
Visible crew/equipment: During the final fight, a steady cam operator with a white shirt and black straps around his body is seen during several wide angles. This is not a TV camera, it is a film crewmember. The Director even admits to it in the audio commentary on the DVD.
Answer: They mean the entire year, 1976, is America's birth "day," being the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. So the fight, taking place on January 1, is the "first sporting event on our two hundredth birthday."