Sport in Texas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Texas Western Miners

Nowadays the school is known as UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso). The Miners were coached by Don Haskins, and only lost once in the 1965/66 regular season, but were still regarded as outsiders when it came to the NCAA tournament. A double-overtime win over Kansas in the last eight and a seven point victory over Utah in the semi-finals saw them line up against top-seeded Kentucky in the championship game in College Park, Maryland.

The Miners won 72-65 to become the first Texas school to ever win the national title.

Answer: Buffalo Sabres

The 1998-99 Stanley Cup Final was the first such appearance for Buffalo since a loss to Philadelphia 1975, whilst the North Stars had made two losing appearances during their stay in Minneapolis.
The first four games were split 2-2, but Dallas gained an advantage by winning game five in New York State. Game six at the Marine Midland Arena would go down in history as the longest finals game ever, and it was the Stars who prevailed 2-1 in triple overtime.

Answer: Byron Nelson

Byron Nelson was a five-time Major winner from Waxahachie near Dallas. In 1968, the annual Dallas Open tour event was renamed the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in his honor, and, despite various sponsorship renamings over the years, still retains his name. The tournament takes place at the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas Golf Course, situated in the Dallas suburb of Irving.
The Colonial is the other event held in the area, at the Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth.

Answer: Houston

The US Clay Court Championships is one of the oldest tennis competitions in the USA. First held in 1910 in Omaha, the event has been held at a number of venues through the years, but in 2001 was moved permanently to Houston. The River Oaks Country Club is the host venue.

Answer: Tom Landry

Tom Landry played collegiate football for the Texas Longhorns, before playing pro football with the New York Yankees (AAFC) and New York Giants (NFL). After five years as the defensive coordinator with the Giants, Landry was named the first head coach in Cowboys history in 1960.

After an 0-11-1 start in his first season, he soon made the Cowboys a perennial contender. They reached the Superbowl five times during his tenure, winning twice - in Superbowl VI vs the Miami Dolphins (January 1972) and in Superbowl XII vs the Denver Broncos (January 1978).

Answer: Jack Johnson

Johnson was born in Galveston in 1878. He won the World Colored Heavyweight title in 1903 with a victory over Denver Ed Martin. Johnson held the title until it was vacated when he won the World Heavyweight title, beating Tommy Burns in Sydney on Boxing Day, 1908. He would make nine successful defences of his crown unitl Jess Willard defeated him in 1915.

Answer: Gregg Popovich

Popovich played college hoops with the Air Force Academy, and, after five years active duty, returned there as an assistant coach in 1973. After spells as an assitant coach with the Spurs and the Golden State Warriors, he was named head coach of the Spurs in 1996.

Helped by the "twin towers" of Tim Duncan and David Robinson, he led them to their first ever NBA title in 1999, defeating the New York Knicks in the finals. Further championships followed in 2003, 2005 and 2007, with victories over New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers respectively.

Answer: Soccer

Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches in 1983. He played collegiate soccer at Furman, before being drafted in to the MLS by the New England Revolution in 2004. In 2006, he was sold to Fulham of the English Premier League, where he would remain until 2012, scoring 60 goals in 225 games. Fulham's London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur, bought him in August, 2012, for a fee of around £6 million. Dempsey was a member of the USA squad at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, scoring a goal in each tournament.

Answer: Colt .45s

The Houston Colt.45s made their National League debut on April 10th, 1962, defeating the Chicago Cubs at Colt stadium. In 1965, they moved into the futuristic Astrodome and changed their nickname to the Astros. They would have to wait until 2005 for their first World Series appearance, when they were defeated 4-0 by the Chicago White Sox.

After 51 seasons as a National League team, the Astros moved to the American League in 2013.

Answer: Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Longhorns, Aggies and Horned Frogs all won versions of the national championship during the 20th cenury, but the Red Raiders never managed to pull it off. Their highest 20th century season-ending ranking was number 10 in the coaches poll in 1965, whilst the AP had them ranked at number 11 in both 1938 and 1973.