Is That A Cow on the Sidelines? Quiz

Answer: 2008 Beijing Paralympics

Fu Niu Lele (Lucky Happy Ox) was the mascot of the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Held a few weeks after the Beijing Olympics, the games featured 3951 athletes from 146 different nations. The athletes competed in 20 different sports. As with the regular Olympics, China was the big winner in the medal count.

The 2006 World Cup was held in Germany; Italy won the title over France. The 2010 Commonwealth Games were held Delhi, India; the mascot was a Bengal tiger. The 2006 Asian Games were in Doha, Qatar; the mascot was an oryx, an Arabian antelope.

Answer: Williams College

Williams College is one of the older institutions of higher learning in the United States. It was founded in Williamstown MA in 1793. It is a relatively small liberal arts school and competes in NCAA Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference. The team name is the Ephs, after university founder Ephraim Williams. They have used a purple cow as their mascot since 1907. For being a small school, Williams has an impressive list of alumni, including President James Garfield, Broadway lyricist Stephen Sondheim, director Elia Kazan and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field.

Amherst has a wooly mammoth as their mascot. Northeastern University are known as the Huskies, and have a dog as their mascot. Boston University uses a Boston Terrier, which has had a variety of names since 1922.

Answer: Kansas City

The Kansas City Royals are named after the American Royal Show, one of the nation's largest livestock shows. It was founded in 1899 as the National Hereford Show. Each year it draws competitors from all around the United States to display their cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The name "Royals" was selected in a 1968 contest; the suggestion was made by a retired engineer named Sanford Porte.

The Cincinnati Reds got their name from the early players wearing red stockings; the earliest version of the team were the Red Stockings. The Houston Astros got their current name in 1965, when Houston was the center of operations for NASA. The Texas Rangers are named after the legendary law enforcement agency.

Answer: Nebraska

The Fremont Moo is based in Fremont, Nebraska, which is about 40 miles northwest of Omaha along US Highway 275. Fremont is the county seat of Douglas County. It was founded in 1871 and is named after General John C Fremont, explorer and presidential candidate.

The Expedition League is a collegiate summer baseball league that was formed in 2017. Players tend to stay with host families in local communities. There are teams in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Answer: Switzerland

Cooly was first created as a mascot for the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships, which were held in Bern and Zurich. Cooly returned for the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zurich and at the 2017 Weltklasse Zurich. Cooly is a Brown Swiss cow on ice skates, and was the brainchild of Swiss sports journalist Roy Wedema.

Answer: North Dakota

New Salem, North Dakota is a little cow crazy. It is home to Salem Sue, one of the world's largest cow statues. And the high schools teams are named the Holsteins. Since 1950, the population has been around 1000. New Salem is located directly south of Interstate 94, about 30 miles straight west of Bismarck.

There are actually 16 communities named New Salem in the United States. They are in AR, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MI, MS, NY, NC, ND, Ohio, PA, SC, TN and Texas, Almost all of them are extremely small, and many are unincorporated.

In Ohio, the high school team is the Quakers, to honor the early settlers of the town. In New York, they are the Tigers, In Massachusetts, the closest high school to New Salem has sports teams nicknamed the Senators.

Answer: San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Immediately after their move from Philadelphia, the then San Francisco Warriors played their home games at the Cow Palace (1962-1964). Their superstar was Wilt Chamberlain, who was with the Warriors before moving to Philadelphia.

The San Jose Sharks played at the Cow Palace from 1991 to 1993 before moving farther down the peninsula. The Seals were a minor league hockey team that played at the Cow Palace from 1961 to 1967. The Earthquakes are the Major League Soccer team in San Jose. They have played at a variety of locations in the Bay Area, but not at the Cow Palace. The North American Soccer League had a team named the Earthquakes (1974-1988) that did play at the Cow Palace.

The Cow Palace actually began as a derogatory term for the exhibition building, but it stuck so locals still use it. The arena was opened in 1941 and has seen quite a remarkable history. Along with basketball and ice hockey, the arena has seen heavyweight boxing matches, wrestling, tennis matches and even roller derby. It has hosted concerts by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley and was host to the 1956 and 1964 Republican National Conventions.

Answer: Visalia

Visalia has a mascot named Cow Tipper. The minor league organization has been around since 1946, and has been a feeder team for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2007. Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Kirby Puckett both played for Visalia. From 1990 to 2020, Visalia was a Class-A Advanced team. Visalia is located in central California, near the heart of some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States. It is roughly 200 miles north of Los Angeles, and is a major city along California Highway 99.

The Fresno Grizzlies have a large yellow bear named Parker as their mascot. The Stockton Ports have a bright red mascot named Splash. Al the Almond, Wally the Walnut and Shelley the Pistachio are the mascots for the Modesto Nuts; the city is one of the nation's leading nut growing areas.

Answer: University of Buffalo Bulls

Victor E Bull is the mascot of the University of Buffalo. The school is part of the Mid American Conference and its colors are royal blue and white,

The Chicago Bulls are an NBA team which achieved its greatest glory in the 1990s with Michael Jordan.. Their mascot is known as Benny. The University of Texas is based in Austin. The Longhorns are one of the most successful teams in the history of NCAA football and have won multiple national championships. Their mascot is known as Bevo. The Durham Bulls are a Triple-A baseball team based in North Carolina. They were made famous by the 1988 Kevin Costner film "Bull Durham." Their mascot is named Wool E Bull.

Answer: Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys franchise began in 1960. Its first potential name was the Steers, then Rangers was considered briefly, They settled on Cowboys in May 1960.

The Mavericks are named after cows. A maverick is an unbranded steer. The name Mavericks was chosen in a 1980 "name the team" contest. Other possible names were the Wranglers and the Express. The Astros spent their first three seasons as the Colt 45s. The move to the Astrodome in 1965 led to the name change. The Stars began life as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967. When they relocated to Dallas in 1993, they dropped the North from their name.