Sportsmen Who Should Have Stayed in Bed Quiz

Answer: Scott Norwood

Scott Norwood was the Buffalo Bills' kicker for seven years, making first team All-Pro in 1988. Although he was an accurate kicker, he struggled with kicks longer than 40 yards.

In Super Bowl XXV Buffalo trailed 20-19, but moved the ball close enough for a 47 yard attempt with 8 seconds left in the game. Norwood's attempt sailed a yard to the right of the goal post, resulting in a loss. To date, this is the only potential game-winning Super Bowl kick that failed and resulted in a loss.

Norwood continued to play for a few years after his miss, but suffered for severe depression after his miss and his marriage broke up.

Jim O'Brien kicked the successful winning field goal in Super Bowl V for Baltimore. Ironically he was actually a poor kicker, with a success rate of about 55% for field goals. He was so nervous about the kick that he tried to pull some artificial turf on the field to test the direction of the wind.

Answer: Garo Yepremian

Garo Yepremian was born to Armenian parents in Cyprus and moved to the US when he received a soccer scholarship to Indiana. He won his first kicking job for the Detroit Lions and faced hostility from American-born players, who resented foreign-born kickers with little knowledge of the game and limited skills other than kicking.

Yepremian led the league in kicking accuracy three times and was noted for kicking the winning field goal in what was the longest game in NFL history (1971).

The infamous play he is remembered for occurred in Super Bowl VII when his team Miami had a 14-0 lead over Washington with two minutes remaining in the game. After he picked up a blocked kick, he tried to pass the ball, but it slipped. He then tried to bat the ball out of bounds, but it went directly into a defender's hands and was returned for a touchdown for the opposition. Fortunately, his team Miami held on for a 14-7 victory.

So Yepremian's play is now remembered more as a football folly or funny moment with no real impact.

Answer: Roberto Baggio

The 1994 World Cup final was tied between Italy and Brazil 0-0, with Brazil winning 3-2 in the penalty kick phase. In fairness to Baggio, both Franco Baresi and Daniele Massaro had missed their penalty kicks for Italy. Baggio's kick sailed over the cross bar; and the last Brazilian did not have to take his turn.

Baggio is regarded as one of the game's greatest players, receiving the FIFA Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or in 1993. Currently he is the only Italian player to have scored in three World Cups and is tied for the most World Cup goals by an Italian.

Baggio stated that this miss was his worst moment in sports, affecting him for years. Later he came to terms with it, stating that "penalties are missed by only those with the courage to take them".

Rossi's career occurred before this World Cup and Totti was not yet on the national team. Buffon also was a more recent player and as goalkeeper, would not have been called on to take a penalty kick at this stage.

Answer: Received a red card

David Beckham received a red card and was sent off after petulantly kicking Diego Simeone of Argentina. Simeone had committed a hard foul on Beckham and roughed him up while he was on the ground; and then put on a histrionic performance to draw the red card.

An earlier wonder goal by precocious striker Michael Owen of England, when he wove through several defenders for over 60 yards, caused the Argentine's to play defensively, negating their one-man advantage. A potential England game-winning goal in the last minute was disallowed, leaving the game tied 2-2. Eventually England lost in penalty kicks, ending one of their best chances to repeat as World Cup champions.

Beckham received most of the blame for the loss to a bitter rival, magnified by the fairly recent Falkland War and Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. After years of abuse by fans and papers, Sir David redeemed himself by scoring a free kick goal in the dying seconds of a World Cup qualifier game against Greece, without which England would have been left home.

Answer: Jose Canseco

Jose Canseco played Major League baseball for over 16 years, winning Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and two World Series championships. Born in Cuba, he and his family moved to Miami when he was an infant. He was one of the most accomplished home run hitters of his time, although that accomplishment was tainted by his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Canseco lost sight of ball hit by Martinez as he went to the warning track near the fence. The ball hit him on the top of his head and bounced over the wall, making it one of the most-watched bloopers in American sports. Three days later Canseco committed a more serious mistake when he convinced his manager to let him pitch in a game the Rangers were losing badly. He injured his arm and would not play again that year.

Answer: Guarded Wilt Chamberlain in his 100 point game

On March 2, 1962 Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers scored 100 points against the New York Knicks in a game held in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The regular Knicks center Phil Jordon was unavailable to guard Chamberlain, and the task fell primarily to Darrall Imhoff and his backup Cleveland Buckner.

Imhoff was regarded as a strong defensive player and had led the University of California to an NCAA basketball championship in 1959 and had won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics. Buckner was a smaller player, but a better shooter than Imhoff. Chamberlain had 23 points in the first quarter, 18 more in the second, and 28 in the third. In the fourth quarter Philadelphia almost exclusively passed the ball to Wilt to let him set the record.

He made 36 field goals from 63 shots and hit 28 out of his 32 free throws ( a shockingly high percentage for him). Imhoff, plagued by foul trouble, scored only 7 points; and Buckner scored 33. As a personal sidelight, his daughter Annette Buckner Davis was a classmate of one of our sons and a beach volleyball Olympian, teaming with Rafer Johnson's daughter Jenny.

Answer: Chris Webber

Chris Webber rebounded a free throw miss by an opponent North Carolina player. In somewhat of a panic he brought the ball up court, saved by officials missing his walking violations. He dribbled into a corner and was trapped by two defensive players and instinctively called a timeout to retain possession.

North Carolina made the free throws from the technical foul and received possession.

Webber bravely faced the media afterwards and answered their questions. Reportedly he was sobbing on the team bus returning them to the hotel and reportedly has refused to talk to anyone about the incident since then.

