Been lax this month. No excuse. I just didn't think the things I was thinking about would interest anyone. And, please don't comment that they are never interesting to anyone else. These are just some sport's trivia questions that I liked. Not that I'm some kind of sport's trivia expert at all, and I had to look up the answers to some of which I only had a general idea. The answer key is at the end so jot down your answers as you go, or you'll see all the answers when you check one.
1. There has been only one successful drop kick in the NFL since the 1940s, and it was made on the very last play of this player's career.
3. The last commissioner of the ABA was -
4. The '76 U.S. Hockey Team won the Olympic Gold medal by
beating -
a. Finland b. USSR c. Sweden d. Czechoslovakia
5. Secretariat has since 1973 held the Kentucky Derby and
Belmont Stakes records. Who has the record for the Preakness?
a. Affirmed b. Seattle Slew c. Curlin d. Secretariat
6. The incredible Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewicz - We use her Americanized name) was the 1932 Olympic women's 100 meter champion for the Polish team. One little problem discovered in 1980 has resulted in a bit of a controversy, yet unresolved.
a. Finding an old film no one had watched, a journalist noticed her getting a ridiculous false start lead not picked up in the days before instant replay until then. b. She was the first Olympic athlete to admit using a then-new training technique - anabolic steroids c. Hanna Suchocka did not qualify for the team, but came along with her girlfriend, Stella; when Stella hurt herself tripping over her trunk, they looked enough alike for Hanna to step in. No one noticed until Hanna died and Stella came forth. d. She was a man, baby.
a. Ezzard Charles. b. Jersey Joe Walcott c. Rocky Marciano d. Max Schmeling
8. He is the all-time Boston Celtic leader in points scored, games and minutes played, field goals attempted and made among others, including personal fouls. He was second in free throws attempted
and made.
a. Paul Pierce b. John Havlicek c. Larry Bird d. Robert Parrish
9. He won more Grand
Slam singles championships in the 1960s than any other men's tennis player.
a. Rod Laver b. Ken Rosewall c. Roy Emerson d. John Newcombe
10. How far do they actually ski jump? The current world
record is -
a. 550 feet b. 700 feet c. 825 feet d. 1025 feet
Answers below
1. There has been only one successful drop kick in the NFL since the 1940s, and it was made on the very last play of this player's career.
a. Doug Flutie b.
Archie Manning c. Jan Stenerud d. James Brown
2. One of these
Yankees did not win the MVP award three times.
a. Yogi Berra b. Joe
DiMaggio c. Lou Gehrig d. Mickey Mantle
a. Willis Reed b.
Dave DeBusschere c. Red Holtzman D. George Mikan
a. Finland b. USSR c. Sweden d. Czechoslovakia
a. Affirmed b. Seattle Slew c. Curlin d. Secretariat
6. The incredible Stella Walsh (Stanislawa Walasiewicz - We use her Americanized name) was the 1932 Olympic women's 100 meter champion for the Polish team. One little problem discovered in 1980 has resulted in a bit of a controversy, yet unresolved.
a. Finding an old film no one had watched, a journalist noticed her getting a ridiculous false start lead not picked up in the days before instant replay until then. b. She was the first Olympic athlete to admit using a then-new training technique - anabolic steroids c. Hanna Suchocka did not qualify for the team, but came along with her girlfriend, Stella; when Stella hurt herself tripping over her trunk, they looked enough alike for Hanna to step in. No one noticed until Hanna died and Stella came forth. d. She was a man, baby.
7. The great boxer Joe Louis did not lose to -
a. Ezzard Charles. b. Jersey Joe Walcott c. Rocky Marciano d. Max Schmeling
a. Paul Pierce b. John Havlicek c. Larry Bird d. Robert Parrish
a. Rod Laver b. Ken Rosewall c. Roy Emerson d. John Newcombe
a. 550 feet b. 700 feet c. 825 feet d. 1025 feet
Answers below
ANSWERS
1. a. Doug Flutie, NE Patriots, Jan. 1, 2006, age 43.
2. c. Lou Gehrig only won twice.
3. b. Dave DeBusschere made the jump from the Knicks'
management. Mikan was the league's first
commissioner.
4. No, not the USSR. The answer is a. Finland.
The Miracle on Ice against the USSR had already happened earlier in the
medal round.
5. d. Secretariat.
Although he set the record in 1973, of course, it was not recognized by the
Maryland Racing Commission until 2012. It was always known that Secretariat's
electronically recorded time made no sense, but it wasn't until three years ago
the commission held a hearing and was convinced by the evidence using modern
technology that he had run faster than Curlin in 2007 and two other horses before him.
