What Every Sports Fan Should Know About Sports Trivia

Playing sports trivia games with friends and family is one of the most classic ways to get together, test your wits, and have a good time. But, after a while, it just gets old if there aren’t fresh sports facts that are being discovered regularly. There are tons of 300 page books that you can read, but how enticing is that?

In this short article, I’m going to tell you some unique facts that you can use in the next sports trivia game you play and stump everyone who is with you in the process.

• Alberto Arizmendi holds the record for becoming a professional boxer at the youngest age. He is known to have turned pro in his first double-digit year, 10!
• Baseball was the first sport to ever be aired on television in the United States. This occurred on May 17, 1939 and showed a game between Princeton and Columbia that was played at Baker field. Princeton beat Columbia 2-1.
• Harold Grange, who was an All-American running back at University of Illinois in the 1920’s, was known as “The Galloping Ghost” by his teammates at the Chicago Bears. In a 1924 game, he amazingly ran for 262 yards, scoring 4 touchdowns, in less then 12 minutes.
• Martin Luther (yes, the religious leader) is credited for inventing the game of 9-pin bowling.
• The name of the NBA’s MVP award is the Podoloff Cup. It is named after Maurice Podoloff, the league’s very first commissioner. Until 1981, the award was chosen by the league’s players.
• Drew Bledsoe threw 70 passes (completing 45 of them) in an overtime game against the Vikings in 1994. He carried his New England Patriots from 20-0 down to a 26-0 win.
• In 1990, more than 1.5 billion people tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup final.
• In 1957, a team from Mexico was the first non-USA team to win the Little League World Series.
• Arnold Palmer, a famous golfer, was named “Athlete of the Decade” in the 1960s for his great impact on the game of golf.
• Baseball is the sport that is responsible for the most eye injuries in the United States. Basketball comes next, followed by water and racquet sports.
• The Boston Celtics won a record 8 NBA championships in a row from 1959 to 1966. This is the most consecutive championships won in any of the four major sports of the United States (basketball, football, hockey, and baseball).

I bet that you learned something, now didn’t you? There is so much incredible sports trivia out there just waiting to be discovered. I hope that I have given you some of it and that you can use it to stump everyone the next time that you have the opportunity to play sports trivia.

New Baseball Trivia

Baseball is known as “The American Pastime,” but don’t let that make you think that baseball is only played in America. Currently baseball is played all over the world and is continuing to grow in popularity in the most diverse countries. Places like Japan, Korea, Cuba, and even India all have national baseball teams who represent them.

If you would like to learn some baseball trivia, things that you probably didn’t know beforehand, then this article will be a great read for you.

• Contrary to popular belief, baseball was originally introduced in England as early as the year 1744. Then, the ball was cased in hard leather and was struck with a wooden bat. At that time it was targeted towards inactive, unhealthy children as a way for them to get exercise and have fun as well. Only later did it catch on for adults.
• Mickey Mantle hit the longest ever recorded home run at Detroit Brigg’s Stadium in 1960. He sailed a baseball 643 feet before it hit the ground.
• The first player to hit a triple in the majors was Levi Meyerle in 1876.
• Brooks Robinson holds the record for the most years played with the same team, the Baltimore Orioles.
• Frank Robinson holds the record for hitting the most home runs in an opening day game. That number is 8.
• Fergie Jenkins is the only pitcher to have a record of over 3000 strikeouts and less than 1000 walks.
• The only game (to date) in which two triple plays happened was played on July 17, 1990, where the Minnesota Twins lost to the Red Sox 1-0, despite pulling off this amazing defensive feat.
• George Gore and Billy Hamilton both stole a record 7 bases in the same baseball game in 1881 and 1894, respectively.
• Babe Ruth won his only MVP award in 1923. At that time, there was a policy that no player could win more than one MVP award, so even though Babe pulled off amazing offensive seasons after that year, he was ineligible to win again.
• The pitcher’s mound was implemented in order to increase pitching speed -- by creating a downhill slope -- and is standardly supposed to be 10 inches above the home plate. This rule was set in 1969.

Baseball has vast amounts of history related to it. These facts that I have given you are just a few of the incredibly interesting knowledge of baseball. I hope that you have committed something to memory and can share it with others.

