Sports Facts

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

Tug of War was an Olympic event between 1900 and 1920.

Today's top fuel dragsters take off with more force than the space shuttle.

Left-handed people often exhibit an advantage in sports that demand quick reactions and spatial judgment, frequently due to tactical unpredictability and specific neurological factors.

When pitched, the average Major League baseball rotates 15 times before being hit.

Pittsburgh is the only city where all major sports teams share the same colors: black and gold.

Three consective strikes in bowling is called a turkey.

It takes about 3,000 cow hides to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport.

At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much downforce that it can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel.

Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand.

A 'face-off' in hockey was originally called a 'puck-off'.

The most popular sport as a topic for a film is boxing.

NASCAR teams use nitrogen instead of regular air to fill their tires because it maintains more consistent pressure under extreme heat.

Honey is used sometimes for antifreeze mixtures and in the center of golf balls.

In the 1930's, American track star Jesse Owens used to race against horses and dogs to earn a living.

Hockey player Jarome Iginla donates $2,000 to the children’s charity Kidsport for every goal he scores. Since 2000 it has added up to more than $700,000.

There is a growing sport in Berlin and London called Chess Boxing. Players alternate between a round of chess and a round of boxing until one is declared winner either by checkmate, KO, or technical stoppage.

The 1904 Olympic Marathon in St. Louis had one water station for the entire 25-mile course. The first man across the finish line had ridden in a car for 11 miles. The actual winner was fed strychnine and brandy by his trainers and was hallucinating at the finish. A South African runner was chased a mile off course by wild dogs. Only 14 of 32 runners finished.

Skateboards were flat planks. In 1969 a Venice Beach lifeguard named Larry Stevenson bent the back end upward. He patented the bend. It gave the back foot something to slam. Thirteen years later a Florida teenager slammed it on flat pavement and the whole board came off the ground with him. Every ollie still starts on that tail.

Homer Jones had just caught his first NFL touchdown in 1965, an 89-yard catch for the Giants, and he planned to throw the ball into the stands. A new league rule fined players for doing exactly that, so at the goal line he changed his mind and slammed the ball into the turf instead. The Giants credit him with inventing the spike, and it remains an NFL touchdown celebration.

When Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo won two gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, his country went all out. He received a $550,000 fully furnished condo, $350,000 in government cash, lifetime free buffets, a lifetime supply of ramen and chicken, two café franchises, a Land Cruiser, and free flights for life. Total haul: over $2.6 million.

The shortstop was not invented as an infielder. The hand-made balls of the 1840s were too light to throw 200 feet. So one man stood in the grass between the outfield and the pitcher, relaying throws in. Doc Adams played that spot and believed he was the first. In 1857 he also set the bases at 30 yards. The bases are still 90 feet apart. Every team still fields a shortstop.

Ken Harrelson played golf all day in 1964 and came to a night game in Kansas City with a blistered hand that could barely grip the bat, so he wore his red golf glove at the plate. His teammates laughed until he homered twice. The next day Mickey Mantle bought 20 pairs of golf gloves and the Yankees warmed up in them, calling him Mrs. Harrelson. Almost every hitter wears a pair now.