6. d. She was a man, baby. Sort of, anyway. It was learned in her 1980 autopsy (killed
during a robbery) that she had genital characteristics for both sexes and almost
an equal number of male/female chromosomes. BTW, Hanna Suchocka is the name of
the first female Polish Prime Minister in the 1990s.
Anyway, back to Stella, it may explain her 18 world records and the fact that she was also great at hurling the discus.
7. b. Jersey Joe was
actually the last man Louis beat in his last championship defense. Schmeling
beat him before he was champ, and Charles and Marciano beat him a couple of years after
he retired and tried to come back - almost always a bad idea.
8. b. Hondo, John
Havlicek. Bird and Pierce are up there
with him in most of these categories.
9. c. Actually, Roy Emerson, though you'd probably guess Rod Laver (he won 11). Laver was nevertheless the greatest player of his era. In fact, Laver won 48 of
their 66 matches and 7 of 9 of their Grand Slam matches.
10. c. 825 feet. When
you realize that's over 2 1/2 football fields including the end zones and visualize it - -
yikes!
Um the miracle on Ice was in the 80 Olympics; not the 76.
ReplyDeleteDon
I hate it when people reply to my trivia with trivial corrections. But, thanks, I guess (really, 1980? I never liked hockey).
DeleteHow many did you get right?
Delete7 correct (one was a guess) I never had even heard of that woman who was a man.
ReplyDeleteI think the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice was just a few days ago.
Don
Stella Walsh was a famous track star. I was really into track stars when young and I guess she just seems like a household name to me, like Jesse Owens. Guess not.
DeleteLove anything Secretariat, who to this day, is still the most dominant athlete, in their prime, in their sport, that I have seen in my lifetime (Wayne Gretzky is number 2, Wilt Chamberlain is number 3.) I saw the Flutie dropkick, the tv stations were alerted, the coach told everyone he was going to let Flutie try it at the end of the game if the outcome was decided. He hit it perfectly. And bless you son, for throwing Roy Emerson some cred. Before tennis got big on TV, he and the other Aussies, Laver, Newcombe, Rosewall, were the real deal. Rod Laver was the greatest of his day, but Emerson was the smoothest, almost poetry in motion. Much like Sonny Jurgenson was not the greatest quarterback, but he threw the most beautiful deep spirals of all-time. Of course, Emerson was an all-time great just on the number of majors he won....
ReplyDeleteLove anything Secretariat. Without question the most dominant athlete in his prime in any sport that I've ever seen (Wayne Gretzky number 2, and Wilt Chamberlain is number 3). Also kudos for remembering the brilliant Roy Emerson. Laver was a greater player, but Emerson had such grace and when he was on his game, virtually unbeatable. In the era before TV took over tennis, the Aussies were the real deal: Laver, Emerson, Rosewall, Newcombe, etc,,,,,
ReplyDeleteSince you managed not to call me an idiot or the like today, I will not argue with you about whether Secretariat counts as an athlete. Those are good choices, but, I have seen Aleksandr Karelin wrestle and he may be no. 1. He's the guy Rulan Gardner finally beat, but, before that, for years, no one even scored against him and Gardner was much younger. If you don't remember him, put his in my search bar. I know I wrote about him once.
DeleteAlso, talk about dominant, has anyone watched Ronda Rousey, a women's MMA fighter? Oh, my god. Also, she does it mostly with Judo.
Karelin was beaten. Beaten is not dominant, beaten is BEATEN. In his triple crown year, Secretariat could not be beaten by any horse on their best day. Ronda Rousey, really? What are you, 15? Have we regressed to the Buffy days? That's like comparing your brother Mark to Bruce Lee.
DeleteDominant - “You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.” Inigo Montoya (second best line from the movie). Dominant does not mean undefeated. It means you are generally the most powerful, smartest, etc. This is the silliest defense of a comment you ever made. Though it is hard to compare individual athletes with team ones, winning has to mean something. Chamberlain, won only twice in his career and Gretsky 4 times and he played forever (I had to look that up). But, I don't think many people would argue that Chamberlain was not at least one of the most dominant players (others might say Jordan or Russell) and almost no one would say Gretsky wasn't the most dominant hockey player.
ReplyDeleteBut, turning to individual athletes, by your own definition (and no dictionary shares it from a quick search), you are wrong anyway. Obviously Secretariat was dominant, particularly as a 3 year old, but he lost 4 times in his very short career and even once in the Derby year. Two horses beat him as he finished 3rd. And you want to compare that one year with one loss to Karelin's being undefeated for THIRTEEN years and with no points scored against him for 6 years. None - zero. What other athlete has done something like that? Certainly not Secretariat. When he was 33 he lost one match and it was only by one point. Though I don't enough about them to compare, I do know a number of racing experts do not even rate Secretariat the best race horse, putting him behind Man-O-War.