Some Things You May Not Have Known About Soccer

Soccer is one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world. I’m sure most people have played soccer at least once on their lives. Maybe it was in the backyard with some neighborhood kids or in gym class or maybe you played for your high school team. Either way, soccer is a fun sport that anyone can participate in but did you know that soccer also has a very interesting history as well? Here is a chance to brush up on your knowledge in time for the next World Cup with some trivia that you may not have been aware of when it comes to soccer.

First, let’s start with some basics:

• Football is the name given to soccer in some other countries, especially in Europe.
• Soccer was not televised until 1937 during an arsenal practice match at the Highway Ground.
• England and Scotland made soccer a major sport in 1872.
• It wasn’t until 1888 that the first full-time league was established.
• Soccer was welcomed into the Olympic games in 1908
• Soccer is widely thought to have started in Britain in the mid-1800’s and was only played by the rich English class.
• The attendance record for a United States based professional soccer league game was set at the Rose Bowl in California on June 16th, 1996. There were 92,216 people in attendance.
• 5,098 soccer teams took part in the biggest soccer tournament which was held in 1999.
• Wearing colored team clothing did not become a rule for goalies until 1913.

Now that you have some basic knowledge about the history of soccer, here are some notable accomplishments and memorable moments by some famous players:

• The first player to be red-carded in a world cup tournament was Carlos Caszely on June 14th, 1974.
• Luigi Riva has such a powerful shot that he once broke a spectator’s arm.
• Native Brazilian, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pele, scored 1,281 goals in 1, 363 games and brought his team to world cup glory three times. He retired in 1977 and is still considered to be one of the best players who ever lived.
• Sixteen goals were scored in a single match by Stephen Stanis of France in 1942.
• The first goal keeper to win most valuable player of the World Cup was Germany’s Oliver Kahn in 2002.

Finally, here are some interesting facts about some major team accomplishments:

• Every World Cup final, except 1930 and 1950, has been reached by European teams.
• India withdrew their team from the World Cup in 1950 because FIFA would not allow them to play barefoot.
• During a World Cup qualifier in 1954, Turkey beat out Spain by drawing straws.
• In 1996, Liberia was able to enter the African Nations Cup because George Weah paid for his team’s uniforms.
• Hungary has won the most gold medals in soccer Olympics since 1952.
• Since 1982, sixteen national championships in women’s soccer were won by the University of North California.

Football Facts

Football may not have been around as long as some other well-known American sports but it has its history and interesting moments as well. Here are some things you may not have known about this much followed and much loved sport.

• The first football ever used was round.
• Players are assigned their number based in their positions in the game:
  • 1 to 29 is for quarterback’s and kickers
  • 20 to 49 is for running backs and defensive backs
  • 50 to 59 is for centers and linebackers
  • 60 to 79 is for linemen
  • 80 to 80 is for wide receivers and tight ends
• All plays are started by the quarterback.
• P.A.T stands for point after touchdown.
• Kickers and punters are the only two players who can use their feet to move the ball.
• In November, 1869, Rutgers and Princeton played the first college football game.
• Created in 1920 under the name The American Professional Football Conference, it became known as the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.
• The two conferences we know today, the NFC and AFC were founded in 1970.
• The first pro-football stadium with a retractable roof is in Reliant Park in Houston.
• The Astrodome in Houston, Texas was the first stadium to use artificial turf, or Astroturf as it is commonly known.
• The most expensive ads on television run during the Super Bowl. A thirty-second commercial cost 2.7 million dollars in 2008.
• American football is slightly different from Canadian Football. Both games originated from Rugby Football. In Europe, the game they call football is what we call Soccer.

And now here are some facts about some players, games and memorable moments:

• The longest NFL game in history was a Christmas day game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins.
• The team to win the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968 was The Green Bay Packers. It was thirty years before they won again.
• One of the oldest teams in professional football is the Chicago Bears.
• Chuck Nell has had more Super Bowl wins than any other coach in history.
• Antonio Cromartie of The Chargers had the longest return of a missed field goal at 109 yards.
• The first pro-football team to have their own organized cheerleading squad was the Baltimore Colts in 1960.
• Ellis Holls is credited with having had the longest kickoff return at 108 yards.
• The NFL’s leading rusher is Emmit Smith. He holds many records including most career rushing yards at 18,355. He also won the 2006 season of dancing with the stars.
• The player with the longest punt return at 105 yards is Robert Bailey of The Rams.

Some Interesting Facts about Baseball - America’s Favorite Pastime

With a long history and long-standing position as America’s favorite pastime, Baseball has the most colorful past of any sport. You may think you know a lot about this beloved game but are you aware of these facts?

