Sports
In the trade-crazy world of professional sports, some trades still stand out as being…unusually unusual. BEER FOR A PITCHER: Pitcher Nigel Thatch of the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League, a professional baseball league in the northern United States and Canada, was traded in May 2006. The Flyers, according to the official league announcement, “assigned […]
This week, NBA star Kobe Bryant closed out his 20-year career by scoring 60 points in his final game. Here’s how some other basketball stars fared their last time on the court. In 1991, Magic Johnson’s career was abruptly cut short when he announced that he was HIV positive. He didn’t play that season, but […]
Some people become famous at the Olympic games because they win a medal. Others become infamous because they don’t play by the rules. Here’s a look at the BRI’s Olympic Hall of Shame. ROMAN EMPEROR NERO Year: A.D. 67 Place: Olympia What happened: Nero decided to compete in the chariot race. In the middle of […]
Here are two quick myths common to baseball, and the facts behind them. Myth #1: The tie goes to the runner. Fact: Actually, the opposite is true, according to major league umpire Tim McClelland. “There is no rule that says the tie goes to the runner. But the rule book does say that the runner […]
Assorted weirdness from around the baseball diamond. 1. On September 30, 1934, Charley O’Leary of the St. Louis Browns became the oldest big leaguer to get a hit and score a run. He was 51. 2. In Japan, catchers learn to crouch by having spiked boards placed under their behinds. 3. From 1936 to ’46, […]
Every football team has a storied history. So do their names. PITTSBURGH STEELERS Originally named the Pirates after Pittsburgh’s professional baseball team, in 1940 owner Al Rooney renamed the team for the city’s steel industry. HOUSTON TEXANS The Dallas Texans were one of the original AFL teams. They moved to Kansas City in 1963, so […]
All of us regular people might have a hard time understanding why anyone would willingly walk away from a lucrative sports career in their prime. But they had their reasons. 1. First baseman Adam LaRoche played for six Major League Baseball teams for more than a decade. During the 2016 preseason, he suddenly announced his […]
Winning at sports takes skill, practice…and a little good luck. Here are some Olympians who could have used a rabbit’s foot (or some new officials). Who’s Counting? The 1932 Games in Los Angeles featured a 3,000-meter steeplechase for horses. The race was close as the horses entered the final lap…or what was supposed to be […]
So your team made it to the final round of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament…but lost in the final game. But then the NCAA ruled that those losses don’t count or are “vacated.” Good news? Not really. Those games are technically stricken from the NCAA record books because the teams were involved in major scandals.
Most people never give a second thought to life’s most important questions, such as: How many people can you cram into a Cornhuskers game? Or how tall should a bowling pin be? Fortunately for them, Uncle John does. Tennis During a single Wimbledon tournament, 42,000 tennis balls are used. Soccer A soccer ball must measure […]
It’s almost time for the Stanley Cup playoffs, so here are some facts about some notable standouts from NHL history. (Check out our previous pieces on the NFL, NBA, and baseball.)
Professional wrestling is already pretty silly, but the “sport” outdid itself when it introduced these really silly wrestling characters. SERGEANT SLAUGHTER At the peak of the first Gulf War in 1991, the WWF brought in this villain, an Iraqi-flag-waving Saddam Hussein sympathizer. GIANT GONZALES A failed NBA basketball player, Gonzales was a lanky 7’7″ and […]
For this tale, we take you back to the 1970s—to a time when the TV landscape was much more sparse, and political correctness was more than a decade away. It was the inaugural Battle of the Network Stars, a celebrity sports event chock full of drama, scandal, triumph, cigarettes, and a few ethnic slurs. MALIBU, […]
Strange baseball stats, baseball facts, and baseball trivia from Major League Baseball.
Beer, Gatorade, and auto parts are the kinds of sponsors you usually see plastered on NASCAR race cars. But many companies are willing to pay for that advertising exposure…even when it seems a little weird. From 2001 to 2005, Mark Martin, one of the oldest drivers on the NASCAR circuit, drove a car bearing stickers […]
Sure, you support your favorite sports team. You wear the team ball cap, have a team logo decal in your car window, maybe even drink out of an official team mug. But do you love it enough to dress up in team colors and dance around in public? Robin Ficker The Washington Bullets of the […]
Some of your favorite NBA teams almost ended up with these names. Orlando Juice Orlando, Florida, scored an NBA expansion team in 1987. Naming it was put to a vote in the Orlando Sentinel. Of the 4,300 entries, four finalists were selected by the team’s owners: Heat, Tropics, Juice, and Magic. They decided on Juice, […]
Los Angeles will soon have one (or potentially two) NFL teams. It will be a prime location for hosting Super Bowls. In 2013 a newspaper reporter uncovered the NFL’s “Host City Specifications and Requirements,” a confidential 153-page list of the league’s demands for any city bidding to host the Super Bowl. Here are a few items on the list.
