Sports Packet by Tejas Raje, with additional questions from Allen He
Tossups
1. Along with the Seattle Pilots, this franchise was formed in 1969 and it replaced another franchise in the same city that moved west. Lou Piniella was Rookie of the Year in this team’s inaugural season, and they would lose three consecutive ALCS to the Yankees from 1976-78. Despite that early success, this team has not reached the playoffs since their most World Series win. That championship came in a series featuring a notable blown call by umpire Don Denkinger and it came against their interstate rivals. That win was in 1985 and featured series MVP Bret Saberhagen as well as possibly the greatest player in the history of this franchise, George Brett. For 10 points, name this AL Central team that currently features such players as Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer and plays at Kauffman Stadium in Missouri.
ANSWER: Kansas CityRoyals [Accept either]
2. This player has the dubious distinction of being part of two different teams in consecutive years that all lost three of their games in the memorial cup, the Val d’Or Foreurs and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Though drafted in 1997, this player would only spend two seasons with his first team, the New York Islanders. This player memorably broke down after losing an elimination playoff game by allowing a Patrick Kane hat-trick, among seven goals in total. This player had arguably one of the best games of his career in a historical quadruple-overtime game against the Dallas Stars, one which saw him make 72 saves, one shy of the all-time record. This player’s more recent playoff history sees him less successful, including being benched in favor of backup Cory Schneider in his team’s first-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. The first goalie to captain a team in 60 years is, FTP, what current goalie of the Vancouver Canucks.
ANSWER: Roberto Luongo
3. This man may have received his famous nickname from that of Upper Arlington High School, which he attended. This man was one of three who partnered with manager Mark McCormack to start sports management firm IMG. He attended Ohio State, where he was named the top amateur golfer in the world for three consecutive years. In 1977, he lost a famous one on one battle to Tom Watson called the Duel in the Sun at the British Open, despite shooting 65 and 66 in the last two rounds. In 1962, he won his first tournament, defeating Arnold Palmer at the US Open. Perhaps his most memorable tournament came in 1986 when at the age of 46 he shot a 65 in the last round to win the Masters for the 6th time, becoming the oldest man to ever win it. For 10 points, name this American golfer who holds the record for most major victories in a career with 18 and is nicknamed the Golden Bear.
ANSWER: Jack Nicklaus
4. After retirement, this player made cameo appearances for Torpan Pojat and Sundsvall Dragons in Scandinavia. He was drafted out of an NAIA school but was traded on draft day for Olden Polynice. In 2000, he nearly led his team to the Finals but they blew a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter to the Lakers. His best statistical season came in 1993-94, but he gained negative attention that year for refusing to enter a playoff game when coach Phil Jackson drew up a play for Toni Kukoc to take the game winning shot. He is the all time leader in both assists and steals by a forward, and was a member of the 1992 Dream Team alongside longtime teammate Michael Jordan For 10 points, name this NBA Hall of Famer who won six championships with the Chicago Bulls.
ANSWER: Scottie Pippen
5. In 1942, this team became the first major pro sports team to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best of seven series. A notable past player who played for this team includes the namesake of a Canadian fast food restaurant chain, Tim Horton. Before this team adopted its current nickname, it had been known by names such as the Blueshirts, the Arenas, and the St. Patricks. In addition to holding the longest current playoff drought at 7 seasons, this team currently holds the longest championship drought in the NHL, and has not won since 1967. A famous short story known as ‘The Hockey Sweater’ told of a boy who was forced to wear a jersey from this team and its famous players include Daryl Sittler and Mats Sundin. FTP, name this NHL Original Six team, winner of 13 Stanley Cups, based in Toronto and nicknamed after a national symbol of Canada.
ANSWER: TorontoMaple Leafs [Need Maple Leafs after Toronto is mentioned; prompt on ‘Leafs’]
6. This team was founded after the bankruptcy of the Frankford Yellow Jackets. In the late 1940s they won two consecutive championships with running back Steve Van Buren and head coach Greasy Neale. They have never won the Super Bowl, but they reached it in 1981, a game in which Ron Jaworski threw three interceptions against the Raiders. They are not the Cardinals, but this team once merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers during World War II. Their all time leading passer led them to Super Bowl XXXIX [39] which they lost despite the return of Terrell Owens from a broken leg. For 10 points, name this NFL franchise coached by Andy Reid whose current players include LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick, and who play in Pennsylvania.