• Five to seven pitches is the average life span of a Major League baseball.
• The first recorded argument between an umpire and a player occurred in 1846.
• On May 9th, 1984, a game between The Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox clocked in at eight hours and six minutes and entered the record books as the longest baseball game in history.
• The man who invented baseball also holds credit for firing the first union shot of civil war.
• In 1903, Pittsburgh and Boston played the first World Series. Boston won 5-3 in the 9-game series.
• Created in 1935 to celebrate baseball’s 100th anniversary, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in located in Cooperstown, New York.
• Fly balls that bounced over the outfield fence were considered home runs prior to the 1930 American League Season and the 1931 National League season.
• The distances between bases in Major League Baseball is 90 feet.
• The salary for a professional baseball player in the 1970’s was around 25,000 dollars. Today it is around 3.1 million.

Not that you know some interesting facts about the game of baseball and it’s history, here are some facts you might not have known about some of baseball’s most famous players and teams.

• The shortest major league baseball player was Edward Carl “Eddie” Gaedel. He stood at three feet, seven inches and weighed sixty-five pounds.
• Hailing from Drumheller, Alberta, Glen Edward Gorbous has the longest baseball throw on record.
• William Cummings’ invention of the curve ball came to him in a peculiar way after seeing a spinning clamshell curve across the water.
• While playing, Babe Ruth wore a cabbage under his cap which he changed every two innings.
• Cal Ripkin, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles didn’t miss a single game in 16 years. From April 30th, 1982 to September 19th, 1998, he played 2,632 straight games.
• The single-season home run record of seventy was broken when Barry Bonds of San Francisco hit 73 home runs in 2001.
• He played 27 seasons in major league and pitcher, Nolan Ryan struck out more batters than any other pitcher.
• Connie Mack, former manager of the Philadelphia A’s had 3,755 career victories under his belt, more than any other manager.
• Twenty-six series titles were won by the New York Yankees which is more than any other team.
• Trades are normal events in the game of baseball but consider this bizarre trade. One of the greatest pitchers of all time, Cy Young, was traded for a suit.

Hardcore NBA Trivia for Those Who Love the Sport

A fairly new league, the NBA was only founded in 1946. Originally it was known as the Basketball Association of America or BAA, until it merged with the National Basketball League in 1949, and became the National Basketball Association. Today, it is made up of thirty professional basketball teams, and rules the world as the most popular and promising basketball league. Below you will find some hardcore NBA trivia for those who love the sport.

• The first NBA game was played in 1946 on November 1st between the New York Knickerbockers and the Toronto Huskies in Ontario, Canada. The Knickerbockers took the win with a score of 96-78.
• Chris Ford scored the first three point goal in the history of the NBA.
• Wang Zhizhi was the first Chinese player to play for in the NBA.
• In five-minute overtime, only six timeouts are allowed between both of the teams that are playing.
• Scott Skiles holds the NBA record for the most assists in a single game.
• The New York Knicks have the highest salary cap in the NBA.
• The first NBA jump shot was taken by Joe Fulks in 1949 on February 10th against the Jets.
• Wilt Chamberlain holds he records for the most points scored in a single game in the NBA, with 100 points scored against the Knicks in 1962.
• The Chicago Bulls have the most wins in a single season with 72 victories.
• The Utah Jazz was the only team to ever have two players on the Olympic team in 2008.
• Reggie Miller holds the record for the most three pointers in an entire career with 2,560.
• The record for the most games played in the NBA goes to Robert Parish, who played in a total of 1,611 games.
• Robert Horry had played in the most playoff games. With several different teams, he has racked up 244 playoff games in his career.
• The record for the most personal fouls on an individual player during a career goes to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 4,657 fouls.
• Spud Webb at 5’6” is the shortest player to have ever won the NBA’s slam dunk competition.
• The record holder for the most steals in a career is John Stockton with 3,265 steals.
• Michael Jordan scored the most points in a playoff game with 63.
• Only four players have ever scored more than 70 points in an NBA game.
• Bob Pettit Was the first MVP in the NBA in 1956.
• Robert Parish was the oldest active player in the NBA.
• Michael Jordan earned an average of 16 million dollars for a city whenever he played an NBA game there.

There is no doubt that basketball is one of the greatest and most popular games in the United States today. There is also no doubt that the NBA is the greatest basketball league that the world has ever known. The NBA trivia above should help any fan sharpen up their knowledge about this beloved game.