Crisis Management Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vince Lombardi

All of the answer options had trophies named after them. The Heisman trophy is awarded in college football, the Stanley Cup is awarded in ice hockey and the Jules Rimet trophy was awarded in football to the World Cup winner until it was changed in 1974. Lombardi declared at his introductory press conference in Green Bay, "I've never been associated with a loser and I don't expect to be now".

Lombardi's stance was felt immediately, with the franchise posting a respectable 7-5 record which left them tied for 3rd in the NFL Western Division. In 1960 the team would reach their first NFL Championship under his stewardship but would lose to the Philadelphia Eagles. This would be the first and only championship loss of his career. They would win the next two, finish second for two years after that and then win three in a row from 1965-1967, including the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi's life was cut short in 1970 after he passed away due to colon cancer. The Super Bowl trophy was named after him in September 1970 and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

Answer: Twickenham

While the Harlequins don't play their home games at Twickenham Stadium like the England national team, they play just half a mile away at Twickenham Stoop.

"If the Harlem Globetrotters played rugby, it would look a bit like this" claimed former England back turned pundit Austin Healey, describing Harlequins' mercurial, attacking style of play. The club had climbed into fourth position due to strong home form, winning eight straight games at home and scoring the most points of anyone in the division. This feat earned them a spot in the play-offs, where they would go on to defeat table-toppers Bristol Bears 43-36 in the semi finals after being 28-0 down in 28 minutes. Harlequins grinded down their opposition, winning in the 20th minute of extra-time, largely due to Bristol being reduced to 13 men as Radradra and Harry Thacker could not continue due to sheer exhaustion. The next weekend, Harlequins would contest the final against Exeter Chiefs, a side that defeated them 33-3 in the opening weekend of the season, when Harlequins were managed by their old boss Gustard. Of course another, albeit slightly less dramatic, comeback was on the cards in the final. Five points down with ten minutes to play, Louis Lynagh scored two tries in five minutes to give the Quins a nine point lead and despite a late attempt at a comeback of their own Exeter could not replicate their opponents' success and Harlequins were crowned champions after a remarkable season.

Harlequins FC were a real case study for teams in any sport that you perhaps do not need one omniscient coach. If you spread the responsibility to expert individuals and give the players some power and input, success can come. You could say Harlequins cut the Gustard because Gustard couldn't cut the mustard. If you've read to this point, I'm sorry.

Answer: Kansas State University

In his first press conference in late 1988, Snyder described the situation as a "tremendous challenge" and claimed that "the opportunity for the greatest turnaround for college football exists here today and it's not one to be taken lightly."

To truly put his achievements into perspective, Bill Snyder inherited a team that had only ever been to one bowl game, yet by 2003 they had played in eleven consecutive Bowl games under his stewardship winning 6 of them. They had not won a conference title since 1934 yet won two Big 12 conference titles in 2003 and 2012. Sports Illustrated called them "America's most hapless team" the year he joined, yet they were anything but when Snyder's work was done.

The KSU stadium was renamed the 'Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium' in 2005 and he was inducted into the 'College Football Hall of Fame' in 2015. Fellow Hall of Famer and Super Bowl winning coach Barry Switzer described Snyder as "the coach of the century".

Answer: Bournemouth

Blackpool, Bury and Burnley are all towns in the not so sunny north of the UK.

AFC Bournemouth began the 2008-09 season on -17 points (for those unfamiliar with the UK football system this would mean they would need six wins just to match what every other club would get from one draw in the league system) as a punishment for being declared insolvent for the second time in two years and failing to follow the required protocol for exiting administration. After narrowly escaping relegation on the final day, Bournemouth won promotion to League 1 the following season. Howe would leave to join Burnley in January 2011.

Not content with just one piece of crisis management, Howe returned in October 2012 with the club languishing near the bottom of League 1. He would turn their season around and win promotion into the Championship. In the 2014-15 season Bournemouth achieved the unthinkable and won the Championship to earn promotion into the Premier League for the first time in their history. Howe was also named the "EFL Manager of the Decade" at the end of the season. He would go on to lead Bournemouth to five years of safety, including a 9th place finish, but the Cherries would be relegated at the end of the 2020-21 season with Howe leaving by mutual consent in August 2021.

Answer: Pittsburgh Penguins

Remarkably, the Zanesville Zebras do not exist. Although upon researching a city in the United States beginning with Z I discovered it wouldn't be Zanesville's first brush with exotic animals. In 2011, Terry Thompson set free 50 of the 56 exotic animals he had collected at his private zoo, before committing suicide. 48 of the animals were killed by local police and 2 more were presumed eaten by the other animals. Back to the ice...

Dan Bylsma started the 2008/09 season as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's AHL affiliates. On the 15th of February he received a phone call from GM Ray Shero and the next day he was the youngest coach in the NHL and on the sidelines for a narrow shootout loss to the New York Islanders. He would record his first victory three days later, lead the Penguins to victory in five away games in a row to start March 2009 and clinch the fourth seed playoff spot the following month. Bylsma's record of 40 points (18-3-4) in his first 25 games was the second most of any coach in NHL history, just behind Todd McLellan who recorded 43 in the same season.

