CommenTerry

Terry's Classic Trivia #9

Not counting leap years, any calendar day will move to the next day of the week the following year. For example, if your birthday fell on a Tuesday in 2002, it fell on a Wednesday in 2003. Leap years make things a little more complicated. 2004 was leap year, so calendar days of March 1 or later in the year, moved two days of the week from 2003. However, calendar days occurring before March 1 do not make the extra day of the week jump until the year following a leap year. So, if your birthday is June 15 and it fell on a Tuesday in 2003, it fell on a Thursday in 2004. Let's say, however, your birthday is February 15. If it fell on a Tuesday in 2003, it fell on a Wednesday in 2004 and fell on a Friday in 2005. Got that?

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Non-leap years always end on the same day of the week that they begin. For example, 2003 began on a Wednesday and ended on a Wednesday.

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From 1975 to 1980, Duke and Clemson had head basketball coaches with the same name: Bill Foster.

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It rains one out of every three days in New York City.

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A new area code can be added to a geographical region via one of two methods: split or overlay. When the split method is chosen, the region is divided in two, with one region retaining the old area code and the other getting the new one. When the overlay method is chosen, the entire region gets an "extra" area code and everyone in that region must then begin dialing ten digits to make local calls.

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Most NFL football players make their homes in or around the cities where they play. Most Major League Baseball players do not.

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Here's an odd fact about the Virginia Squires of the old ABA: In their first year in the league, they finished first in their division; in their second year in the league, they finished second in their division; in their third year in the league, they finished third in their division; in their fourth year in the league, they finished fourth in their division; and in their fifth year in the league, they finished (you guessed it) fifth in their division.

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Speaking of the Virginia Squires, Rick Barry once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a Squires uniform even though he didn't stay with the team long enough to play a single regular season game for them.

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In another odd, it-could-only-happen-in-the-ABA occurence, the 1975 Baltimore Claws expansion franchise played several exhibition games but folded before they could play a single regular season game.

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The NFL has a very obscure rule that has never been utilized in any game I've seen. If a team fair-catches a kickoff, it can request a free-kick field goal attempt from the spot of the fair catch. Under this rule, the kick is attempted just like a kickoff and the other team must clear out of the way and is not allowed to block it. Like a normal field goal attempt, if the ball goes through the uprights, the kicking team is awarded three points.   

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1992 was the last year in which the Winter and Summer Olympics took place in the same year.

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John Madden is the only NFL announcer to have done games for all four major broadcast networks. Madden worked the broadcast booth for CBS from 1981 to 1993, for Fox from 1994 to 2003, and for ABC from 2004 to 2005. He now broadcasts Sunday night games for NBC.

Terry's Classic Trivia #8

The University of Miami in Florida and the University of Miami in Ohio have one more thing in common other than the name "Miami": Neither school is located in a place called Miami. Miami of Florida is located in Coral Gables, FL, while Miami of Ohio is located in Oxford, OH.

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Many people remember the 1984 break-up of Ma Bell, but most forget the other big break-up that occurred that same year - the college football TV contract. Before 1984, the NCAA negotiated the TV contract for all of college football with a network like ABC. That meant a very limited number of games on TV each weekend. The larger Division I schools, which had formed the College Football Association and felt that they didn't get on TV enough, argued in court for a more de-centralized system. They won and the resulting decision gave greater autonomy to conferences and individual schools in negotiating their own TV contracts. That led to more games being televised. It also resulted in the splitting of Division I football into 1-A and 1-AA.

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The following quote is attributed to a famous person: "Politics is when you say one thing with the intention of doing something else. Then, when you are elected, you do neither what you said nor what you intended." Who was it? Mark Twain? Richard Nixon? John F. Kennedy? Actually, believe it or not, it was Saddam Hussein! 

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Three territories of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico, are allowed to participate in the presidential nominating process of both major political parties. They actually have votes at their respective conventions. However, they do not have any electoral votes in the presidential election process.

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It is possible, even with just two candidates in a presidential race, to have a tie in the Electoral College. There are a total of 538 electoral votes, representing the 535 voting members of Congress plus three electoral votes from the District of Columbia. Therefore, the possibility exists that each candidate could come away with 269 electoral votes. 270 is required to win. In case of a situation like that, the House of Representatives would decide the election.

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Even though Jacob (Israel) had only 12 sons and the tribe of Levi didn't get any land inheritance, the land of the Israelites' inheritance was still divided up 12 ways. How could this this be? The tribe of Joseph got a double portion and his tribe is actually counted as two. Each of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each got a 1/12 portion of the land.

Terry's Classic Trivia #7

During World War II, with both teams in danger of folding, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers temporarily merged to form the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Steagles.

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Have you ever wondered why TV comedy series' always last just 30 minutes while TV drama series' always last an hour? It's because the average person's attention span is much shorter for comedies than it is for dramas. Also, the plot lines for comedies are more difficult for their writers to hold together for longer periods of time.

