What Were They Thinking? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Florida

Unless you really know what to look for, it is easy to confuse an alligator with a crocodile. And that's exactly what the public relations firm that Florida hired to do their football guide did. They slapped a croc on the cover, instead of the mascot gator. No word on whether SEC rivals like the Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks were similarly affected.

Answer: Washington Redskins

Two of the Redskins' key leaders pulled off some jaw-dropping antics in that fateful Sunday-night tilt against the New York Giants. First, quarterback Gus Frerotte decided to celebrate a touchdown by butting his head into a wall, knocking himself out of the game in the process.

Then, with the Redskins driving toward a potential winning field goal in overtime, wide receiver Michael Westbrook took off his helmet in disgust because he felt the refs blew a call. The resulting 15-yard penalty put Washington out of range and led to the game ending in a 7-7 tie.

In the last game of the regular season, the Giants pummelled the Redskins in the Meadowlands to secure the NFC East title.

Answer: Mel Carnahan (Missouri)

Even death-penalty opponents were aghast when Mel Carnahan commuted the sentence of Darrell Mease, sentenced to die for a brutal ambush-style triple murder in 1988. Pope John Paul II was scheduled to speak in St. Louis on Mease's execution date--January 27, 1999.

But after listening to the Pope's personal plea for clemency, and despite his own personal support for the death penalty, Carnahan caved in and commuted the sentence. At the time, Carnahan was challenging Republican incumbent John Ashcroft for his US Senate seat, and lost a lot of support around his home state. Oddly enough, though, Carnahan ended up winning the election, despite the fact he was killed in a plane crash just a few weeks beforehand. (Thanks to Wikipedia and to the book "Who Owns Death? Capital Punishment, The American Conscience, and the End of Executions" by Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell for additional information.)

Answer: "Mork & Mindy"

Trying to capitalize on the success of a bona fide hit from the previous season, ABC moved "Mork & Mindy" from its 8 PM timeslot on Thursday night to 8 PM on Sunday night, opposite "Archie Bunker's Place" on CBS and "The Big Event", NBC's Sunday night movie series.

Despite the immense talent of Robin Williams, the show floundered badly in its new timeslot. It moved back to Thursdays for its last two seasons, but major shark-jumping moves like adding new characters doomed its run. (Thanks to the book "Total Television" by Alex McNeil for additional information.)

Answer: Bengal tiger

When asked by visitors of the Prairie Wind Animal Refuge (near Kiowa, Colorado) if they had problems with people sticking their hands in the cages, the veteran volunteer calmly stuck her arm in and allowed a fully-grown, two-year old Bengal tiger to lick her hand.

When she went to scratch the tiger on the nose, it clamped its mouth around her arm, eventually ripping it off at the shoulder. The arm was never retrieved, but the woman did receive an honorable mention in the Darwin Awards, which are given each year for inventive and outrageous ways of dying. (Thanks to darwinawards.com for additional information.)

Answer: USS Somers

The idea behind a floating service academy came about because the US Navy had no formal program for educating its seamen. Everything was taught to apprentice seamen by ship's captains, whose competence and skill weren't always consistent. The skipper of the Somers, Alexander MacKenzie, set a dubious precedent by executing three young sailors--one of whom was the son of Secretary of War John Spencer--without benefit of a court martial. MacKenzie became convinced that the men were out to kill him, and spent the rest of his life trying to prove that after being cleared in court afterward.

The navy opened a land-based academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1845. (Thanks to the book "It Seemed Like A Good Idea: A Compendium of Great Historical Fiascoes", edited by William R. Forstchen and Bill Fawcett, for additional information.)

Answer: Apollo 12

As the mighty Saturn V lifted off from Launch Complex 39-B on November 12, 1969, a bolt of lightning hit both the spacecraft and the launch pad. The spacecraft, carrying the all-Navy crew of Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, and Dick Gordon, lost power momentarily, but the rocket itself never faltered. Eventually, Conrad and Bean would set foot the Ocean of Storms and visit the Surveyor spacecraft that mapped their landing zone three years earlier.

After the nearly-catastrophic launch, NASA mission rules were rewritten to take the common thunderstorm more seriously on future missions.

Answer: Sable

The Edsel Division of Ford Motor Company was named in honor of Edsel Bryant Ford, the only son of the great Henry Ford, who served as the company's president from 1919 until his death in 1943. The model year 1958 Edsels made their debut on September 4, 1957, with four sedan models--Citation, Corsair, Pacer, and Ranger--and three wagon variants--Bermuda, Roundup and Villager.

But a slew of mechanical and production problems, a general downturn in car sales, and prices out of range for many people doomed the line to failure.

The last Edsels rolled off the assembly line in November, 1959, as 1960 models. The Sable, the Mercury Division's upscale cousin of the wildly successful Ford Taurus, made its debut in model year 1986.(Thanks to edsel.com, a wonderful website about the history of the Edsel Division, and edmunds.com for additional information.)

Answer: "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial"

With the success of the Atari 2600 Video Computer System and a stable of games including "Asteroids" and "Missile Command", Warner Communications (now part of Time Warner) raked in tons of money. But when it decided to do a game based on one of the top-grossing movies of all time, things went from great to awful in a hurry. Programming rushed to get the game to market for the Christmas season led to what many considered an unplayable game thinly veiled by the movie license.

In fact, Atari wound up destroying over five million of the "E.T." cartridges and burying the remains in a landfill in New Mexico.

The failure of "E.T.", the success of game systems from Mattel and Coleco, and later problems with the Atari 5200 system led Warner to sell the company in 1984. (Thanks to snopes.com and atariage.com for additional information.)

Answer: Billy Kilmer

Jim Marshall played in 282 consecutive games, recorded 133 sacks and recovered 29 fumbles in 20 seasons with Cleveland (his rookie year) and Minnesota. But he'll always be remembered for that wrong-way run, which also holds the distinction of the longest safety in NFL history. (Thanks to NFL.com, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and ESPN.com for additional information.)