A Matter of Timing Trivia Quiz

Answer: 13 seconds

Benny would come to a race with seven $100 bills in his wallet. If any pit crew managed to go below 13 seconds, they each earned $100. An offshoot of this challenge was a recognition that the pit crew was as important as, or more so than, the driver. (babsr)

Answer: New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The Giants defeated the Phillies in 8 1/2 innings, 6-1. (As the home team, the Giants did not need to come up to bat in the 9th inning.) Both pitchers (Meadows for the Phillies and Barnes for the Giants) started and finished the game for their respective teams. The Phillies actually led 1-0 until the bottom of the second when the Giants began their scoring of six unanswered runs. If you had to guess for this question, I hope you saw that each of the three incorrect choices matched an American League team and a National League team.(bernie73)

Answer: Tonya Harding

Harding's career, while never officially linked to the attack, was tainted in 1993 when her then-husband and his friends attacked Nancy Kerrigan prior to the U.S. Championship. Harding later pled guilty to hindering the investigation, but never admitted a connection to it.

Since skating wasn't an option for her after the controversy, she ended up joining a professional wrestling circuit, boxing, and doing reality TV shows.

In 2010 she drove a 1931 Ford Model A to a speed of 97.177 Miles Per Hour, setting a land speed record for a car of that age that was still gasoline powered. (shadowmyst2004)

Answer: Hockey

The three athletes all played in the National Hockey League when each scored a goal five seconds after the opening whistle. Doug Smail scored for the Winnipeg Jets at home against the St. Louis Blues. Bryan Trottier scored for the New York Islanders against the Boston Bruins when his team was on the road. Alexander Mogilny scored for the Buffalo Sabers against the Toronto Maple Leafs when his team was on the road. (bernie73)

Answer: Michael Phelps

Phelps swam just one Olympic event in his debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney. He placed fifth in the 200m Fly. He followed that up in 2004 with six gold and two bronze medals. In 2008 he won eight gold medals. That was followed up with four gold and two silver medals in 2012. He announced his retirement after those games, but mounted a comeback for the 2016 games where he won five more gold and a silver medal.

Phelps ended up with twenty-three Olympic Gold Medals, three silver and two bronze. He was the first U.S. male swimmer to make an appearance in five consecutive Olympic Games.

In a sport where a split second is the difference between winning and losing, Phelps proved that his timing was nearly perfect. Through the end of the 2016 season when he announced his second retirement, Phelps had set thirty-nine world records.(shadowmyst2004)

Answer: 12.0 seconds

Burke, a law student at Boston University, specialized in the 400 meter race, but also competed in the 100 meter race for the US team. In his qualifying heat, he actually had a slightly better time of 11.8 seconds. (This would be the official Olympic record until the 1900 Olympics in Paris, France.) He was one of the few runners at the Olympics to use the now-common "crouch start" at the beginning of the race.(bernie73)

Answer: The swimmers had to swim under or climb over obstacles

The first two obstacles--that the swimmers had to climb over--were a pole and a row of boats. The third obstacle--that the swimmers had to swim under--was another row of boats. While this type of race has not been used in any subsequent Olympics, I think it would be interesting to watch. Frederick Lane also won the gold medal in the 200 meter freestyle. (bernie73)

Answer: Usain Bolt

Bolt is arguably the best sprinter of all time. Not only did he win the 100m dash at three consecutive Olympic Games, he won the 200m dash at each as well. No one had ever won three consecutive medals even, let alone gold in either event before he did it. He was also a member of three straight 100m relay wins, though the 2008 victory was voided when one of his teammates was caught doping. (shadowmyst2004)

Answer: Seventh

Menendez, a Wide Receiver, was taken by the Atlanta Falcons with the 247th pick in the 1999 draft. He injured his knee and was cut during the pre-season his rookie year. He never played an NFL game.

In 2008 Chris Johnson matched the 40-yard dash time at the Combine. Johnson, from East Carolina, was a first round pick and set the NFL record for most total yards from scrimmage (2,509) in 2009. No one had ever run a faster time at the NFL Scouting Combine when Johnson matched Menendez's record. Bo Jackson (4.12) and Jakeem Grant (4.10) ran faster times, but not at the Combine. (shadowmyst2004)

Answer: LeBron James

James, who entered the league fresh out of high school, scored his 20,000th NBA point at 28 years, 17 days old. Bryant was the next youngest at 29 years, 122 days. Chamberlain and Jordan were also both in their 20s when they did it.

Jordan played three years of college basketball, and missed almost his entire second season with a broken foot. Chamberlain played three years of college basketball and a year with the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the NBA. Bryant also jumped from high school to the NBA.

Robertson and Abdul-Jabbar were both 30 when they hit the milestone.

Looking at fastest in terms of games played Chamberlain did it in 499 games. Jordan in 620, Robertson in 671 and Abdul-Jabbar in 684. James ranks seventh on the list in terms of games played with 726 to hit the milestone. (shadowmyst2004)