likely do. He was a backup grinder with the Celtics for eight seasons, and was a valuable bench player who helped the Celtics to two championships.

Kuberski was claimed off waivers by Buffalo before the 1975-76 season and played just 10 games for the Braves. He was signed as a free agent by the Celtics after the season.

Kuberski began his collegiate career at Illinois, but was involved in a financial “slush fund” scandal. He transferred to Bradley.

However, Kuberski’s claim to fame may be that he was the last Celtics player to wear No. 33 before Larry Bird.

Another Noted Baskerville ... If you heard the word “Baskerville,” your initial recollection may have been “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” the classic 1902 Sherlock Holmes story.

But the Sixers had Jerry Baskerville on their 1975-76 team. A Philly high school standout, Baskerville had a cup of coffee with the Sixers in 21 games, averaging just 1.2 points.

If you’re an old Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) fan, you may remember Baskerville — a former league MVP — from his days with Hazleton, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Rochester and Atlantic City.

Flying High ... In the middle of the 1976 winter, the Flyers were on the top shelf of the league.

On Feb. 20, 1976, the Flyers won a 5-4 game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum over the California Golden Seals. It was the third of a four-game Western Swing — they oddly played back-to-back games at Vancouver — and left them with a 38-10-11 record.

The Flyers had a nip-and-tuck battle with Toronto in seven games before they won in five games over Boston in the semifinals.

But they couldn’t stay with Montreal in the finals and were smoked in four games.

Reggie Leach had a league-high 61 goals, and Bobby Clarke led the league in assists with 89. Clarke totaled 119 points, Barber had 112, and Leach had 91, as they formed the fabled “LCB” line.

If you remember, Bernie Parent suffered a severe neck injury and was limited to 11 games. Wayne Stephenson did a solid job in net with a 2.58 goals against average in 66 games.

Philling It Up ... Prior to the 1976 season, expectations were sky high for the Phillies after their 86-76 season the previous season.

As expected, the Phils produced their first of two 101-win seasons, but they fell to the mighty “Big Red Machine” in the playoffs.

Baseball fans — except diehard Reds’ fan, Catasauqua head coach Eric Snyder — may have forgotten how good the Reds were with their 102-60 record and two consecutive championships.

Pete Rose had a major-league leading 215 hits and 42 doubles, while George Foster led the majors with 121 RBIs.

See if you remember any of these names from the Phillies 1976 spring training roster: Barry Foote, Davey Johnson, Mike Buskey, Fred Andrews, Bobby Brown, John Poff, Jose Moreno, Orlando Isales, Jim Morrison, Dan Warthen, Joe Jones, Steve Waterbury, Dan Boitano, Todd Cruz, Chuck Kniffin, Jack Bastable, John Hughes and Frank Ciammachilli.

Some made the majors, while others toiled in the minors.

Let me know how many you can recall. I’d be curious.

On The Tubes ... Back on this day in 1976, the theme from the TV show, “S.W.A.T.” by Rhythm Heritage (great trivia question) topped the charts along with Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.”

“S.W.A.T.” was also a great action show from 1975-76, ending in early April of 1976. Other classic action shows of 1976 were “Baretta,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” The Bionic Woman,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

Another Classic Game (Item) ... In 1976, one of the more unique items involving the Phillies was place mats.

There was a team place mat with most of the stars, and also a collection of four.

The four place mats were a pink one with Garry Maddox, Greg Luzinski, and Jay Johnstone; a blue one with Bobby Tolan, Bob Boone, and Steve Carlton; a white one with Jim Lonborg, Jim Kaat, and Tug McGraw; and a yellow one with Larry Bows, Dave Cash, and Mike Schmidt.

How many of you own one or more of them?

WWWF/WWE Wrestling Wrap ... In each column, I will review the career of a former pro wrestler we watched from our youth?

On this date in 1978, “Superstar” Billy Graham was defeated by Bob Backland for the WWWF World Heavyweight Title in Madison Square Garden, beginning Backlund’s six-year title reign.

Over his 34-year career, Backlund compiled an overall 1,508-487 record with 213 draws. In addition to being a WWWF individual champion, Backlund was a tag-team champion with Pedro Morales in 1980. He also held the NWA Western States and Missouri titles, and was also a Florida and Georgia state tag-team champion.

Prior to his wrestling career, Backlund was a two-time All-American defensive tackle, as well as a wrestler at North Dakota State. He initially sought to extend his football career, but switched to wrestling instead.

Your thoughts are always welcomed and will be published: email them to tnsports@tnonline.com