Sports - Bizarre Facts - page 1

Sports

Bizarre Fact #1:
Did you know...
A squash ball moving at 150 kilometers per hour has the same impact of a .22 bullet.

Bizarre Fact #2:
Did you know...
Approximately one out of four injuries by athletes involve the wrist and hand.

Bizarre Fact #3:
Did you know...
Bill Russell was the first black head coach of a major league pro sports team.

Bizarre Fact #4:
Did you know...
Billiards used to be so popular at one time that cigarette cards were issued featuring players.

Bizarre Fact #5:
Did you know...
Ellen Macarthur, yachtswoman, had a total of 891 naps in 94 days that were each 36 minutes long while on her Vendee Round the Globe yacht race.

Bizarre Fact #6:
Did you know...
Historically, a blue ribbon has been awarded for first prize.

Bizarre Fact #7:
Did you know...
In Australia, a common "Boxing day" activity is surfing.

Bizarre Fact #8:
Did you know...
In the 1930's, American track star Jesse Owens used to race against horses and dogs to earn a living.

Bizarre Fact #9:
Did you know...
Karate actually originated in India, but was developed further in China.

Bizarre Fact #10:
Did you know...
Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand.

Bizarre Fact #11:
Did you know...
Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido, once pinned an opponent using only a single finger.

Bizarre Fact #12:
Did you know...
On average, it is estimated that females injure themselves ten time more than males do while playing sports.

Bizarre Fact #13:
Did you know...
Sports Illustrated has the largest sports magazine circulation.

Bizarre Fact #14:
Did you know...
The 1912, a wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more than 11 hours. Klein eventually won, but was too tired to participate in the championship match.

Bizarre Fact #15:
Did you know...
The expression getting someone's goat is based on the custom of keeping a goat in the stable with a racehorse as the horse's companion. The goat becomes a settling influence on the thoroughbred. If you owned a competing horse and were not above some dirty business, you could steal your rival's goat (seriously, it's been done) to upset the other horse and make it run a poor race. From goats and horses it was linguistically extended to people: in order to upset someone, get their goat.

Bizarre Fact #16:
Did you know...
The game of squash originated in the United Kingdom. It came about after a few boys, who were waiting for their turn to play racquets, knocked a ball around in a confined area adjoining the racquets court.

Bizarre Fact #17:
Did you know...
The game rugby was originated at Rugby school located in England in 1823. This happened when William Webb Ellis, while playing soccer, picked the ball up in his hands and started running with it.

Bizarre Fact #18:
Did you know...
The national sport of Japan is sumo wrestling.

Bizarre Fact #19:
Did you know...
The sport Lacrosse was initially played by Native American Indians. They played the sport to prepare for war.

Bizarre Fact #20:
Did you know...
The sport of surfing originated in Hawaii.

Bizarre Fact #21:
Did you know...
Vasaloppet, which is located in Sweden is the oldest, longest, and the biggest cross-country ski race in the world. Every year, 14,000 people compete in the race.

Bizarre Fact #22:
Did you know...
When playing competitive darts the player must be 7 feet 9 1/4 inches back from the dartboard. Also the board must be 5 feet 8 inches above the floor.

Bizarre Fact #23:
Did you know...
A regulation soccer games is 90 minutes.

Bizarre Fact #24:
Did you know...
Americans spend more than $630 million a year on golf balls.

Bizarre Fact #25:
Did you know...
At 101, Larry Lewis ran the 100 yard dash in 17.8 seconds setting a new world record for runners 100 years old or older.

Bizarre Fact #26:
Did you know...
Australian Rules football was originally designed to give cricketers something to play during the off season.

Bizarre Fact #27:
Did you know...
Baseball cards have been around since 1886. Modern cards, with high-resolution color photographs on the front and player statistics on the back, date from 1953. The photos are taken in the spring, with and without team caps, just in case the player is traded to another team.

Bizarre Fact #28:
Did you know...
Baseball's home plate is 17 inches wide.

Bizarre Fact #29:
Did you know...
Because of fears that the Japanese, who had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier, might attach California, the Rose Bowl game of 1942 between Oregon State and Duke University was moved east to Duke's hometown in Durham, North Carolina. It didn't, however, help the home team. Oregon won, 20-16.

Bizarre Fact #30:
Did you know...
Before 1850, golf balls were made of leather and were stuffed with feathers.

Bizarre Fact #31:
Did you know...
Before 1859, baseball umpires were seated in padded chairs behind home plate.

Bizarre Fact #32:
Did you know...
Billiards great, Henry Lewis once sank 46 balls in a row.

Bizarre Fact #33:
Did you know...
Boxing champion Gene Tunney taught Shakespeare at Yale University.

Bizarre Fact #34:
Did you know...
Boxing is considered the easiest sport for gamblers to fix.

Bizarre Fact #35:
Did you know...
Bulgaria was the only soccer team in the 1994 World Cup in which all 11 players' last names ended with the letters "OV."

Bizarre Fact #36:
Did you know...
Canada beat Denmark 47-0 at the 1949 world hockey championships.

Bizarre Fact #37:
Did you know...
Diddle for the middle is a slang expression used for the start of a darts game. Opposing players each throw a single dart at the bull's eye. The person who is closest starts the game.

Bizarre Fact #38:
Did you know...
Eddie Gaedel was the 3'7' midget who played in only one game against the St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers. In the second inning of a double-header, St. Louis manager, Zach Taylor, sent 3'7', 65-pound Eddie Gaedel up to bat. Gaedel stood in a crouch up at the plate, giving pitcher Bob Cain a strike zone of about one and a half inches. Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches.

Bizarre Fact #39:
Did you know...
Fastest round of golf (18 holes) by a team - 9 minutes and 28 seconds. Set at Tatnuck CC in Worcester in September 9, 1996 at 10:40am.

Bizarre Fact #40:
Did you know...
Four men in the history of boxing have been knocked out in the first eleven seconds of the first round.

Bizarre Fact #41:
Did you know...
Frank Mahovlich played for 3 different teams during his NHL career: Toronto, Detroit, and Montreal. For all three, he wore the number 27.

Bizarre Fact #42:
Did you know...
Gene Sarazen, a golfer from several generations ago, set the record for the fastest golf drive: 120 mph.

Bizarre Fact #43:
Did you know...
Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

Bizarre Fact #44:
Did you know...
Golf-great Billy Casper turned golf pro during the Korean War while serving in the Navy. Casper was assigned to operate and build golf driving ranges for the Navy in the San Diego area.

Bizarre Fact #45:
Did you know...
Golf-great Billy Casper turned golf pro during the Korean War while serving in the Navy. Casper was assigned to operate and build golf driving ranges for the Navy in the San Diego area.

Bizarre Fact #46:
Did you know...
Golfing great Ben Hogan's famous reply when asked how to improve one's game was: "Hit the ball closer to the hole."

Bizarre Fact #47:
Did you know...
Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures.

Bizarre Fact #48:
Did you know...
Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures.

Bizarre Fact #49:
Did you know...
Horse racing is one of the most dangerous sports. Between 2 and 3 jockeys are killed each year. That's about how many baseball players have died in baseball's entire professional history.

Bizarre Fact #50:
Did you know...
In 1870, British boxing champ Jim Mace and American boxer Joe Coburn fought for three hours and 48 minutes without landing one punch.