Ten Strange & Obscure Sports Facts
24th May 2024
We've all memorized the iconic moments of our favorite teams. We remember where we were when they won big games, lost bigger games, became hometown heroes and more. But how's your random sports trivia knowledge? The world of sports is rife with obscure, lesser-known facts and stats that seem impossible. Here are just a few of them that stuck out to us.
- Tug of War isn't just a game made up for summer camps. From 1900-1920, it was featured in the Summer Olympics!
- Shaquille O'Neal missed more than a few free throws over his career. He missed 5,317, to be exact.
- From 1990-1998, when Michael Jordan was on the Chicago Bulls, the team never experienced a three-game losing streak.
Photo credit: sneakernews.com - Prairie View A&M's football team had a rough patch for a while. From 1989-1998, the football team lost 80 straight games—which stands as the longest consecutive losing streak in sports history.
- Former home-run king Roger Maris never intentionally walked the year he hit 61 home runs.
- Michael Phelps' medal count at the Olympics puts him ahead of nearly 100 nations on the all-time list.
- On average, less than 18 minutes of a baseball game is actual action. That's a lot of standing around!
- The 60+ home run mark has only been eclipsed eight times in the history of baseball. Sammy Sosa accounts for three of those eight times.
- Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain never fouled out of a game in his storied basketball career. Not once.
- Michael Jordan was nicknamed "Magic" in high school after Lakers great Magic Johnson. That would've created plenty of confusion had the nickname stuck in the pros!
Sports will always be full of big moments and exciting games, and plenty more head-scratching stats are bound to come with them. What are some of your favorite random sports facts? Let us know in the comments below!