ANSWER: PhiladelphiaEagles
7. This man grew up in St Louis, but the Cardinals opted to sign childhood friend Joe Garagiola to play his position instead. According to Win Shares, this three-time AL MVP is the greatest ever at his position. As a player, coach and manager, he has participated in more World Series than any other man at 21, and possibly his most memorable moment in those was leaping into the arms of Don Larsen after his 1956 perfect game. He feuded with George Steinbrenner, who named him manager and then fired him three weeks into the season. He is well known today for his humorous quotes such as “if you see a fork in the road, take it” although according to him, he “really didn’t say everything [he] said”. For 10 points, name this longtime New York Yankee catcher who won 10 World Series as a player.
ANSWER: Lawrence “Yogi” Berra
8. The winning team in this series became the first since 1988 to be down twice in the series and still win. In order to qualify for it, one team defeated the defending champions in the second round and the other only lost 3 games total leading up to it. This series became the first since the league changed the Finals schedule format that the team to lose Game 3 would go on to win the series. In Game 2, the winning team came back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter, as they had done in Game 4 of the previous round. The player who would go on to win the MVP of this series played in Game 4 despite having a fever and hit the game clinching shot, and before Game 5 his coughing was mocked by the other team’s star players, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. For 10 points, identify this series in which players such as Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Championship, defeating the Miami Heat in six games.
ANSWER: 2011 NBA Finals
9. This man holds the all time NFL record in percentage of kickoffs returned for touchdowns. He became a stockbroker after his retirement and is currently the chairman of a technology consulting company in Chicago. In his rookie year, he set the records for most touchdowns and all purpose yards in a single season. Although he grew up in Omaha, he attended college at a school in a neighboring state, where he earned the nickname “The Kansas Comet”. He only played seven years in the NFL, but the Hall of Fame changed their eligibility rules in order to induct him, and he remains the youngest man entered in it. In his autobiography I Am Third, this man wrote about his friendship with a teammate who would go on to die of cancer, Brian Piccolo, and this was adapted into a movie. For 10 points, name this former Chicago Bears running back who was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the film Brian’s Song.
ANSWER: Gale Sayers
10. One player to get kicked off his college basketball team for doing this is Sean Williams. It is not dog-killing but Michael Vick was once arrested on suspicion of doing this. David Kahn was fined for claiming that one of his players had done this, and that player once tweeted a picture that showed evidence of this. One notable player to do this was arrested in a traffic stop shortly after winning the Cy Young award in 2009. Josh Howard claimed in an interview that many players do this in the offseason. One of the most memorable people to do this is a man who is the NBA’s all time leader in technical fouls, whom Peter Vecsey nicknamed Rashweed Wallace. For 10 points, name this activity enjoyed by athletes such as Michael Phelps and Ricky Williams that involves consumption of a certain THC containing drug, which may be done on April 20th.
ANSWER: Smoking Marijuana [Accept any equivalents for marijuana]
11. One team qualified for this match after winning on away goals against a team featuring Park Ji-Sung and DaMarcus Beasley while the other went through on the controversial “ghost goal” by Luis Garcia. The first goal came in less than a minute, scored by a man playing in his seventh match of this type. Two further goals were scored in the first half by Hernan Crespo off assists from Kaka and Andriy Shevchenko. After Dietmar Hamann was introduced at halftime, the winning team scored three goals in six minutes from Vladimir Smicer, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard. The game went to penalties and finished when Jerzy Dudek saved from Andrea Pirlo and Shevchenko. For 10 points, name this Champions League Final in which Liverpool defeated AC Milan in Istanbul to win their fifth European Cup.
ANSWER: 2005Champions League Final (Year required, Champions League Final required before mentioned, prompt on anything mentioning both Liverpool FC and AC Milan)
12. While at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, this man defeated a player so badly one on one that he decided not to enter the NBA. He ended up attending the University of Kansas but left before his senior year and joined the Harlem Globetrotters. He had struggles in Game 7s of the NBA Finals, scoring only 14 points against the deciding game of the 1968 Finals and sitting out the last 6 minutes in 1969, both against the Boston Celtics. He won his first title in 1967 with the Philadelphia Warriors and his second on a team which finished 69-13 in the regular season and featured stars such as Gail Goodrich and Jerry West. His most notable single game performance came in Hershey, Pennsylvania against the New York Knicks, when he made 36 shots and 28 free throws. For 10 points, name this former NBA player who once scored 100 points in a game.