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Most people are familiar with some of the alternate names for Bible characters. For example, Abraham was previously known as Abram, Sarah was previously named as Sarai, and Paul was previously called Saul.

However, did you know God changed Jacob's name to Israel and Esau's name to Edom? That's why Jacob's descendants are referred to as the Children of Israel or Israelites while Esau's descendants are referred to as the Children of Edom or Edomites, even though they were all descendants of Abraham and Isaac.

Other Bible characters with alternative names that you may not be aware of are Joseph/Zaphenath-Paneah, Benjamin/Ben-Oni, Jethro/Raguel/Reuel (Moses' father-in-law), Joshua/Jehoshua/Hoshea, Gideon/Jerubbaal, Naomi/Mara, Esther/Hadassah, Shadrach/Hananiah, Meshach/Mishael, Abdenego/Azariah, Daniel/Belteshazzar, Solomon/Jedidiah, Matthew/Levi, and Peter/Simon/Cephas.

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June and August are the only two months that never have a national or Christian holiday in the United States.

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The Oakland Raiders are the only major professional sports team to relocate back to a city where it was previously located. In 1982, the Raiders left Oakland for Los Angeles. In 1995, the team relocated back to Oakland. 

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The official score of a forfeit in the National League is 1-0, whereas the official score of a forfeit on the American League is 9-0.

Terry's Classic Trivia #6

The longest period between someone being nominated by a major party for vice president and being nominated by that same party for president is 20 years. Bob Dole was nominated by Republicans for vice president in 1976 and then for president in 1996.

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There has been a Dole or a Bush on every GOP national ticket since 1976. That's eight consecutive tickets!

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Virginia and New Jersey are the only two states that hold their gubernatorial elections in the year following a presidential election.

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Glen Campbell's rendition of "Wichita Lineman" was played on the radio more than any other song during the 20th Century.

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When Zell Miller delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Republican convention, he became the first person in history to have done this at both a Republican convention and a Democratic convention. He was the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention in 1992.

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The last time a sitting senator defeated an incumbent president was in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland.

Terry's Classic Trivia #5

In the 1976 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, "Uncommitted" received the most votes. Jimmy Carter came in second.

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In 1974, N.C. State went through the entire NCAA basketball tournament and won the title without having to leave its home state of North Carolina.

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Last year (2004) the first year that all four former ABA teams (Indiana, New Jersey, San Antonio, and Denver) made the playoffs in the same season. These teams joined the league in 1976.

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Here's a tip on how to the spell the word "sacrilegious." Add the letters "sac" to the front of the word "religious" and flip-flop the "e" and the first "i."

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The Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans are both using names previously discarded by other NFL teams. The New York Jets were formerly known as the New York Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs were formerly known as the Dallas Texans.

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The majority of movies with the word "naked" in the title do not contain any nudity.

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One of the many uses of beta blockers is to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). However, scientists and doctors are not really sure exactly how they lower blood pressure.

Terry's Classic Trivia #4

Until its recent acquisition by AT&T, Bell South was the only one of the seven original "Baby Bells" that hadn't merged with one of the others to form a company of a different name. Of the other six, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX merged to form Verizon; Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis merged to form SBC (which later acquired AT&T and took on that company's name); and Ameritech and U.S. West merged to form Qwest.

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Since Super Bowl play began, only two teams with less than two losses in a full regular season have failed to make it to the Super Bowl in their corresponding post-seasons. Those two teams were the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 season and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2004 season. Each had a record of 15-1 during their respective regular seasons. Minnesota lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the 1999 NFC Championship game; Pittsburgh lost to the New England Patriots is the 2005 AFC Championship game.

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Here's a curious coincidence about the 1979 NFL post-season. Going into the Divisional playoffs, the four NFC contenders included one team from Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Eagles), one team from Florida (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), one team from Texas (Dallas Cowboys), and one team from California (Los Angeles Rams). Strangely enough, the final four contenders from the AFC also consisted of one team from each of those states: Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, Houston Oilers, and San Diego Chargers. Going into the conference championship games, there was one team left from each of the represented states as Tampa Bay and Los Angeles were victorious in the NFC Divisional playoffs while Pittsburgh and Houston were victorious in the AFC Divisional playoffs.

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In 1981, the two National League teams with the best records failed to make the post-season. That year, a mid-season strike resulted in a split season in which the teams that won their divisions in the first half and second half of the season squared off against each in the playoffs. The Cincinnati Reds had the best overall record in the West division but the Los Angeles Dodgers won the first half and the Houston Astros won the second half. The St. Louis Cardinals had the best overall record in the East division but the Philadelphia Phillies won the first half and the Montreal Expos won the second half. Cincinnati had the best overall record in the NL and St. Louis had the the second best overall record.

Terry's Classic Trivia #3

All high definition televisions are digital, but not all digitial televisions are high definition.

