A Bear Walks into a Bar... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus acquired his nickname via his high school in Upper Arlington (Ohio), where the sporting teams were known as the "Golden Bears" When he made a trip to Australia in 1961. the headline read "Golden Bear from U.S. to Arrive Today." Jack Nicklaus has always given acknowledged Australian sportswriter Don Lawrence for attributing the nickname.

Many great golfers have had animal nicknames: Greg Norman was the great White Shark; Eldrick, was of course, Tiger Woods, and Craig Stadler was "The Walrus".

Jake LaMotta was a "Raging Bull" boxer and Denis Rodman was "The Worm". Poor old Mr Rodman would not have a chance in that sportsmen's cohort.

Answer: Baloo

In Walt Disney's 1967 animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book", Baloo the Bear and Bagheera the panther look after Mowgli, in the absence of parents. Bagheera is fair but firm, Baloo is more laid-back and friendly. The animated movie had its fair share of musical numbers and fifty years later, this author can still sing "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)". Ooh-bi-doo.

As soon as this number was up, Baloo was positively pushed off the floor by Poll the Dancing Bear who tried hard to belt out a fair rendition of the Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". He might only be a fair singer but that Poll sure could dance.

Answer: Smokey and Yogi

In 1942, U.S. Forest Service used animals from "Bambi" to advertise the dangers of forest fires but the Disney studios only permitted use of these images for twelve months so a new symbol was needed. In 1944 a bear was chosen and he was named after a NYC Fire Department hero, "Smokey" Joe Martin. Initially Smokey Bear was pictured with a bucket (to help put out fires); the addition of the shovel came later. However, the message Smokey Bear has been the same since inception:""Remember ... only YOU can prevent forest fires", with a slight modification in 2001 replacing "forest fires' with "wildfires".

Yogi Bear first appeared in 1958 as a supporting character in Hanna-Barbera's "The Huckleberry Hound Show". He became a breakout character and got his own show in 1961. Yogi Berra sued unsuccessfully because of the similarity of the two names. Yogi had a faithful sidekick called Boo-Boo and an occasional girlfriend with the lovely name of Cindy who tried to dissuade him from his favourite practice of stealing pic-i-nic baskets from visitors to Jellystone Park despite Ranger Smith's efforts to stop this.

Answer: True

Pandas are in the Family Ursidae, and, as such are considered true bears.

In 1961 the World Wide Fund for Nature, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, is an international organization dedicated to wilderness preservation, and reducing the human impact on the world environment. It is based in Switzerland.

The giant panda logo was developed from a infamous panda named Chi Chi that arrived at London Zoo from China in 1958. Pandas are critically endangered. From the foundation's own report, ("WWF in the 60s"), it recognised the need for a "strong, recognizable symbol that would overcome all language barriers, ...[and].. that the big, furry animal with her appealing, black-patched eyes, would make an excellent logo. The black and white panda has since come to stand as a symbol for the conservation movement as a whole".

Answer: Bear Bryant wasn't a bear

Paddington bear is a fictional anthropomorphised bear from "darkest Peru" and found by the Brown family at Paddington Station in London. He first appeared in 1958 in the children's book "A Bear Called Paddington" written by Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum. He is normally depicted wearing a blue coat and a battered hat which belonged to his Peruvian uncle.

Rupert Bear was the creation of English artist Mary Tourtel. He first appeared in a comic strip in the "Daily Express" newspaper in 1920 in an effort to win sales from the "Daily Mail" and "Daily Mirror" which were newspaper rivals.

Alan Alexander Milne wrote the first book about Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926 with a title of the same name followed by "The House at Pooh Corner" in 1928. The character was based on a teddy bear called Edward owned by his son (Christopher Robin Milne) and a real Canadian bear named Winnipeg found at the London zoo. Christopher Robin became a character in the books as did other toys of Milne's son.

Both Rupert and Winnie-the-Pooh had red shirts.

It is not known if Bear Bryant wore a red shirt but it is quite possible he wore a crimson one as he was the head football coach at University of Alabama (1958-82) who were known as the Crimson Tide. He was actually known for wearing
a trademark black and white hounds-tooth fedora, usually with matching jacket. He was a very successful coach, winning six titles for his employer. Paul William Bryant was born in 1913 in Arkansas and died in 1982.
His nickname originated, apparently, from agreeing to wrestle a captive bear at a carnival in 1926.