ANSWER: Wilt Chamberlain
13. The city that hosted this event was originally supposed to host in 1908, but that was called off due to a volcanic eruption. There were several memorable results in Track and Field, as Al Oerter won the second of his four consecutive gold medals in the discus and Wilma Rudolph won three golds to become known as the fastest woman in the world. These games also featured the barefoot Abebe Bikila becoming the first black African to win a gold and a memorable decathlon between CK Yang and Rafer Johnson. Perhaps the most famous participant at these games was a Light Heavyweight boxer who was known at the time as Cassius Clay. The main stadium for this event was later the host of the 1990 World Cup Final, and is today the home stadium of both Lazio and Roma. For 10 points, name these Summer Olympic Games, the first to be held in Italy, and the fourth after World War II.
ANSWER: 1960Summer Olympics (Requires both before Summer Olympics are mentioned)
14. One player to win this award did so despite being traded in the middle of the 1984 season. Besides Rick Sutcliffe, one man who won this award twice is a former Harlem Globetrotter who set the all time record with a 1.12 ERA. The first time this award was separated between the two leagues was 1969, and the youngest man ever to win this award is Dwight Gooden. Pedro Martinez won this award in 1997, before winning the corresponding award in the other league twice. The 2012 winner became the first knuckleballer ever to win it, that man is 38 year old RA Dickey. Two players have won this award four times in a row in the past 20 years; those men are Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. For 10 points, name this award named after the winningest pitcher of all time, given to the best pitcher not in the American League.
ANSWER: National League Cy Young Award [Accept NL Cy Young Award; Prompt on Cy Young Award]
15. This man was the 1979 NASL Player of the Year and he was the first player in the history of his national team to receive a red card, something which led to a one year suspension. He left his first club after being voted out as captain and led his new team to their first title in 14 years. As a manager, he would lead that club to the 1992 European Cup with players such as Michael Laudrup and Romario. He led his team to three consecutive European Cups along with managers Rinus Michels and Stefan Kovacs. He only played in one World Cup, in which he led his team to the final and won the Golden Ball. For 10 points, name this Dutchman who led Ajax to three European Cups and is considered the originator of Barcelona’s style of playing, one of the foremost proponents of Total Football.
ANSWER: Johan Cruyff
16. This man was born in Japan and in high school was named Texas Track and Field Athlete of the Year. He reached the semifinals of the US Olympic Trials in the 400 meter hurdles when in college. During his freshman year, he set the NCAA record for most consecutive passes thrown without an interception, but his sophomore year was cut short by an ACL tear. During his senior year, he led his team to the highest scoring bowl game ever, a 67-56 victory over Washington in the Alamo Bowl. That same year, he beat out players such as Tyrann Mathieu and Trent Richardson to win the Heisman Trophy. In 2012, he was selected second overall in the NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. For 10 points, name this former Baylor quarterback.
ANSWER: Robert Griffin III (Accept RG3)
17. This player tried to make a comeback in the early 90s, but lost all four matches while playing with a wooden racket. He still holds the record for most consecutive Davis Cup singles victories with 33. He won his first match in that competition at the age of 15 and won his first French Open two years later, becoming the youngest man to do so. He never won the US Open, losing in the finals four times including twice to Jimmy Connors. In 1980, he won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon in a match featuring a legendary fourth set tiebreak against main rival John McEnroe. However, he would lose to McEnroe at both Wimbledon and the US Open in 1981 and after playing only one tournament in 1982, shockingly announced his retirement in 1983 at the age of 26. For 10 points, name this Swedish tennis player who won 6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledons.
ANSWER: Bjorn Borg
18. Before his first title fight, this man’s career record was 44 wins and 20 losses and he had 54 knockouts in his career. He took his nickname from his idol, the only heavyweight champion ever to go through a career undefeated. Twenty years after his retirement, he returned to fight younger boxer Mason Dixon in Las Vegas and despite his age managed to lose to a split decision. After fighting 10 title defenses against weaker boxers, he lost to Clubber Lang, but was able to defeat Lang in the rematch after being coached by his friend and former rival. He fought a memorable bout in Russia in order to avenge the death of that man at the hands of Ivan Drago. His first title fight came after he was picked as an unknown boxer to fight World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed, and he lost that match despite going the full 15 rounds. For 10 points, name this fictional boxer from Philadelphia played by Sylvester Stallone.
ANSWER: RockyBalboa
19. This man started his career with the Baltimore Colts after graduating from Wesleyan University. His first head coaching job came with the Cleveland Browns, but he was fired right before the team moved to Baltimore. He won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells. Parcells later handpicked him as his successor at one job, but instead this man handed in a napkin saying only “I resign as HC of the NYJ”. One controversy involving this man occurred when a former assistant accused him of illegally videotaping opposing teams. He won the first of his three Super Bowl rings as head coach after Drew Bledsoe was injured and replaced by backup Tom Brady. For 10 points, name this current head coach of the New England Patriots.