Do You Know What You're Doing? Quiz

Answer: Basketball

The game of basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts after he was given the task of creating an indoor sport to keep athletes in shape during the cold winter months. It originally had a wooden peach basket in place of the hoop and net used in the current game.

To play it properly, you need a court (indoors or outdoors works) with a basket and backboard at either end. Two teams of five players then fight over possession of the ball, each trying to put it through the other team's basket as many times as possible before time runs out, with the highest score winning.

Since its creation, basketball has become an international sport, included as part of the Olympic Games. The most prestigious professional league is the National Basketball Association (NBA) in North America, including teams from the United States and Canada.

Answer: Golf

Golf was invented in Scotland centuries ago, but has come to be played around the world today. In this sport, you compete to get the lowest possible score, usually just with a small group of friends, but sometimes in a tournament.

Using a collection of clubs (called woods and irons) to strike the golf ball different distances, your goal is to get the ball from your starting spot into a small hole hundreds of meters away (and do this nine or 18 times for a full game). Since your score is based on how often you hit the ball to accomplish this, the more accurate you are, the better.

Answer: Soccer

Known as soccer in some parts of the world, this 'beautiful game' is more commonly referred to as football. I chose to use soccer as the answer to this question to differentiate from "American" football.

In soccer, two teams of 11 players vie for the ball, without being able to use their hands (except for the goalkeeper). Over a very large pitch (field), each team works to outmaneuver the other and get the ball past the opposing goalkeeper and through the goalposts into the net.

The modern version of the game of football/soccer that has spread around the world originated in the UK. The game was more-or-less defined with the first football association in 1863, although it would be developed and refined over time. In 1871 the first FA Cup was held, and in 1883 the first international competition (between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales) was held.

25 years later in 1908, football (soccer) made its debut at the Olympics in St. Louis, and another 22 years would pass before the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) would organize the first World Cup tournament (in Uruguay, 1930).

Answer: Ice hockey

As a Canadian, this sport is near and dear to my heart. While there is evidence that early versions of ice hockey happened in England and in Eastern Canada, it was definitely in Canada where British officers played the first officially organized game in Montreal in 1875.

In the modern game, two teams of six players don skates and zip around a rink, using hockey sticks to try to put the vulcanized rubber puck into the opposing team's net. The highest score wins once the time runs out.

The sport grew in North American leagues first, culminating in the National Hockey League (established in 1917) as the premier league in the world. On the world stage, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), established in 1908, is the governing body for international competitions. Ice Hockey also became an Olympic sport in 1920.

Answer: Badminton

The current version of Badminton was developed in India while it was part of the British Empire. The game was adopted from a game called 'poona' (named for the city of Pune), and then brought back to England, where it became associated with the Duke of Beaufort's estate called Badminton House in Gloucester.

The game is akin to tennis, using a similar, if smaller court. The net is raised off of the ground, and the shuttlecock, or 'birdie' is designed to drag in the air, slowing down in a way that a tennis ball definitely doesn't. Another major difference is that the shuttlecock must not touch the ground to stay in play. As soon as an opponent hits the birdie out of bounds, or misses it and lets it hit the court on their own side of the net, they lose the point.

Badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992 at the Barcelona games.

Answer: Curling

Curling is kind of like giant shuffleboard on ice. It was first developed in Scotland, sometime back in the 16th century, and was brought to Canada by Scottish immigrants, where it has become a popular sport; the first curling club formed in Montreal in 1807.

Traditionally, two teams of four players take individual turns throwing large (between 17.25 and 20 kg) granite stones, trying to get their stones closest to the center of the 'house' at the opposite end of a sheet of ice. The house looks like a giant bullseye in the ice. Only one team can score per end (one turn throwing all the rocks), but can score multiple points if more than one of their rocks is closer than the closest rock from the opposite team.

What about the brooms? They are used to sweep in front of a rock while it is sliding down the ice, to get it to slide more easily, or by NOT sweeping, allowing the granite to grab a bit on the ice, curling it in the direction that it is spinning.

Curling became an Olympic sport since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Answer: Baseball

Games using a bat and ball have been around for a long time, and have had many different variations. The game of baseball as we see it today in Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America is most similar to the game of British origin called 'rounders.' In the United States, the first game under codified rules happened in New York City in 1845, and baseball became the first organized professional sport in the world with the creation of the National League in 1876 (the American League was formed in 1901).

To play the sport (in competition, and not just for fun) you need to have nine players per side, with one team in the field, while the other team takes turns at bat. There are nine 'innings' of play, where each team gets a turn at bat, trying to earn points by hitting the ball thrown by the pitcher, which allows them to try to run around the three bases (in a diamond shape in the infield) and back to home plate. Once a team gets three of the opposing batters 'out' (by striking them out at the plate, catching the batted ball before it hits the ground, getting the ball to the base before the player gets there, or tagging them between bases), then they switch sides.

Answer: Football

'American' football was born out of early association football and early rugby football. As the games were being defined into their (now) separate identities, American football was largely defined by Yale University coach Walter Camp. Football began at the college level, and soon moved into professional league play, with the first such games occurring in 1892. The American Professional Football Association - the precursor to the National Football League (NFL) - was formed in 1920.

Football teams field 11 players at a time, but with a different lineup of players, depending on whether the team is on offence, or defence. When on offence, a team is trying to move the ball downfield by running or throwing it in individual 'plays', while the opposing team is trying to stop that advancement. If a team is unable to gain 10 yards of distance in three (Canadian) or four (American) plays, or 'downs', then control of the ball goes to the other team. Points are earned if the ball reaches the other team's end zone, or is kicked through the uprights in specific plays.

Answer: Cricket

Like baseball, cricket is a 'bat-and-ball' game of British origin, dating back to the 16th century, and the first set of formal 'Laws of Cricket' was created in 1744. Internationally, the Imperial Cricket Conference was established in 1909, and became the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1965.

Cricket is too complicated for a simple Canadian like me to understand, but as far as basics go, two teams of 11 players try to earn runs. A 20-meter pitch at the center of the playing field has a wicket at either end, constructed of three stumps supporting two bails. The fielding team bowls the ball at a wicket, with the batting team trying to hit the ball away and to run back and forth between the wickets before the fielding team can get the batter dismissed, or out (which can be done a few different ways).

Answer: Tennis

The tennis that we see in the four Grand Slam tournaments every year is actually a variant of the game called 'lawn tennis', which was popularized in Birmingham, England in the 19th century. The original, and more complicated version of the game is still played today, and is called 'real tennis' or 'royal tennis.' Marylebone Cricket Club's Rules of Lawn Tennis were established in 1875, and were used at the first Wimbledon Championship in 1877.

Played on an outdoor court, the sport is played with racquets and a felt-covered rubber ball. Opponents (individual or in pairs) try to score points by serving the ball into the other court and getting the ball past their opponent (as long as it hits the ground in-bounds), or by forcing the opponent to hit the ball out of bounds in trying to return the serve or volley.

Tennis made its first appearance at the 1896 Olympics in Athens.