Answer: He was the mascot for Bundaberg Rum

Rum is a big industry in sub-tropical and tropical Queensland, Australia, as this is where the Australian sugar industry is concentrated. Molasses is a waste product from sugar cane and it is easily distilled into rum. Queensland has two large rum producers, Bundaberg Rum in central Queensland and Beenleigh Rum south of Brisbane. A polar bear was chosen in 1961 for the mascot for the larger company Bundberg Rum as it used the angle that drinking rum could ward off the winter coldness.
There was criticism for a subsequent advertising campaign where younger Australians were targeted as an ideal demographic for rum consumption and much of the material was meant to appeal to the larrikin image of the young Australian. Bundy R. Bear is anthropomorphic and prides himself on being 'one of the boys'.
Criticised or not the advertising worked and Bundaberg Rum is considered number four of fifteen of "Typically Queensland Q150 Icons".

Answer: A drop bear

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." says Arthur Conan Doyle

Koala Bears do not exist. Koalas do, and they are marsupials. They are related to wombats but not bears. Koalas do not drop out of trees.

A bunyip is a spirit monster in Australian Aborigine culture. It is nocturnal and sleeps in swamps and billabongs but wanders over land after dusk, looking for people and animals to eat. Its screams are loud and terrifying. Bunyips prowl but they cannot climb so cannot drop.

A yowie is an the Australian species of a giant monkey It is described as a gorilla who walks on two legs and lives in the bush. In some aboriginal languages, the yowie is not an ape or monkey and may be another term for a bunyip. This causes confusion at times but it is fair to say that no one has seen a yowie drop.

Bunyips and Yowies are not bears.

That leaves the drop bear. These creatures are one of Australia's best kept secrets. As Australians like their big country all to themselves they do not mind that tourists stay away because they fear being taken by a shark or crocodile, stung by a box jellyfish, envenomed by a snake, bitten by a spider, or killed of heat-stroke. When an overseas visitor is told that drop bears drop out of trees onto unsuspecting tourists, tourists are sceptical but wary. The only group (besides Australians) that believe in drop bears are young Scandinavian ladies for which drop bears seem to have a predilection. (To verify these findings just type "YouTube Drop Bear" into your search engine to find definitive proof of their existence. It also helps some of the explanation in the last question as well).

Answer: Misha

Broxi Bear is the official mascot of Rangers Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland. Its name is an anagram of Rangers' home stadium: Ibrox . Broxi is a brown bear with blue (Rangers' colours) ears and nose.

Carlton the Bear is the official mascot of the Toronto Maple Leafs and is an anthropomorphic polar bear. It is named after the location of Maple Leaf Gardens which is 60 Carlton Street, Toronto.

Clutch City is a nickname given to the city of Houston in Texas so Clutch is "Rocket" Bear who is the mascot for the Houston Rockets' National Basketball Association team.

Nanook is a polar bear mascot of the Edmonton Eskimos Canadian Football team. He has his own biography on the team web page.

Misha the Bear was the Russian Bear mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Most anthropomorphic bears in Russian folklore have this name or one similar like Mishka.

Answer: Chicago

The Chicago Cubs were first known as the Chicago White Stockings then in 1890 with a new youthful team they became the Colts. When their player-manager was not renewed in 1899, they became unofficially known as the 'orphans'. In 1902 a newspaper reporter dubbed them the Cubs, a name that was made official in 1907. Clark, the Cub's mascot, was introduced in 2014. He is a "young, friendly Cub" who wears his Cubs cap back to front on game days. He is named after the address of Wrigley Field (Clark and Addison Streets).

The Chicago Bears started as the Decatur Staleys. The club was established as a company team by the A. E. Staley Food Starch company in Decatur, in Illinois. The team relocated to Chicago in 1921 to become the Chicago Staleys. They played at Wrigley Field so in 1922 they changed to the Chicago Bears to link with the Cubs baseball team. Staley Da Bear is an homage to A. E. Staley and is the mascot of the NFL Chicago Bears . He is an anthropomorphic bear who wears a customized team jersey.

Answer: Shakespeare

"Exit, pursued by a bear" was probably Shakespeare's most famous or infamous stage direction. In "The Winter's Tale", Act III, Scene 3, Antigonus was chased offstage by a bear to meet his maker. The bard did not embellish his direction nor leave any notes on same.

It is not known whether a real bear was to be used (The Globe Theatre was close the city's bear-baiting pits) or whether an actor in a costume was used. An unsolved mystery to this very day.