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40 Random Bits of Sports Trivia to Tuck Up Under Your Guardian Cap

Like ‘Big League Chew’ for your brain

40 Random Bits of Sports Trivia to Tuck Up Under Your Guardian Cap

January 27, 2025

We wanted to ball these up and stuff them in our brains all at once, but we realized that each one provides its own little tidbit, and should be appreciated as the individual it is. Just like in sports, a team is made up of individual players. On this roster, they might all be wearing the same Cracked logo on the front of the jersey, but they get to wear their names on the back.

Speaking on behalf of the organization, we appreciate you facts. Now get out there and teach these people a lesson!

40

Tim Thomas

NHL goalie Tim Thomas got paid for his year off. EASY BUCK$ BRUINS 3 aUER The Boston Bruins goalie decided to take a year off from hockey in 2012, but wouldn't retire, so the Bruins were forced to pay his $5 million salary and/or trade him. They traded him to the Islanders, who helped with the tab. CRACKED

39

Diego Maradona

The Hand of God CRACKED.COM Soccer player Diego Maradona scored on a deliberate hand ball in the 1986 World Cup, but the refs didn't notice, SO the goal counted. Maradona himself dubbed it the Hand of God, and contends that it's not technically cheating. — Source: The Guardian

38

Andre Agassi

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were bitter tennis rivals. Chenpibnsis The Wmslea: And it came to a head during a charity match. Sampras and Agassi feud

37

Tennis

TENNIS Steffi Graf CRACKED.COM During a match at Wimbledon, a fan yelled out Steffi, will you marry me? Instead of launching her racket at his larynx, as she had every right to do, she put him on the spot: How much money do you have?

36

The Great Soccer Con

A former soccer player conned his way into a 20 year career without playing a single game. CRACKED.COM Carlos Kaiser Raposo used every trick to dupe his clubs' coaches, team-mates and fans to live the dream as a globe- trotting pro for two de- cades while barely being able to kick a ball. — Source

35

Football

The clumsy forward pass loophole FOOTBALL M CRACKED.COM Until 1978, anyone on the field could toss the football forward at any time, provided they made it look like an accident. Then the Holy Roller incident occurred -- John Madden's Oakland Raiders faux-fumbled the ball to each other until they bumbled into the endzone for a last-minute, come-from-behind victory. — Source: 14 Bizarro Rules From The Weird World Of Pro Sports

34

Championships

MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS BILL RUSSELL & HENRI RICHARD CRACKED.COM Brady needs 5 more Superbowls. Yes, the NBA had 8-11 teams at the time, and the NHL had 6-12, but 11 championships in any era shows utter dominance. Bill Russell won 11 NBA titles with the Celtics in a 13 year career (1956-69), and Henri Richard won 11 Stanley Cups for Montreal from 1955-75. Current NHLers have 3 and Lebron has 4. — Source: Nbcsports

33

No Love Lost

The longest point in tennis history took 29 minutes. GRACKED.COM There is no time limit in tennis. In a match between Vicki Nelson and Jean Hepner in 1984, the ball was hit back and forth 643 times before a single point was awarded. — Source: NY Times

32

NFL Coaches

Longest Coach Suspension NFL VL BOWL CRACKED COM Saints coach Sean Payton was given a one-year suspension in 2012. And all he did was give his team cash payments for every opposing player they intentionally injured! — Source: 15 Embarrassing Sports Records No One Wants To Break

31

Keanu Reeves

Sport Celebrities Keanu Reeves was the MVP goalie for the De La Salle College hockey team. Не was nicknamed The Wall. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Mahershala Ali

Sport Celebrities Mahershala Ali played for St. Mary's on a basketball scholarship. Не would do a graduate program for acting at New York University after his college b-ball career was done. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Soccer

America is one of the few countries where soccer is not the most popular sport. The map shows the most popular sports in every country. The color green represents soccer. Rather ironic considering the US Women's Soccer team has won the World Cup three times, more than any other country. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Longest Field Goals Ever

The longest recorded field goal in the NFL is shorter than those in college and high school games. CRACKED.COM The 66 yard kick by Balti- more Ravens' Justin Tucker was under a Nevada high school student's 68 yard goal in 1985. The longest ever recorded was 69 yards, by Ove Johansson at Abilene Christian University. — ESPN

27

The NBA

Most Fruitless Freethrow Shooting St-Louis BOMBERS GRACKED.COM Before the NBA, the Basketball Association of America was the premier league for US ballers. At one point in the 1940's, Griff Roux set a record that stands to this day: he took 20 free throws in a single game, and missed every last one. — Source: 15 Embarrassing Sports Records No One Wants To Break