Opposition coach Dean Smith has said that his players had three fouls available before Michigan would have had the opportunity to shoot free throws, and Webber's mistake wouldn't have affected the result.

Answer: Tim Hardaway Sr.

Tim Hardaway was an NBA All Star five times in his career and played on the USA Olympic team in 2000. He was the 14th pick in the 1989 player draft and played until 2003. He had a career high average of 23 points in the 1991-1992 season and usually averaged over 15 points per game. However, during his career season he missed all 17 shots he took against the Minnesota team.

Answer: Roberto De Vicenzo

Roberto De Vicenzo was an Argentinian golfer who had just won the British Open. He and Bob Goalby were tied for the championship before De Vicenzo signed his scorecard and that of his playing partner Tommy Aaron. Aaron had incorrectly marked De Vicenzo's score on the 17th hole as a par, rather than a birdie; and by rule the higher of the two scorecards was used. Ironically Goalby had caught and corrected a similar error when he had marked an incorrect score for his partner Raymond Floyd.

De Vicenzo won 8 PGA tournaments and 9 on the European circuit, including the 1967 British Open. He also won numerous Argentine and Latin American tournaments, as well as having success on the Senior circuit.

Answer: Jean van de Velde

Van de Velde was a French golfer with limited success on the European circuit, having won the Roma tournament in 1993. He was having the tournament of his dreams on the difficult Carnoustie course, having played nearly error-free golf the entire week. He needed only a two-over-par score on the 18th hole that he had birdied the previous two rounds.

His drive landed near the water course and he took an aggressive second shout which bounced off a wall into deep rough. The rough affected his third shot which landed in the burn or small waterway. Panic set in and it looked for a while that he would attempt to hit the ball out of the shallow water. Eventually he took and penalty drop, but hit the next shot into a bunker, He would make a six foot putt to salvage a playoff spot, where he would lose.

Answer: Bill Shoemaker

Bill Shoemaker was one of the top American horse racing jockeys, at one time holding the record for the most wins by a jockey. During his career he rode to 11 victories in the Tripe Crown races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes). Some of the famous horses he rode were Swaps, Round Table, Gallant Man, Sword Dancer, Forego, John Henry, and Silky Sullivan.

To casual horse racing fans his most famous race was his loss in the 1957 Kentucky Derby on board of Gallant Man. Gallant Man had a lead in the final stretch until Shoemaker misjudged the finish line and stood up in his stirrups to slow the horse, allowing Iron Liege to pass it. The horse would revenge itself with an 8 length victory in the Belmont.

Answer: Lost lead in final lap under unusual circomstances

Robby Gordon raced in the Indianapolis 500 between 1993 and 2004, where he developed a reputation for aggressive driving. Eventually he left the open wheel CART racing series for other motor sports. His brush with fame at Indianapolis occurred in 1999 when he led the race going into the last lap when he decided to skip the final pit stop and passed the race leaders. The strategy almost worked, but Gordon ran out of fuel on the next to last turn on the final lap nad lost the race.

J.R. Hildebrand has raced in several Indianapolis 500 races since his debut in 201i. In his debut race, he was leading on the final lap, On the final turn of the last lap, he attempted to pass a slower car and skidded into the track wall. Despite damage to the car, including the loss of a wheel, Hildebrand lost the race but managed to cross the finish line second to the winner Dan Wheldon.

Answer: Colorado vs Missouri

Highly ranked Colorado University was playing at Missouri and was trailing 31-27 with about 3 minutes left in the game. They drove down the field and were just short of the goal line with one timeout left and 40 seconds remaining to play.

Colorado spiked the ball (an incomplete pass) on first down to stop the clock. A running play was stopped short of a touchdown, and their final timeout was called. At this time, the first error occurred when the sideline marker was not updated to third down. Colorado ran another unsuccessful run and then spiked the ball again. This used all four downs or plays they should have been allowed; and the ball should be given to the opponent. The confused referees allowed Colorado another play on which they scored the winning touchdown.

To compound their error, the referees then realized their mistake and conferred for 20 minutes before deciding to allow the score to count.

Colorado had two other controversial refereeing decisions in their favor on their way to a share of the national championship: a controversial touchdown call in their favor in the last minute against Stanford and a disputed call that nullified a potential game-winning punt return touchdown by Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl

Answer: Lost a set without scoring a point

Errani lost what is called a Golden Set to Yaroslava Shvedova, when she failed to score a single point while losing the first set 6-0. The Golden Set is extremely rare in top-level tournament tennis, having occurred only one other time in the main draw of top-level events (Scanlon over Hocevar in 1983).

Errani rallied in the second set, but lost that by a score of 6-4. Her highest Grand Slam finish was a loss in the 2012 French Open. Errani and tennis partner Roberta Vinci have won five Grand Slam doubles events and finished second three other times.

Answer: Chicago Cubs

October 14,2003 changed Steve Bartman's life forever. The Chicago Cubs had a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning when a fly ball headed toward Bartman in the left field foul line seats. He reached out to catch the ball, deflecting it from the Cubs outfielder. The opposition scored 8 runs that inning to win the game. In the final game of the series Chicago lost another lead and lost the chance to play in theWorld Series.

Bartman had to be escorted from the field while the game was still in progress due to threats and debris thrown at him. He received police protection and eventually moved from Chicago. He has declined interviews, personal appearances, and lucrative deals since then. The foul ball was retrieved by another spectator and sold for over $100,000 and later destroyed in a public ceremony.