32 Nostalgic Pieces of Trivia About Sports and Athletes That Will Make You Pine for the Past

Remember when the MLB was just steeped in steroids? Good times
32 Nostalgic Pieces of Trivia About Sports and Athletes That Will Make You Pine for the Past

Most athletes and games come and go, but a select few really stick with us. We won’t remember that random regular season game from 1996, but we can always recall that one big Game 7 of the NBA Finals or the time that a sport’s best player did something otherworldly.

Whether you’re into sports or not, these big players or games are like moments in time. Who could forget the 1990s Bulls or the fact that Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins played Sea Bass in Dumb and Dumber? 

We never will. And now, neither will you. 

The Hand of God

The Hand of God 100 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.

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

Tim Tebow

CRACKED TIM TEBOW HAD ONE HISTORIC SEASON. ONE. His 2011 season has been called the single best season in NFL history. His historic run had a 6 game win streak, 4 consecutive 4th quarter comebacks, and an AFC West title. Then he never started another NFL game, and was out of the league 2 years later.

The Simpsons

Producers struck out with MLB HALL OF FAMERS B с دون TON A CRACKED.COM Homer at the Bat is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But some members of its all-star cast were fill-in players. Director Bonnie Pietila was turned down by all-timers Ryne Sandberg, Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan, and Rickey Henderson.

Nolan Ryan

MOST NO-HITTERS NOLAN RYAN T CRACKED.COM It's truly astounding. Since 1880, 29 MLB pitchers have thrown 2 no-hitters. 4 pitchers (Hall of Famers Cy Young, Bob Feller, and soon-to-be added Justin Verlander) have thrown 3 no-hitters. Legendary Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax threw 4, so you'd have to add 2 full Hall of Fame careers to match Nolan Ryan's unbelievable 7 no-hitters.

Dumb and Dumber

SEA BASS IS AN NHL HALL-OF- FAMER CRACKED.COM As Rhode Islanders, the Farrellys were huge Boston Bruins fans, and gave NHLer Cam Neely the role of Sea Bass in their debut film. Neely tallied 694 points in 726 NHL games, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he might always be known as Sea Bass.

Kobe Bryant

KOBE BRYANT POSTHUMOUSLY GOT BASKETBALL'S HIGHEST HONOR. LAKERS He's one of nine people inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020. And his daughter Gianna and her teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, who all perished in the same crash as Kobe, were made honorary draft picks for the WNBA. That would have been a dream come true, says her mother Vanessa. CRACKED.COM

The Olympics

The dirtiest race in history CITAL of CRACKED.COM 6 of 8 finalists from a 1988 record-breaking 100-meter race would later go down for doping. Most notably, the winner, Ben Johnson, was doped up in that very race. Ironically, upon receiving his medal, he said this world record will last 50 years, maybe 100.

Bill Murray

EASTER EGGSTRA SPACE Bill Murray's intention CAM of joining the NBA in the movie is a callback to a string of basketball ads he did in the early '90s. When Michael Jordan retired from basketball in 1993 and later signed on to play baseball, it inspired the NBA to do a series of spoof ads in which Murray announced that he was retiring from acting to take up a career in basketball. CRACKED.COM

Drew Bledsoe

NFL legend Drew Bledsoe retired from pro football to open his own winery. Rodded THIS DOUBLESACK 1 11 CABERNET SAUVIGNON Не grew up in the Walla 2015 Walla Valley, which happens WALLA WALLA VALLEY to be renowned for its wine industry. His winery, Doubleback Winery, is named after the fact that he finally came home. GRACKED.COM

Mark McGwire

CRACKED SELLING A BASEBALL. In 1998, Mark McGwire set the all-time record with his 70th home run of the season. Philip Ozersky caught the ball, and sold it for over $3 million. Since McGwire's steroid scandal, the ball's value drastically decreased to roughly $250,000. Kandinals

Kevin James

Jocks playing dorks RITY si POLICIO DUM RD KEVIN JAMES is known for his physical comedy in films and shows like The King of Queens and Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but before his rise to fame he was a college football player at the State University of New York. CRACKED

Jonathan Cheechoo

CRACKED CCM 4 DOCKER 20 o OTA 14 ASTON 4 VAUGHN BAUER NHDI VAUCH TON JONATHAN CHEECHOO WAS AN ELITE NHL PLAYER FOR ONE SEASON. In 2006, he won the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy for the most goals in a season with 56 goals. Не never again came close to that, and was sent to the minors in 2010.

Keanu Reeves

KEANU REEVES SKATED SMOOTHLY FROM HOCKEY TO ACTING. O O M 1 Keanu played hockey at school, so it was only natural that one of his first roles was as a hockey goalie in 1986's Youngblood. CRACKED.COM

Quadruple Doubles

CRACKED 13 Only FOUR BASKETBALL PLAYERS have ever managed to get a QUADRUPLE DOUBLE in the NBA. It all happened between 1974 and 1994.

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

Wayne Gretzky

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.

Wilt Chamberlin

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).

The Longest Point in Tennis History

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.

Most 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.

Steffi Graf

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?

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi

Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were bitter tennis rivals. The Championships And it came to a head during a charity match. Sampras and Agassi feuded on and off the court until Sampras' retirement. In 2010 they reunited for a charity doubles tournament, and spent their round mocking one another on open mics and aiming shots at one another's heads. CRACKED.COM https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/mar/16/andre-agassi-apologises-pete-sampras

Jim Harbaugh

JIM HARBAUGH SAVED BY THE BELL: THE NEW CLASS CRACKED.COM The hard-assed Michigan coach and former NFL quarterback was cast against type as Screech's cousin. After that performance, I thought, gosh, I'm not a very good actor.

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Marijuana Use in the NBA

CRACKED.COM Charles Oakley, legendary 20 year NBA player, says a majority of players are toking up before games. PULLS 38 Trist 34 PARISA ''You got guys out there playing high every night. You got 60 percent of your league on marijuana.

Source: CBC News

Curt Schilling

Pitcher Curt Schilling was an avid online gamer during his Major League career. Sox RED After retiring, he founded 38 Studios. It not only went under,

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon is good at ping-pong. Spin YORK NEW She loves the sport SO much that she co-founded SPiN, a chain of table tennis clubs and bars. It no

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