26

Washington Commanders

CRACKED FedEx WASHINGTON 0330 FedEx BOLD CIROC Fed - - C GEICO GEICO GEICO GEICO GEICO GEICO GEICO WASH/NGTON FOOTBALL and NO ONIHS THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS HELD BACK VISITING TEAMS' TICKET REVENUE. NFL bylaws require all home teams to share 40% of its ticket sales with each visiting team, but an ongoing investigation alleges that the Washington Commanders withheld that revenue with its visiting rivals. — Front Office Sports

25

Lefties

CRACKED LEFT-HANDEDNESS IN SPORTS Lefties have a statistical advantage in sports that involve direct one-on-one interaction, like baseball, tennis, and boxing. This is because they are a bit of a surprise, since most opponents aren't used to facing someone who is left-handed. — ABC / DW

24

The Glowing Puck

Sports Reinvented THE NHL'S GLOWING PUCK After new fans complained that the puck was hard to follow, Fox Sports experimented with FoxTrax, a luminescent disc in the puck that debuted (and completely failed) at the 1996 All-Star game. CRACKED — Fox Sports
Slate

23

The Washington Capitals

CRACKED CAPITAL ONE ARENA WAS VOTED THE WORST VISITING LOCKER ROOM IN THE NHL. In a recent poll, 42% of NHL players said that Washington's Capital One Arena had the worst visiting locker room. One player compared the shower to a prison shower, with just one pole in the middle for all to share. — YouTube

22

Rome

CRACKED CAMPO DE' FIORI 7,000 Dutch soccer fans wrecked a Roman marketplace. Some 7,000 fans of the Rotterdam soccer team Feyenoord traveled to Rome for a game against AS Roma, which ended in a draw. Dutch soccer fans took over the central marketplace known as the Field of Flowers, and left it a field of trash, before moving on to vandalize La Barcaccia fountain designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. — NPR

21

Emma Watson

Sport Celebrities Emma Watson never played quidditch, but she did play field hockey for Brown University. CRACKED.COM — BuzzFeed

20

College Football

In most states in the U.S., the highest-paid public employees are college football and basketball coaches. FOOTBALL COLLEGE PRE SIDENT LAN COACH - CALLESE ... SOCIAL COLLEGE MED SCHOOL PRESIDENT DEAN FOOTBALL has TMACK MED SCHOOL COACH CALCA CHANCELLOR FOOTBALL MED SCHOOL BAGKETBALL WE SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH COREM COACH DEPT CHAIR FOOTBALL DEAN MASHOTBALL BASKETBALL CRACK ENT COACH FOOTBALL BASKETBALL COACH FOOTBALL MED SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH* COACH FOOTBALL PLASTIC COLLEGE COACH BASKET COACH SURGEON FOOTBALL FOOTBALL Sell FOOTBALL COACH POW FOOTBALL Chair COACH COACH Mell FOOT State COACH BALL BASKET. BASKETBALL FOOTBALL COACH BALL COACH BASKETBALL COACH Clack COACH BASKETBALL COACH — Source

19

Derek Fisher

Longest Time Not Really... Doing Anything NBA CRACKED.COM LA Lakers point guard Derek Fisher once spent 34 minutes without a single point, assist, or even a rebound. — Source

18

Amateur Soccer

An amateur football team faces punishment for playing a game after the Queen's death. - FAZZANO 17 CRACKED.COM Two football teams who played the weekend after the Queen died are being investi- gated and will be dealt with in the strongest possible terms. Sports such as horse racing, cricket and rugby continued as planned. — Sky News

17

Fantasy Football

FANTASY FOOTBALL CRACKED.COM Drug lords Pablo Escobar and El Mexicano hand-picked a dream team of pro soccer players and flew them to Escobar's private field. Today, fans of every sport play in virtual fantasy leagues, and many believe this was the very first Fantasy game ever played. — Source: 15 Embarrassingly Kooky Details From The World Of Organized Crime

16

Jason Segel

Sport Celebrities merican ULI Airlines PIA Bank of Jason Segel played high school basketball for Harvard-Westlake alongside future NBA stars Jaron and Jason Collins. CRACKED.COM — Men's Journal

15

Robin Roberts

Sport Celebrities Good Morning America host Robin Roberts played on the Southeastern Louisiana University basketball team and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. CRACKED.COM — Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

14

Ellie Kemper

Sport Celebrities Ellie Kemper was on the championship team for field hockey at Princeton University. CRACKED.COM — Random College Athletes/Twitter