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A year is a leap year if it is either (1) evenly divisible by four and not evenly divisible by 100 or (2) it is evenly divisible by 400. This year, 2004, is a leap year because it meets the first test. The year 2000 was a leap year because it met the second test. The years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years because they met neither test.

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In formal writing, single digit numbers should be spelled out, ex., one, two, three, etc. Double digit numbers can be written using their numerals, ex., 10, 20, 35, etc.

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The third time was the charm for Bob Dole in 1996 when he won the Republican presidential nomination. He had failed in his previous attempts to get the nod in 1980 and 1988.

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For those of you who haven't already heard, the prospective new owner of the New Jersey Nets plans to move the team to Brooklyn, marking the first time since the Dodgers left almost 50 years ago that Brooklyn will be home to a major league sports franchise. From what I'm hearing, though, that move may not actually happen until 2009.

Terry's Classic Trivia #2

No 16th seeded team has ever won a game in the Men's Division I NCAA basketball tournament.

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"Anyone" and "someone" should always be written as one word. "No one" should always be written as two words.

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"It's" should only be used as a contraction of "it is" and never as the possessive form of "it", which is simply written as "its."

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Near the beginning of the 1974 major league baseball season, the San Diego Padres were on the verge of moving to Washington, DC. The move never happened but Topps, the leading maker of baseball cards at that time, printed about half of the Padres' player cards with the team listed as "Washington National League" instead of "San Diego Padres."

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There are two books in the Bible, Esther and Song of Solomon, in which God is never specifically mentioned.

Terry's Classic Trivia #1

Neither George Washington's birthday (Feb 22) nor Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Feb 12) can fall on the U.S. holiday commonly referred to as President's Day (the third Monday in February). Ironically enough, the official name of the holiday is still George Washington's Birthday!!

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Here's something I bet you've never noticed: In any year (even a leap year), July always begins on the same day of the week that April does. Therefore, the only difference between a July calendar page and an April calendar page in the same year (other than the holiday) is the extra day July has. The same relationship exists between September and December as well as between March and November. Add an extra day to the September page and you've got December. Take a day away from the March page and you've got November. In non-leap years only, there are additional matches: October duplicates January, and March and November duplicate February in their first 28 days. In leap years only, there is a different set of additional matches:  July is a duplicate of January while February is duplicated in the first 29 days of August.

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In 1988, the eventual presidential nominees of the major parties, Michael Dukakis (Democrat) and George H.W. Bush (Republican), both came in third in their party's Iowa Caucuses. It's the only time in history that someone coming in third in the Iowa Caucuses (when they were contested) went on to win his party's presidential nomination.

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The New York Yankees were originally known as the Baltimore Orioles. The Baltimore Orioles were originally known as the Milwaukee Brewers.

Terry's Trivial Trivia # 9

Not counting leap years, any calendar day will move to the next day of the week the following year. For example, if your birthday fell on a Tuesday in 2002, it fell on a Wednesday in 2003. Leap years make things a little more complicated. 2004 was leap year, so calendar days of March 1 or later in the year, moved two days of the week from 2003. However, calendar days occurring before March 1 do not make the extra day of the week jump until the year following a leap year. So, if your birthday is June 15 and it fell on a Tuesday in 2003, it fell on a Thursday in 2004. Let's say, however, your birthday is February 15. If it fell on a Tuesday in 2003, it fell on a Wednesday in 2004 and fell on a Friday in 2005. Got that?

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Non-leap years always end on the same day of the week that they begin. For example, 2003 began on a Wednesday and ended on a Wednesday.

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From 1975 to 1980, Duke and Clemson had head basketball coaches with the same name: Bill Foster.

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It rains one out of every three days in New York City.

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A new area code can be added to a geographical region via one of two methods: split or overlay. When the split method is chosen, the region is divided in two, with one region retaining the old area code and the other getting the new one. When the overlay method is chosen, the entire region gets an "extra" area code and everyone in that region must then begin dialing ten digits to make local calls.

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Most NFL football players make their homes in or around the cities where they play. Most Major League Baseball players do not.

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No NFL team has ever gone 16-0 or 0-16 in a regular season.

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The NFL has a very obscure rule that has never been utilized in any game I've seen. If a team fair-catches a kickoff, it can request a free-kick field goal attempt from the spot of the fair catch. Under this rule, the kick is attempted just like a kickoff and the other team must clear out of the way and is not allowed to block it. Like a normal field goal attempt, if the ball goes through the uprights, the kicking team is awarded three points.   

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1992 was the last year in which the Winter and Summer Olympics took place in the same year.

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This fall, John Madden will become the only NFL announcer to have done games for all four major broadcast networks. Madden worked the broadcast booth for CBS from 1981 to 1993, for Fox from 1994 to 2003, and for ABC from 2004 to 2005. In September, he will begin broadcasting Sunday night games for NBC.