Who Said That? Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Playoffs? Don't talk about-playoffs?! You kidding me? Playoffs?!

Obviously angry and bitter, Mora attended his required post-game press conference. He absolved his defense but pointed out that teams can't win with five turnovers. He surely did not want to be there and when asked about the team's possibility for a playoff berth, Mora, lost what emotional grip he had, and shouted his response. This a You-Tube favorite.

Jim Mora learned his coaching craft with stops at Occidental, Stanford, Colorado, UCLA, and Washington. After serving on several NFL staffs, he became the head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1986 where he remained for 9 and a half years, resigning in mid-season after a 2-6 W-L start. Migrating to Indianapolis, he made his 2001 team his last year as head coach. Overall, as an NFL coach he had a record of 125-106 W-L. His teams made the playoffs 6 times with a 0-6 W-L record. No, the 2001 Colts did not make the playoffs that year.

Answer: Bill Terry

This remark was made in January 1934 prior to spring training. Although it incensed Brooklyn fans, its record for 1934 was 71-81, 23 games behind. However, while in a heated pennant race between the Giants and the Cardinals, the Giants lost the last two games of the season to Brooklyn and settled for second place. Poetic irony. Bill Terry was one the great first baseman of his time.

He was the last National League player to hit over .400 (401). Terry signed baseballs "Bill Terry .401". He continued with Giants for five years as manager/player and another five years as manager amassing a 823-661 W-L record.

Answer: John McEnroe

McEnroe was playing Tom Gullikson in the 1981 Wimbledon tournament when he made this outburst. McEnroe would go on, however, to win the singles title. McEnroe joked once that it became expected for him to have an outburst during a tourney as he feared being docked prize money if he didn't. McEnroe was the number one ranked tennis player for much of his career.

He had a record of eight singles and doubles wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He has been a color commentator for tennis tourneys, appeared as himself in numerous television programs, and for awhile had his own talk show.

Answer: Jim Valvano

At the 1993 "Arthur Ashe Courage Award" ceremony, Jim Valvano made his famous acceptance speech. Only lasting ten minutes, it has the power to make you laugh, cry, and be inspired. Among other things, he announced the beginning of the "Jimmy V. Fund for Cancer Research".

Dick Vitale introduced Valvano. Valvano was so weak that Vitale had to help him to the podium. Once there, Valvano showed the fire of this basketball coaching career. Valvano coached at Rutgers, John Hopkins, Bucknell, Iona, and North Carolina State, compiling a life time record of 346 wins with 210 losses. He led his teams to eight NCAA Tournaments, winning the National Championship in 1983. Valvano succumbed to cancer eight weeks after his inspiring speech.

Answer: Satchel Paige

Paige kept his age a guessing game. It is generally believed that he was 42 when he signed with Cleveland and was primarily used as a relief pitcher. With the Saint Louis Browns (1951-53) he got a chance to start and relieve. His career line for his tour of the major league is not overly impressive but his background as a barnstorming pitcher and the Negro Leagues is legendary.

He literally toured the globe with his pitching prowess, often facing major leaguers in pick-up teams. After retiring in 1953, he returned in 1965 at the age of 59 to pitch three innings for the Kansas City Athletics, allowing one hit, no runs, and one strikeout.

Answer: Cassius Clay

Clay (later Mohammad Ali) made this statement for the first time in an interview just prior to the Clay/Liston fight. Shortly after winning the championship and encouraged by such leaders as Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, Clay joined the Nations of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali and sought draft deferment of the basis of being a conscientious objector. This was not popular with the powers in the boxing world or the general public but made him an icon of the counter-culture of that era. Having no boxing license, he took his case to the Supreme Court and won, but it cost him his world title and three years of his career.

As a relentless self promoter, he brought 'trash talk' to a new level of refinement, chastising his opponents unabating. In the intervening years he has become an international celebrity. Ali developed Parkinson's Disease believed caused by too many blows to the head. Ali had 61 professional fights, winning 56, with 37 by knockout.

Answer: Yogi Berra

Born Lawrence Peter Berra, a teammate said he looked like a Hindu yogi when he crouched behind the plate and the nickname stuck. He grew up in Saint Louis along with two other notables, Joe Garagiola and Jack Buck.

Berra is one of the most highly regarded catchers in major league history. His 19 years as a player resulted in a lifetime batting average of .285 with 358 home runs and 1430 runs batted in. His value also rested in his ability to manage pitchers for which there is not numerical measure. He was the Most Valuable Player in the American League three times--1951-54-55. Berra became coy about the things he was reported to have said with mixed metaphors, spoonerisms, and malaprops. His comment was "I really didn't say everything I said." But he wrote a book with that title.

Answer: Vince Lombardi

UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell ("Red") Sanders first said "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" in 1950. However, in popular culture it is most often attributed to Vince Lombardi. Lombardi served a long apprenticeship before he was hired as head coach for the Green Bay Packers in 1959. There he amassed a nine year record of six conference titles, five NFL championships, and won the first two Super Bowls. Overall he had a 89 win, 29 loss, and 4 ties. The present Super Bowl trophy bears his name.

