35 Random Bits of Old-School Sports Trivia That Probably Think Helmets Are ‘Namby-Pamby’

Concussions didn’t exist back in our day!
35 Random Bits of Old-School Sports Trivia That Probably Think Helmets Are ‘Namby-Pamby’

Welcome to the good ol’ days — where we were just dripping with amazing underdog stories and otherworldly stats. 

Well, to be fair, professional sports are ongoing things, so modern-day sports have their stories and stats, too. But we’re salty old dogs, so ours were better for some reason. They had more grit and less padding! 

You know what? We’ll stop hyping them up, and let these nostalgic sporty tidbits speak for themselves. Take notes, youngins.

The Miracle Mets

THE MIRACLE METS Mets Nets Mets 53 R 8 CRACKED.COM The N.Y Mets were last or 2nd last in the division for their 7 seasons, but in their 8th in 1969, they won the pennant and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The O's won 109 games that year (an AL record that remained unbroken until 1998) but the Mets won the series 4-1 in one of the most stunning upsets in sports history.

The Los Angeles Kings

2011-12 BE L.A KINGS LA CRACKED COM From The Kings struggled to score all season, changed coaches, and stumbled into the playoffs as the 8th seed. Miraculously, they finished the playoffs with a 16-4 record, became the 1st team to take a 3-0 lead in all 4 series, the 1st to start the playoffs by going 10-0 away from home, and the 1st (and only) 8th seed team to win the Stanley Cup.

Villanova

VILLANOVA VS GEORGETOWN VILLANOVA 32 CRACKED.COM In 1985, the #1 seed Georgetown Hoyas had a 35-2 record, and were 9-point favorites over the Villanova Wildcats, who stumbled into the final with a meek 19-10 record. With a 66-64 win, Villanova had The Perfect Game in one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history, and remain the lowest seed (8) to ever win a national championship.

Super Bowl XLII

N.Y GIANTS GIANTS WIN! S CRACKED.COM In 2008, the New England Patriots entered Super Bowl XLII with a perfect 19-0 record. A remarkable catch from David Tyree sparked a drive in the 4th quarter, and with just 35 seconds left, Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass for one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.

Buster Douglas

BUSTER BE DOUGLAS CRACKED.COM What many call the biggest upset in all of sports, Mike Tyson entered the ring having won all 37 of his fights, and was without a loss for almost 5 years. At the Tokyo Dome, Tyson was clearly a heavy favorite, but James Buster Douglas (with a 29-4-1 record) shocked the world by knocking him out in the 10th round.

Juan Martin del Porto

JUAN MARTIN BE del POTRO ! KOON AEGO CRACKED.COM Roger Federer is one of the best Tennis players of all time, and from 2003 to 2009, he won 14 majors, including 5 U.S Opens and 6 Wimbledon titles. In 2009, he was clearly favored to win his 6th U.S Open, but was beaten by 20 year old Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro, who has never won another major trophy.

Underdog Patriots

THE PATRIOTS CRACKED.COM It's hard to imagine Tom Brady & The Patriots as underdogs, but Brady was the 199th pick in 2000 (with 6 QBs picked before him), and the Rams' Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk had both recently been named NFL MVPs. Brady delivered an MVP performance in Super Bowl XXXVI, and beat the Rams 20-17 for his first of 7 championships.

The World Cup

GREECE VS EUROPE igno Author CRACKED.COM In 2004, Greece entered the Euro tournament for the first time in 24 years. No one expected much, but their boring style beat France in the quarterfinals, Czech Republic in the semis, and the host-team Portugal in the final, sealing one of the most remarkable victories in the history of European soccer.

Super Bowl III

N.Y JETS VS BALTIMORE COLTS 12 GRAGKED.COM Jets quarterback Joe Namath grew up idolizing Colts' QB Johnny Unitas, and almost everyone expected the Colts to brush the Jets aside, as they had done to most teams that season. But in 1969, the Jets exposed the myth that the NFL was far superior than the little league AFL, beating the Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

John Daly

JOHN DALY CRACKED COM John Daly was called to fill in for Nick Price just days before the 1991 U.S PGA Championship. Не drove halfway across the country to play on a course he had never set foot on, but despite his rookie status and less than ideal preparation, the 25 year old won by 3 shots, and claimed his first of 2 majors.

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).

The Celtics

CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS BOSTON CELTICS CELTICS CELTICS CELTICS 6 CELTICS 17 CELTICS 1 A CELTICS CELTICS 1 15 2 24 18 CS LE ILTICS ELTIGA ELTIC ULTICS 23 a 21 CRACKED COM Back to back is 2, and a dynasty is 4, so The Boston Celtics had back to back dynasties with 8 straight from 1959-1966. The Yankees and Montreal Canadiens won 5 straight, and no NFL team has more than 2 in a row. With more teams, longer playoffs, and salary caps, Kobe's 2000-02 Lakers were the last (in any sport) to even three-peat.

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.

