Shut Out Trivia Quiz

Answer: when wagerer gets to the window too late to place a bet

Any horse player knows the sinking feeling of being "shut out" when standing in line as the bell sounds, the window slams down, and no more bets are allowed. Of course the degenerate gambler always tells the story of how he had the longshot in the race which would have paid off big, and couldn't get his bet down because some novice was fumbling around in front of him in the queue.

Answer: UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg

The knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League are two-leg series, each team playing one match at home with the winner being determined by total goals over both legs. It is quite possible that a game in such a series would have ended 0-0. In fact, the first leg at Barcelona between the Spanish side and Chelsea did end 0-0. The rematch in London was highly controversial, ending 1-1 and allowing Barcelona to move into the final despite the aggregate being 1-1, where they defeated Manchester United. Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo failed to award penalties on two apparent fouls and two apparent handballs in the Barca penalty area. As the aggregate score was tied, Barca won the two-leg match on the away goals rule (an away goal counts as two goals).

It is highly unlikely (yet possible) that a 2009 NFL regular season game could have ended 0-0 after the mandated fifteen minute overtime period. However, by rule every playoff game in that league or in the NHL must have a resolution with a winner and a loser, and overtime periods are played until this happens. Extra inning are played until a winner is determined in Major League baseball games, although over the years there have been games suspended for various reasons including rain, darkness, curfew, and unsafe conditions. The league makes every effort to finish such rare games, and if they have any bearing on the standings, they must be completed. So again it is possible but very unlikely a 0-0 tie (or any tie) would go into the record books for the 2009 MLB season.

Answer: Chicago Bears beat Washington Redskins 73-0

During the 1940 regular season, the Redskins beat the Bears 7-3, after which the 'skins owner George Preston Marshall called the Chicago side "a bunch of crybabies and quitters," starting a tradition of foolish and arrogant football club owners in D.C. Coach George Halas of the Bears showed his team newspaper clippings of Marshall's statement before the rematch, and the inflammatory statements obviously motivated Chicago. They led 28-0 at halftime, and from there things got out of hand, as they poured on the points.

The Broncos and the Bills both came into existence as American Football League franchises in the 1960s before joining the NFL in the 1970 merger, and The Los Angeles Rams joined the NFL in 1946. The Canton Bulldogs were an ancient NFL franchise that was out of business after 1925.

Answer: Walter "Big Train" Johnson

A shutout in baseball is defined as pitching a complete game and allowing no runs to the opposition. Each of the listed pitchers is in the Hall of Fame. Although Cy Young is the runaway MLB leader in victories with 511 and also has the number one award for pitchers named after him, it's "The Big Train" who pitched all those 110 shutouts over a 21 year career with the Washington Senators, including an incredible eleven shutouts in 1913 when he compiled a 36-7 record. Young had 76 shutouts, Dean recorded 26 in his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, and the great Christy Mathewson had 79, all with the New York Giants.

In today's game, starting pitchers get fewer starts per year, relief pitchers are far more prevalent, and therefore complete games and shutouts are increasingly infrequent.

Answer: Jack Morris

Jack Morris of the Minnesota Twins produced the gem, one of the great post-season efforts ever. It was a taut affair from beginning to end, when Gene Larkin delivered the game winning RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning. Several time during the later innings, Twins manager Tom Kelly tried to take Morris out of the game, but Morris convinced him otherwise and continued to hold the Braves scoreless. Jack had a stellar eighteen year career in MLB, compiling a 254-186 won lost record, twenty eight shutouts and four all-star game appearances. Yet despite all that and winning the 1991 series MVP, he is not in the MLB Hall of Fame.

The other three pitchers all appeared in and won World Series games, and all are bigger names than Jack Morris. But they all pitched in the National League, so they couldn't have faced Atlanta, also an NL team.

Answer: Italy vs. France: 2006

In 2006, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Italy took home the World Cup after winning a penalty shootout, despite playing a 1-1 draw with France through regulation and overtime. The final minutes of the match swirled in controversy when French star Zinedine Zidane was ejected for head butting Italian defenseman Marco Materazzi, who allegedly and infamously deliberately provoked Zidane by insulting his mother. Zidane was arguably the best player in the world at the time, and missing him for the endgame and shootout may have cost France the Cup. None of the first thirteen World Cup matches before 1990 resulted in a shutout, perhaps an indication of how packed in defenses are curtailing the "beautiful game" in the more recent era. On the other hand, the game is more popular than ever, as evidenced by the massive world-wide audience which witnessed the thrilling 2014 final, won 1-0 in extra time by Germany over Argentina.

Answer: soccer

The game was soccer, the place was Scotland, and the story ultimately makes sense despite several myths surrounding it. First of all, it is not true that Bon Accord was actually a cricket team mistakenly invited into the first round of the Scottish Cup.

They were a very inexperienced football club which had been established only the year before. Such a situation could not occur in a modern national cup competition. Arbroath was up 21-0 at halftime. The referee stated that the seven goals he called back for offside were in the net so fast that they were probably not offside. One newspaper report suggests that the Abroath goalkeeper never touched the ball and spent the game under a spectator's umbrella in order to stay comfortable.

Answer: Martin Brodeur

Brodeur played 22 seasons with the New Jersey Devils, leading the franchise to three Stanley Cups. When they let him go, he signed on with the Blues for the the 2014-15 season, but called it quits after getting in only seven games, rather than be the number three net minder for his new team. It is only fitting that his final win was also his 125th shutout, more than any other player who came before him.

Henrik Lundqvist was still active in goal for the NY Rangers in 2014-15. Hasik and Roy are two more of the greatest NHL goalies of all time, each boasting a 17 year career with multiple Stanley Cup wins. Roy retired in 2003 and Hasik in 2008.

Answer: true

Despite the noncompetitive mismatches which occurred often in the first forty Super Bowls, this is true. In fact, on only two occasions was the losing team held without a touchdown. In Super Bowl VI played in January of 1972, the Cowboys beat the Dolphins 24-3; and in Super Bowl IX, played in January 1975, the Steelers beat the Vikings 16-6.

Not scoring at all in a game of American Football is a noteworthy rarity.

Answer: winning at love

"Love" as part of a score in tennis means "zero" or no score. Thus when the server has won the first two points of a game, the score would be "thirty-love," and winning a set six games to none or a game four points to none would be winning "at love." This convention comes from the French using the word "oeuf" (egg) for zero in scoring because of their similar shapes, and Englishmen hearing that French word as sounding like the word "love."