When Lombardi said that winning was everything, he was not talking directly about the final score. He was talking about character. If you leave the field knowing that you have prepared for the game and played your best then you will have won through dignity and hard work regardless of the outcome. This was the message that he brought to his players.

Answer: Goooooaallll!!!

Andres Cantor was born of Jewish parents escaping the Nazis in Argentina. Later they migrated to the USA when Andres was in his teens and he graduated from the University of Southern California. His career lead him into Spanish language television. Although the elongated 'goal' was sometimes heard in Latin America, it was fresh to those in the northern hemisphere. Cantor first used it 1990 but it became a world hit at the World Cup in 1994.

This resulted in several television appearances and elevation to celebrity status. Cantor works mostly with Spanish language soccer broadcasts but does other sports as well.

He has won numerous awards in his broadcasting career. You can buy "Goooooall" as a ringtone.

Answer: Bob Uecker

Uecker has spun a fine career out of his six years in the majors. His lifetime batting average was .200, with 14 home runs and 74 runs batted in. His last year was 1967 when he played for three teams batting .152,.171, and .142. Atlanta gave him his final release.

But Uecker bounced back. With his great sense of humor, he found himself a guest on talk shows--particularly Johnny Carson. In 1985 he was cast as the father in the sitcom "Mr. Belvedere" that lasted for five years. He played the tipsy announcer in the three "Major League" films. He returned to broadcasting as the radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. There are three statues in front of Miller Park: Robin Yount, Bud Selig, and "Mr. Baseball" Bob Uecker. Uecker was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2001 and in 2003, he received the Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to broadcasting. Uecker joined the broadcast booth of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971. People would mute their TVs and play Uecker's radio commentary.

Answer: Chi-Chi Rodríguez

Rodriquez was born poor and found a job as a caddie to help his family. He made his first golf clubs from tree limbs. He became known when he entered professional golf ranks in 1950 as a player with a great sense of humor. For instance, when he made a birdie or eagle, he would put his hat on top the hole so the ball didn't come out.

Other golfers asked him not to do that so then he changed it to a bullfighter routine. Rodriguez had success on the tour winning eight important tourneys between 1963 and 1979.

He became eligible for the Senior Tour in 1986 and won 22 tourneys between 1986 and 1993.

Answer: Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick started racing go-carts as a child. She moved to England to go to race car driving school. She worked her way up to the Indycar circuit and won a race in Japan. Lured by the money of NASCAR, she left Indycar after six years and joined the Nationwide Series in 2010 and then the Sprint Car Series in 2012.

Although there were women racers before her, Patrick had more success e.g. the first female to win pole position for the Daytona 500, which she achieved in in the 2013 race.

Answer: Allen Iverson

After the 76ers lost to Celtics in the playoffs, coach Larry Brown criticized Allen Iverson for missing team practices. Iverson responded by the rant in which he used the word 'PRACTICE' twenty times. It was funny at the time but perhaps unprofessional. Later, Iverson and Brown declared that they had a positive relationship but it played a part in Brown being fired.

Allen Iverson was one of the greatest shooting guards of all time. Three times he lead the NBA in scoring and ended with a 26.7 career per game average. Hard times fell upon Iverson after retirement. On August 14, 2014 he was found begging for change at an Atlanta mall. The security guard who detained him said it broke his heart to see what had happened to his childhood hero. Iverson spent his money on jewelry, expensive cars, and other frivolous purchases. In 2012, a Georgia judge garnished his wages $859,896. Ironically, Iverson has a 30 million dollar trust fund but it is frozen until he is 55.

Answer: Babe Didrikson Zaharias

The list is long of Babe's achievements. Here are a few of the highlights.

1. At the 1932 AAU Championships, she won five events, setting world records for the javelin throw, 80-meter hurdles, high jump, and baseball throw. Her 'team' won the event although she was sole member.
2. Taking up golf in 1935, she went on to win 42 LPGA titles, She often competed in men events.
3. Zaharias played organized baseball and softball, was an expert diver, roller-skater, and bowler. She won two gold medals and one silver medal for track and field in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.
4.In 1931 she lead her AAU basketball team to a national title. Later she would play for the House of David barnstorming basketball team.
5. She tried pocket billiards with moderate success. Babe could sing, dance, and play the harmonica that constituted her vaudeville act and led to recordings.
6.Babe designed and sewed her own clothes. She was very proud when her sewing won the blue ribbon at the South Texas State Fair.

In 1956 she met an opponent that she could not defeat--colon cancer. However, the won two more golf titles after the diagnosis.

Answer: Nadia Comãneci

All though only 14, Comãneci became the star of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal. Her uneven bars performance was scored perfect ten. The electronic scoreboard was gaged to go only to 9.99 so it read 1.00 (the decimal point was fixed). The crowd was confused but when the score was announced by public address system, they roared their approval. Comaneci had some image problems later as she adored fashionable clothes and makeup.

Her relationship with a married father of four did not help. With help, she repositioned herself, became an American citizen, and married in 1996.

She retained her dual citizenships with both the USA and Romania.