13

George Clooney

Sport Celebrities A talented high school baseball player, George Clooney tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. Не didn't make it past the first round, but he's doing alright. CRACKED.COM — MLB.com

12

Snoop Dogg

CRACKED SNOOP DOGG IS BIDDING ON AN NHL HOCKEY TEAM. As a massive fan of hockey, Snoop attends a ton of L.A. Kings games. He's now throwing in with businessman Neko Sparks to co-own the Ottawa Senators, in the hopes of helping grow the sport in the black community. — CBS / Billboard

11

Premiere League

Shortest Career PREMIERE LEAGUE FOOTBALL CRACKED.COM Joe Sheerin was called up from Chelsea's bench at the literal last minute. Не was subbed in with less than 60 seconds remaining in their 1997 win over Wimbledon (and never played in another game). — Source: 15 Embarrassing Sports Records No One Wants To Break

10

Umps

If the ump missed it, the fans made the call BASEBALL CRACKED.COM Until 1911, there was a rule in the MLB that said Should the umpire be unable to see whether a catch has been fairly made or not, he shall be at liberty to appeal to the bystanders. — Source: 14 Bizarro Rules From The Weird World Of Pro Sports

9

Baseball

You could, at one time, run the bases backward BASEBALL CRACKED.COM In a 1908 game, a Detroit Tiger successfully stole second base -- but his goal wasn't to steal the base, it was to distract the catcher, allowing another baserunner to steal home. When it didn't work, he ran back to first base to try it over until he got it right. MLB changed the rules the next day, calling the reverse-steal a travesty of the game. — Source: 14 Bizarro Rules From The Weird World Of Pro Sports

8

Wilt Chamberlain

MOST 50-POINT BE NBA GAMES WILT CHAMBERLAIN ORIGINAL CRACKED.COM This mark is even more unreachable than his (bonus unbreakable record) 100-point game. Wilt Chamberlain's 118 50-point games is nearly 4 times as many as second place Michael Jordan's 31. From 1958 to 1973, Wilt the Stilt dominated the NBA, and in 1961-62 alone he had 45 50-point games (more than any other player's entire career). — Source: Stadiumtalk

7

NHL Records

50 GOALS IN 39 NHL GAMES WAYNE GRETZKY CRACKED.COM Yes, Wayne again. Once Maurice Rocket Richard made 50 goals in 50 games possible in 1944-45, it became a mark for NHL goal scorers. Only a handful of other NHL greats have hit 50 in 50, but in 1983-84 Gretzky reached 50 in only 39 games. In today's NHL, a player reaching 50 goals in a full 82 game season is a noteworthy feat. — Source: Thehockeywriters

6

Glen Hall

CONSECUTIVE NHL STARTS AS A GOALIE GLEN HALL Glenn HALL CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS GRACKED.COM Glenn Hall's 502 consecutive starts from 1955-1962 almost doubles the 2nd most (257). In today's NHL, playing a starting goalie more 65/70 times in an 82 game season could cost a coach his job, so over 6 straight seasons is just not possible. Oh and Mr. Goalie finished every single one without a mask! — Source: Thehockeywriters

5

Goalies

The phantom goalie CRACKED.COM A Brazilian ourth-division soccer club was caught sending their masseur onto the field to plug up the goal during a crucial late-match play. He actually made two impressive saves to maintain a tie game! — Source: Daily Mail

4

The Own-Goal Incentive

The own-goal own- incentive SOCCER MOKED CRACKED.COM A 1994 match in the Caribbean Cup saw a shameful race to score the most own-goals in the last few minutes. Due to the tourney's scoring policy, it was in Grenada's interest to lose, rather than tie, and it was in Barbados' interest to match Grenada's score and take it to overtime. — Source: 5 Dumb Ways People Have Won at Sports

3

Hockey

You had to defend your championship HOCKEY I is se CRACKED.COM Up until 1914, almost any other team in the leaegue could challenge the current holders of the Stanley Cup, at any point in the season, and force a de facto championship. — Source: 5 Old-Timey Rules Sports Should Bring Back Immediately

2

The NHL

Any jerk at the game could become the goalie HOCKEY CRACKED.COM Every NHL team has a spare goalie waiting in the wings, though they're rarely called upon. Rarer still, if they blow through two goalies in one game, they can sign any ol' schmoe for a one-game contract. In 2020, zamboni driver David Ayres got to play a game for the Carolina Hurricanes. He won! — NHL

1

Steve Carell

Sport Celebrities Steve Carell played Division II hockey at Denison University, and even considered a career in the NHL. CRACKED.COM — Source

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