Jerry Rice

MOST RECEIVING YARDS JERRY RICE 34 27 80 49 25 CRACKED.COM Wide receivers will forever be compared to Jerry Rice. With 12 of the most coveted NFL receiving records, none are more impressive or unbreakable than his 22,895 all-time receiving yards. A player would need 1150 yards for 20 consecutive seasons and #2's Larry Fitzgerald is over 5,000 yards behind Jerry.

Cal Ripken Jr.

CONSECUTIVE MLB GAMES BE CAL RIPKEN JR. uieles CRACKED.COM With no active player within 2000 games of Ripken, this streak is untouchable. Whether it's for player safety or protecting the asset, teams today do not risk injury, so playing 2632 consecutive games (over 16 years) is just not possible. Cal Ripken Jr. may never see a player reach even half of his streak.

Michael Phelps

MOST OLYMPIC MEDALS MICHAEL PHELPS Rice CRACKED COM With his unbreakable tally of 23 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals, Phelps is the most decorated Olympian ever. Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina sits 10 behind Phelps with 18 medals in the 50s and 60s. With almost 6 golds in 4 straight Olympics, Phelps has more Olympic golds than 66 countries' entire history.

Bill Russell and Henri Richard

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.

UConn Women’s Basketball

CONSECUTIVE WINS UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WH GOV UCONN 11 GRACKED COM The greatness won't quit. The incredible 111 game winning streak included 2 National Championships. After a loss to Stanford in 2014, the Huskies went on two winning streaks of over 100 games, breaking the previous NCAA record of 90 (set by earlier Huskies teams) and proving the program's dominance.

Ricky Henderson

MOST STOLEN BASES RICKEY HENDERSON S CRACKED.COM In the Majors, Henderson stole an incredible 1406 bases from 1979 to 2003. With Lou Brock in 2nd at 938, and considering a new player would have to steal more than 70 bases for 20 consecutive seasons to match it, Rickey's record is... Safe! (Sorry).

Brett Favre

CONSECUTIVE BE NFL STARTS BRETT FAVRE 4 CRACKED.COM They don't play 'em like they used to. From 9/27/1992 to 12/5/2010, Brett Favre started an all-time NFL-leading 297 consecutive games. As of now, active player Ndamukong Suh has 161 but with modern injury and recovery protocols, it's safe to say that no player will start 17.5 seasons straight (in the new 17-game season).

Wayne Gretzky

MOST NHL POINTS WAYNE GRETZKY ETA BAN Close CRACKED.COM Gretzky holds (bonus unbreakable record) 61 NHL records, but his 2,857 all-time points sit almost 1,000 above #2's Jaromir Jagr. Jagr's 1,921 all-time points means that if Gretzky never scored a single one of his all-time record 894 goals, his 1,963 assists alone would still make him the all-time leader in overall points.

Sammy Sosa

In 2004 slugger Sammy Sosa sneezed so hard that he strained a ligament in his back. Не ended up on the disabled list and missed a full month of the Major League Baseball season. CRACKED.COM

Alan Wright

Famous British footballer Alan Wright was a tiny bit short for his new Ferrari. Не strained his knee, trying to reach for the pedal and AST needed medical attention. COMPOYER Wright later traded his Ferrari for a Rover 416. Mitry CRACKED.COM

Mark Cavendish

Cycling champion Mark Cavendish hurt himself playing Wii. Cavendish was playing snowboarding on his Wii when he slipped and injured a calf muscle. Thankfully, his injury was in the off-season. MIX RUDY BA M alba - SPORT AIN LECOL BAHRAIN MCLAREN LE CO. CRACKED.COM

Homer Simpson, Hall of Famer

Homer Simpson got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame a few years ago. WONDER BAT It was thanks to the 1992 episode Homer at the Bat, in which he played for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team. CRACKED.COM

Source

Most Consecutive Shutouts by a Goalkeeper

CONSECUTIVE BE SHUTOUTS MAZAROPI CRACKED.COM Nothing gets by him. Mazaropi is a Brazilian goalkeeper who holds the world record for the longest professional shutout streak. Edwin van der Sar had 11 consecutive shutouts in the '08/'09 Premier League, but Mazaropi's streak of over 20 games (1,816 minutes) in the '77/'78 Rio de Janeiro State Championship is nearly impossible to break.

Source: The18

The Rock

The Rock CRACKED.COM Yeah, no duh, The Rock was a pro wrestler. But before that, he won a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes as a defensive end. An injury kept him out of the NFL, but he played Canadian ball for a little while.

Roy Oswalt

Roy Oswalt Houston Astros CRACKED COM In 2005, Oswalt's contract said that if the team won the National League championship, he'd get a frickin' bulldozer. That seemed to be enough incentive for him, because the Astros won the NCLS and Oswalt got his dozer.

Ryan Klesko

Major League Baseball player Ryan Klesko hurt his back lifting a lunch A tray. His upper back seized up in a restaurant when he tried to pick up his l

Vin Baker

HDOT Former NBA all-star player Vin Baker worked at Starbucks as a barista and manager. Also, he was a youth minister at Abyssinian Baptist Church. Th

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