Which American Sport? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Baseball

Known as 'Big Mac', the Californian born McGwire played his sport professionally between 1986 until 2001. He originally played for the Oakland Athletics before moving to the St Louis Cardinals in 1997. As a player, he won the World Series twice, in 1989 as a player before repeating the feat as a coach in 2011. McGwire is one of the highest scorers of home runs in the game's history.

Answer: Baseball

Sanford Koufax was a baseball pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers who later became the LA Dodgers, playing for the team for the whole of his career, between 1955 and 1966. His playing number, 32, was retired by the Dodgers in 1972. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame at the earliest opportunity, i.e. the first time he became eligible, in 1972, becoming the youngest player to be honoured in this way at the time.

Answer: Baseball

Known as 'The Rajah', Hornsby's career lasted from 1915 until 1937 with most of it spent with the St Louis Cardinals, before he moved around several teams over the latter part of his career. Among the other teams for which he played were the Boston Braves and Chicago Cubs where he also managed the teams.

While his managerial career was less successful than his playing career, Hornsby is still remembered as one of the best batters of all time.

Answer: Basketball

In a career lasting nearly twenty years, Shaq O'Neal played for six different teams, starting with Orlando Magic in 1992 before moving to the LA Lakers in 1996 until 2004. He then moved to Miami Heat for four years, finishing with a season each with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics before his retirement in 2011. Since then O'Neal has pursued various careers with appearances in films and as a disc jockey to his credit.

He has also appeared on many television programmes, usually credited as 'himself' in various cameo roles.

Answer: Basketball

Bryant played for a total of twenty years and stayed with the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his career. Between 1996 and 2016 he was part of the team which won the NBA championship on five occasions. He also won the Most Valuable Player in the NBA finals award twice, in 2009 and 2010. Kobe also represented the USA at two separate Olympic Games, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 where the team won the gold medal on each occasion.

Answer: Basketball

Erving was born in the state of New York in 1950 and might be better known as Dr. J. If I mention that he was 6' 7" (2.01 m) tall, you'll know that basketball was his likely choice of sport. He began his career with Virginia Squires in 1971 before moving to the New York Nets two years later.

The major part of Erving's career was spent with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he played from 1976 until 1987. Erving was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Answer: Ice Hockey

Brian Leetch played for three different teams during a career which lasted from 1987 until 2006. He also appeared in the USA team at the Calgary Olympics in 1988 shortly before making his professional debut with the New York Rangers and stayed with them until 2004. Leetch moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs briefly before finishing his career with a season with the Boston Bruins.

During his career he won the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best newcomer, the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1994 for the most valuable player in the play-offs, and was awarded the James Norris Trophy for the best defender twice, in 1992 and 1997.

Answer: Ice Hockey

Playing as a centre (center) Janney's career lasted from 1987 until 1999 when health issues meant he had to retire at a younger age than most. He played for several different teams, beginning with the Boston Bruins, then moving to the St Louis Blues during the 1991/92 season. Janney then played for the San Jose Sharks for two seasons, before one season with the Winnipeg Jets. Between 1996 and 1998 he was with the Phoenix Coyotes with his final season, 1998-99, being split between Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders.

Since his enforced retirement, Janney has appeared regularly as a television commentator on ice hockey games.

Answer: Ice Hockey

Christos Kostas Chelios was born in Chicago and began his ice hockey career in Canada, with the Montreal Canadiens, playing for the team from 1983 until 1990. He went on to have one of the longest lasting careers in the sport, not retiring until he was in his late forties, which is remarkable in such a physical sport. Chelios' other teams were the Chicago Blackhawks (1990-1999), Detroit Red Wings (1999-2009) with a final season with the Atlanta Thrashers from 2009-2010. During the 1994-1995 dispute, when the NHL was delayed, Chelios went to Switzerland to play for EHC Biel.

Chelios also represented the USA at the 1984 Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo, and was a member of three Stanley Cup winning teams.

Answer: Football

Often described as the best quarterback of all time, Brady spent most of his playing career with the New England Patriots, from 2000 until 2019. He then moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring in 2022. Over his career, Brady has appeared in the Super Bowl ten times, finishing on the winning side on seven of these occasions, six with the Patriots and one with the Buccaneers.

He was picked as the Most Valuable Player in five of these wins.

Answer: Football

Dubbed 'Sweetness', Payton spent his whole playing career with the Chicago Bears, lasting from 1975-1987. He played as a running back and held several records during his career. Payton was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He died tragically young in 1999 having suffered from a rare liver disease.

He used his fame to promote the benefits of organ transplants despite knowing that it was already too late to save his own life.

Answer: Football

Jerry Rice played as a wide receiver in American Football, primarily for the San Francisco 49ers. He played for this team from 1985 until 2000 before moving to the Oakland Raiders between 2001 and 2004 although he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks partway through 2004.

He was made a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIII in 1988. . He is often named as being one of the best wide receivers in the game's history.