Sports is something that I more or less let go of a long time ago. I usually watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and pick the wrong team to win (although this year I also watched the playoffs and picked the wrong team to win). But, combining sports and trivia is more fun than dunking politicians in the community pond. Unlike history trivia posts, where my rule is I have to know the trivia before I put it to you, I had to look up half of these myself. Answers below.
1. What running back of the 60s-70s was also a two time NCAA wrestling champ?
a. Jim Nance
b. Larry Csonka
c. O.J. Simpson
d. Jim Brown
2. This professional wrestling champion was also an NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ?
a. Lou Thesz
b. Jack Brisco
c. Verne Gagne
d. Ivan Koloff
3. This NFL running back was also on a world record holding 4x110 relay team.
a. Gale Sayers
b. Tony Dorsett
c. O.J. Simpson
d. Jim Brown
4. Believe it or not, he was the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing champion.
a. Jim Thorpe
b. Red Grange
c. Honus Wagner
d. Christy Mathewson
5. Edson Arantes Do Nascimento is better known to us as:
a. Roberto Duran
b. Angelo Cordero
c. Oscar De La Hoya
d. Pele
6. This well known actor’s father was a Heisman Trophy winner and he also played quarterback for UCLA.
a. Cuba Gooding, Jr.
b. Mark Harmon
c. Chuck Connors
d. Carl Weathers
7. Before he was a U.S. senator, he was a three time U.S. Judo champ, a one time Pan-Am games gold medalist and captain of the American Olympic team.
a. Daniel A. Akaka
b. Ben Nighthorse Campbell
c. Daniel Inouye
d. Robert Menendez
8. This great NFL head coach was a WWII pilot, flying 30 missions, and surviving a crash landing when he ran out of gas.
a. Vince Lombardi
b. Weeb Ewbank
c. Paul Brown
d. Tom Landry
9. This brother of a famous boxing champion literally knocked Joe Louis out of the ring.
a. Buddy Baer
b. Buck Walcott
c. Frank Sharkey
d. Carmine Carnera
10. He was a professional baseball player and professional basketball player, on top teams, but more famous as an actor.
a. Bob Uecker
b. Chuck Connors
c. Jimmy Stewart
d. Burt Lancaster
11. This television star was actually a famous skateboard champion (well,in that little world) before he was an actor.
a. James van der Beek
b. Johnny Knoxville
c. Michael J. Fox
d. Jason Lee
12. This 7 footer regularly plays the giant who the hero beats up, such as in the recent Sherlock Holmes, Rocketeer, Last Man Standing, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Roadhouse and many others including continuing roles in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. But, before that, he was on the Austrian National champion basketball team for 6 years.
a. Conan Stevens
b. Tiny Ron Taylor
c. Richard Kiel
d. Ted Cassidy
13. Gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, skater Katarina Witt and swimmer Amanda Beard, all Olympic gold medalists, all have this is common:
a. Posed for Playboy
b. Same paternal great-grandparents
c. Married when underaged
d. College valedictorians
14. She had a relationship with the son of her country’s dictator, later fled the country and then married another Olympic gold medalist in her sport.
a. Olga Korbut
b. Oana Ban
c. Nadia Comaneci
d. Svetlana Boginskaya
15. This five time Olympic medalist also won Dancing with the Stars one year.
a. Skater Eric Heiden
b. Gymnast Larissa Latynina
c. Swimmer Jenny Thompson
d. Skater Apolo Ohno
16. Football’s Lyle Alzado, baseball’s Rod Carew, basketball’s Danny Schayes and hockey’s Bobby Nystrom all have this is common:
a. Jews
b. Lived most of their non-professional lives in Canada
c. Convicted of misdemeanors within two years of retirement
d. Playgirl
17. This television star’s father was an Olympic rowing champion and he was a junion national champ himself.
a. Simon Baker (The Mentalist)
b. Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
c. Graham Norton (The Graham Norton Effect)
d. Hugh Laurie (House)
18. The only president to be on a National college championship team.
a. Warren Harding
b. Dwight Eisenhower
c. Richard Nixon
d. Gerald Ford
19. This ancient king was an Olympic champion:
a. Caesar
b. Nero
c. Leonidas
d. Hannibal
20. One of the most celebrated athletes of all time, a gold medalist as a teenager, she was also a successful actress, and, other than her marriages, was reputedly the lover of boxer Joe Louis and actors Tyrone Power and Van Johnson.
a. Babe Didrikson
b. Althea Gibson
c. Sonja Henie
d. Luigina Giavotti
Answers
1. What big AFL running back of the 60s-70s was also a two time NCAA wrestling champ?
a. Jim Nance. He wasn't near as good a running back as O.J. and Brown, but he was pretty good. Nowadays, he might have become a pro-wrestler after his career was up. Speaking of which -
2. This professional wrestling champion was also an NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ?
c. Verne Gagne. Love those classic era wrestlers.
3. This NFL running back was also on a world record holding 4x110 relay team.
c. O.J. Simpson. He wasn't always a media circus, you know.
4. Believe it or not, he was the 1912 intercollegiate ballroom dancing champion.
a. Jim Thorpe. Talk about all around.
5. Edson Arantes Do Nascimento is better known to us as:
d. You didn't think his name was really Pele, did you?
6. This well known actor’s father was a Heisman Trophy winner and he himself played quarterback for UCLA.
b. Mark Harmon. I have a bit of an NCIS problem. I can't stop watching it and it's on like 20 times a week.
