Can You Hear That? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Murray Walker

Murray Walker was famous for his excited commentary and his many gaffes, which led to his catchphrase "Unless I'm very much mistaken" - which he often was. Not because he didn't know his sport, but largely because his excitement made him say the wrong words about the wrong thing in the wrong order at the wrong time.

As Walker said himself "I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong." Which was certainly true when he commented "I don't want to tempt fate but Damon Hill is now only half a lap from his first Grand Prix win and... and he's slowing down, Damon Hill is slowing down... he's... he's STOPPED!"

Answer: Cricket

It may well be that if you're from a country that doesn't understand cricket you also won't understand what someone getting his leg over means and this is a family site so I really can't tell you in any detail. Suffice it to say that it's vulgar and when two adults are in a bedroom you should knock. Anyway, the two commentators realised what had been said and they started to laugh, in that contagious and unstoppable way that only a serious fit of the giggles can produce. Because cricket matches are held during the daytime, a lot of Brits listen to cricket commentaries on their car radios and the giggling was so infectious many of them had to pull over to the side of the road because they were crying with laughter and it wasn't safe for them to drive.

It may be the only time that cricket was so exciting it stopped traffic.

Answer: 1950

Vin Scully began his broadcasting career with CBS Radio, working as a commentator on college football. He joined the Dodgers in 1950 when they were in Brooklyn and moved with them to Los Angeles in 1958. He continued to work for CBS until 1983 after which he spent six years as lead baseball commentator for NBC. Scully returned to CBS until they lost the rights to broadcast the World Series and he has also called games for ABC.

Answer: Seoul 1988

The British men's team didn't expect to win field hockey medals in the 20th century, at least not the gold variety, but during the 1980s the British team had a really good run, coming second in the World Cup two years before the Olympic Games. Reports suggested that they'd been so elated to get that far they forget they were actually supposed to win the final match.

They didn't make the same mistake when it came to the Seoul Olympics.

Answer: Norway 2-1 England 1981

A full English translation of what he said is as follows:

"We are the best in the world! We are the best in the world! We have beaten England 2-1 in football! It is completely unbelievable! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants. Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana... we have beaten them all. We have beaten them all.

"Maggie Thatcher can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher, I have a message for you in the middle of the election campaign. I have a message for you: we have knocked England out of the football World Cup. Maggie Thatcher, as they say in your language in the boxing bars around Madison Square Garden in New York: Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"

With typical sangfroid, the English loved that quote at least as much as, if not more than, the Norwegians. Even if Lord Beaverbrook was actually born in Canada. ;)

Answer: England beat West Germany, World Cup Final 1966

Played at Wembley, England's national football stadium, the atmosphere for that World Cup Final was intense. With two minutes of normal time to go England were winning 2-1 when Weber scored an equalizer for West Germany so after the full-time whistle was blown the exhausted players had to prepare to play for 30 minutes more.

When 11 minutes of extra time had passed, Geoff Hurst scored his second goal, putting England into the lead and the crowd began to count down the minutes, then the seconds. When they thought that time was up, the crowd began to move on to the pitch, anticipating the whistle any second - but in the final minute of extra time, in the 120th minute, Hurst scored again, giving England a 4-2 lead just as the referee blew his whistle to end the match. Since then "There are some people on the pitch, they think it's all over...

It is now!" has been played more times on British television than anyone can count... much to the disgust of the Scots, Welsh, and Irish!

Answer: Hurling

Michael O'Muircheartaigh is a Gaelic games commentator for RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster and some of his remarks are legendary, such as "Teddy McCarthy to John McCarthy, no relation, John McCarthy back to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation..." and "1-5 to 0-8... Well, from Lapland to the Antarctic, that's level scores in any man's language."

Naturally I approve of any occasion when the rabbit chases the fox so I'll just put on my helmet, grab my hurley, and aim for the bar!

Answer: Lake Placid 1980

The Soviet Union were regarded as the dominant team before the 1980 Winter Olympics, having won the gold medal every Games since 1964 and their 1980 team included several players who would later be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. In contrast, the USA team consisted of amateur and college players, with only one player on the squad who had played in a previous Olympics.

The ice hockey tournament in Lake Placid was played as a round robin, so the game between the USA and USSR was not the final match, each side had still to play another game after this one. But if the Soviet Union won the USA could almost certainly not win the gold whereas if the USSR lost there was all to play for in the remaining game.

With ten minutes left, Eruzione scored to put the USA 4-3 ahead and despite desperate attacking play from the USSR they held on. Al Michaels, who was doing the commentary for ABC, helped the countdown: "Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? ...YES!"

The USA went on to beat Finland 4-2 in the next game, a score which gave them the gold medal - but the commentary gave them the story of "The Miracle on Ice".

Answer: Joe Theismann

Joe Theismann played quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts and the Washington Redskins; he played twelve seasons for the Redskins and was quarterback in the team that won Super Bowl XVI. In November 1985, the Redskins played the New York Giants in a Monday Night Football match and was tackled by two of the Giants' linebackers.

This tackle resulted in Theismann's right leg being broken in several places and in the end of his playing career. He has since worked as a commentator for several broadcasters including CBS, ESPN, and NBC. Joe is also a graduate of Notre Dame where he clearly didn't learn much about Einstein.

Answer: The Masters

Gary McCord was a professional golfer before he joined CBS Sports as a golf analyst. His commentaries became known for his irreverent quips which didn't always go down well with some of the sport's governing bodies. When he commented in 1994 that the greens at Augusta were so fast they must have been bikini waxed and then that some of the bumps on the course looked like body bags, the golfer Tom Watson wrote to the Augusta National Club demanding that McCord be expelled from the club, and since then McCord has not been allowed to comment on the Masters Tournament which is played there every year. However, McCord's departure from the Masters gave him a level of celebrity status and, while he still works as a commentator for CBS - just not at Augusta - he became one of golf's most recognizable figures.

The Masters tournament is the only major championship on the professional golf circuit which is always played at the same venue. The Augusta National Golf Club is a private club and participation in the Masters, by players as well as commentators, is by invitation only.