Sports & Games Trivia - Nadia Comaneci of Romania - Olympic gymnastic competition - New York Giants - World Series - rodeo bull-riding competition and More!

 

Sports and games trivia questions and answers including the Olympics, the New York Giants, Rodeo Bull Riding, Horse racing and more!

Who received the first perfect score ever--a 10-- in Olympic gymnastic competition?
A: Nadia Comaneci of Romania, in the 1976 Olympics. She was 14 years old at the time.

How much do the gloves worn by professional boxers weight. How about Golden Glovers?
A:  Professionals, 8 ounces; Golden Glovers, 10 ounces.

Why is tennis scored 15, 30, 40 rather than the more traditional 1 pint, 2 points, 3 points of other sports?
A: In its early days as an indoor sport, a tennis game's score was kept by moving the hands of a clock to 15, 30 and 45. Later, for reasons now obscure, the 45 become 40.

Who threw baseball's last legal spitball?
A: Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes, for the New York Yankees in 1934. Although the pitch had been outlawed 14 years earlier, those already throwing it were permitted to continue.

What American multimillionaire was knocked out during a sparring match with world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in the 1920s?
A: Paul Getty.

What baseball card is considered the most valuable?
A: The 1910 Piedmont cigarette card of Honus  Wagner. The great Pittsburgh Pirate short stop was a strict Southern Baptist who disapproved of smoking and asked that his card be discontinued. Only 20  are known to exist.

Why was baseball great Charles Dillon Stengel nicknamed Casey?
A: His hometown was Kansas City--which led first to the nickname K.C. and then to Casey.

How long does a cowboy have to hang on in a rodeo bull-riding competition?
A: Eight seconds. the same is true for bareback-bronc and saddle-bronc events.

In what direction--clockwise or counterclockwise --do horses race in Europe?
A: Clockwise. In the United States they race counterclockwise.

What do baseball fans have Reuben Berman to thank for?
A: His 1921 lawsuit against the New York Giants, which established a fan's right to keep a baseball hit into the stands.

Four players on the first New York Mets team became major-league managers. Name them.
A: Gil Hodges, Don Zimmer, Roger Craig and Jim Marshall were the four future manages on Casey Stengel's 1962 Mets.

How many characters are the names of registered thoroughbred horses limited to in the United States.?
A: Eighteen (including spaces).

What baseball player said, "Some people give their bodies to science, I give mine to baseball"?
A: Ron Hunt--who was hit by a record-setting 243 pitches during his career.

What is the minimum weight permitted for a baseball in the major leagues?
A: The minimum is 5 ounces. (The maximum weight allowed is 5-1/4 ounces.)

What was the name of the very first video game?
A: Pong--which was introduced in 1972 by Noel Bushnell, who soon after created Atari.

What did pentathlon and decathlon winner Jim Thorpe reply when Sweden's King Gustav V called him "the greatest athlete in the world" as he presented him his gold medals at the 1912 Olympics?
A: "Thanks, King." Thorpe, who was later disqualified for alleged professionalism, was posthumously restored to the roster of Olympic champions in  1982.

What does zugzwang describe in the game of chess?
A: A situation in which all possible moves are to the player's disadvantage.

What was the original meaning of bogey--the golf term that now indicates one stroke over par?
A: It originally meant par--and still does in Great Britain.

Who was on the mound for the Brooklyn dodgers when Yankee right hander Don Larsen pitched his perfect game in the 1956 World Series?
A: Sal Maglie, who allowed only five hits l the 2-0 Dodger loss.