7. Before he was a U.S. senator, he was a three time U.S. Judo champ, a one time Pan-Am games gold medalist and captain of the American Olympic team.
b. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Better known as the first Native American senator, he learned judo in Japan.
8. This great NFL head coach was a WWII pilot, flying 30 missions, and surviving a crash landing when he ran out of gas.
d. Tom Landry. I did not know that, but it didn't surprise me.
9. This brother of a famous boxing champion literally knocked Joe Louis out of the ring.
a. Buddy Baer. In his prime too. Buddy Baer was huge, and almost became the first brother combo to win the world championship against one of the all time greats.
10. He was a professional baseball player and professional basketball player, on top teams, but not real good, and became much more famous as an actor.
b. Chuck Connors. Knew that when I was a kid. Doubt many kids today have even heard of him.
11. This television star was actually a famous skateboard champion (well, famous in that little world) before he was an actor.
d. Jason Lee. The scraggly looking fellow who plays Earl, as in My name is Earl.
12. This 7 footer regularly plays the giant who the hero beats up, such as in the recent Sherlock Holmes, Rocketeer, Last Man Standing, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Roadhouse and many others, plus continuing roles in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. But, before that, he was on the Austrian national champion basketball team for 6 years.
b. Tiny Ron Taylor, usually billed just as Tiny Ron, is an interesting person. Check out his website. And if you just saw Sherlock Holmes, that big guy with the giant sledge hammer was him.
13. Gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, skater Katarina Witt and swimmer Amanda Beard, all Olympic gold medalists, also have this is common:
a. Posed for Playboy. But, I swear, I have yet to see any of them nude.
14. She had a relationship with the son of her country’s dictator, later fled the country and then married another Olympic gold medalist in her sport.
c. Nadia Comaneci. Another easy one, I thought.
15. This Olympic multiple medalist also won Dancing with the Stars one year.
d. Skater Apolo Ohno. I'm not surprised.
16. Football’s Lyle Alzado, baseball’s Rod Carew, basketball’s Danny Schayes and hockey’s Bobby Nystrom all have this is common:
a. All Jews. Carew and Nystrom converted. I went to summer camp with Danny Schayes over 40 years ago. He was tall even then, but, at least I can say, way back when we were in single digits, I was a little better ball player than he was. He got distracted very easily back then throwing with throwing rocks and stuff like that. His father, Dolph Schayes, a basketball legend, partially owned the camp, and I was awestruck when they introduced me to him.
17. This television star’s father was an Olympic rowing champion and he was a junior national champ himself.
h. Hugh Laurie (House). Really a talented guy. I still recommend his novel The Gun Seller to all.
18. The only president to be on a National college championship team.
d. Gerald Ford. Football. Wolverines.
19. This ancient king was an Olympic champion:
b. Nero. He lost decidedly, but just had himself declared champion. The Greeks at the time, I've read, refused to acknowledge it.
20. One of the most celebrated athletes of all time, she won her first Olympic gold medal as a teenager in her second Olympics, was also a successful actress, and, other than her marriages, was reputedly the lover of boxer Joe Louis and actors Tyrone Power and Van Johnson.
c. Sonja Henie. Her brother wrote a book basically saying she was a sex addict or whatever the term was then. Family is one good reason not to become famous. She also got to know Hitler and some other Nazi's, which disturbed many people, but, she was an amazing athlete; not just a skater, at which she most excelled.
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About Me
- David
- I started this blog in September, 2006. Mostly, it is where I can talk about things that interest me, which I otherwise don't get to do all that much, about some remarkable people who should not be forgotten, philosophy and theories (like Don Foster's on who wrote A Visit From St. Nicholas and my own on whether Santa is mostly derived from a Norse god) and analysis of issues that concern me. Often it is about books. I try to quote accurately and to say when I am paraphrasing (more and more). Sometimes I blow the first name of even very famous people, often entertainers. I'm much better at history, but once in a while I see I have written something I later learned was not true. Sometimes I fix them, sometimes not. My worst mistake was writing that Beethoven went blind, when he actually went deaf. Feel free to point out an error. I either leave in the mistake, or, if I clean it up, the comment pointing it out. From time to time I do clean up grammar in old posts as, over time I have become more conventional in my grammar, and I very often write these when I am falling asleep and just make dumb mistakes. It be nice to have an editor, but . . . .
Good post. I got 17 but a couple were guesses. I didn't know Nystrom converted.
ReplyDeleteI also love the classic wrestlers. I know it sounds silly but they were(to me) much less comic book character than the big time wrestlers of the last 15 yrs or so.
-Don
BTW I had meant to email you about the death of Parker. I thought you would do a mention of it
I would have done much worse, since I would have had to guess at the one's I researched. So, good for you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I bet Nystrom hears - Funny, you don't look Jewish - a lot.
Got the skateboarder and the 7-footer question wrong. But then, not really sports questions. Loved "Big" Jim Nance and I remember Tom Harmon at UCLA, which tell you I've watched sports for too long. Love the early "romantic" days of pro wrestling. Thought about writing a book about the romantic days of wrestling (pre-steroids, but how do I leave out Billy Graham?), but I've thought of many things. Easier to think than do.
ReplyDeleteYes, if thinking was doing, we'd be very successful authors, wouldn't we. I'd be on my tenth thought up book.
ReplyDelete