In the playoffs the Penguins would defeat cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers at their arena to clinch a playoff series victory. The Penguins would defeat the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals in June 2009, getting revenge for their loss the previous year. In doing so Bylsma became just the 14th rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup and the 2nd to have taken over in the middle of a season.

Answer: Ivan Lendl

While all the incorrect options were Czech players, only Lendl was an eight-time grand slam winning male tennis player. Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol were both players of Murray's era who he and his team have clashed with. His wife Kim was seen mouthing an obscenity directed towards Berdych at the 2015 Australian Open. Murray also famously said "No one likes you on the tour, everybody hates you" to Rosol at the Munich Open in 2015 after the Czech appeared to barge into him at the change of ends.

Sir Andy Murray would achieve the majority of his major success under the guidance of Lendl across three stints, with the Brit winning two Olympic gold medals, two Wimbledon titles in 2013 and 2016 and the aforementioned US Open in 2012. Murray would become the world number one in the most competitive era tennis has ever seen in late 2016, much to the detriment of his body. A hip injury that was aggravated in 2017 led to Murray needing a hip surgery in 2018. After the first procedure did little to alleviate his pain, Murray opted for a hip resurfacing surgery in 2019. Doubles player Bob Bryan recommended the procedure after it prolonged his career but the additional physical demands needed to play singles meant it could well have meant the end of his tennis career. Ever the fighter, Murray returned in June 2019, winning the Queens Club Championship doubles with Feliciano Lopez.

He would reunite with Lendl for a third time in 2022 and reach the third round of the 2023 Australian Open after prevailing through the longest match of his career to that point, a 5 hour 45 minute epic against Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis, in the second round. Not bad on one hip!

Answer: Ross Brawn

Brawn's motorsport journey began in 1976 as a milling machine operator for the now defunct March Engineering Formula One constructor. Working his way up through the ranks as a designer, he became the technical director of Benetton in 1991. After seeing Schumacher race for Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix as a last-minute replacement for Bertrand Gachot who had been arrested for aggravated assault, Benetton hired Schumacher to race for them. This was made a lot easier due to Brawn's pre-existing relationship with Schumacher, the Brit had known the German "since he was racing prototypes". He would go on to mastermind and strategise two Schumacher wins in 1994 and 1995 before following the German to Ferrari in 1997.

Despite Williams and McLaren having a better car between 1997 and 2001, Brawn built a competitive team through a combination of his racing strategy and the talent of one of the all time great Formula One drivers in Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won three consecutive Constructors' Championships from 1999-2001 and back to back Drivers' Championships in 2000 and 2001.

Brawn collaborated with chief designer Rory Byrne for the 2002 season on the F2002 car, which would go on to be one of the most successful Ferrari cars of all time winning 15 out of 19 races in that season and more success followed. Ferrari would win three more Constructors' and Drivers Championships from 2002-2004. This success led to Byrne, Brawn, Schumacher and team principal Jean Todt being widely regarded as a "dream team".

Answer: Chicago Bears

Ditka joined the Bears in 1961 when he was selected fifth in the NFL draft. Founder, owner and head coach George Halas utilised him as a tight end and he would revolutionise the position, becoming the first tight end to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His time as a player with the Bears and relationship with Halas would end acrimoniously over a pay dispute and he would join the Eagles in 1967, the Cowboys in 1969 and finish his career in 1972, going on to become the assistant coach of the Cowboys in 1973.

It was during this time Ditka sent a letter to Halas explaining his regret over the manner of his departure and that he would like to become Bears head coach when he was ready to do so. In 1982, Halas took him up on the offer and hired him as head coach. In a 2006 interview with the NFL Network, Mike Singletary, the Bears' middle linebacker, would describe the reaction towards Ditka's appointment as overwhelmingly negative. Doubts amongst the players and coaches about Ditka's temperament were prevalent but Singletary and the players were convinced when Ditka promised "Give me three years, and if you walk with me, we'll get to the dance.". "That was when we knew this was the guy we needed", Singletary said.

It may have taken four years but it was worth the wait. The 1985 Chicago Bears team were one of the all time greats. They finished the season with a 15-1 record, recorded shutout wins in the divisional playoffs and NFC Championship and a 46-10 win in Super Bowl XX against Ditka's former team, the Dallas Cowboys. Ditka was subsequently named the NFL Coach of the Year.

The 1985 Bears side were famed for their defensive record, mostly a result of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan's work. Ditka and Ryan had a fractured relationship and even came to physical blows after the teams' only loss of the season against the Miami Dolphins. Ryan would leave in 1986 to become the Philadelphia Eagles head coach, much to Ditka's elation. You could say the two Bears were Polar opposites. This is why you read the Interesting Information.

Answer: UConn

If you didn't get the hint, UConn is a homophone of Yukon, a Canadian territory. The other three options were all teams UConn have defeated in Championship games. "If I can be part of a team the rest of my life, then I'm going to be a lucky guy and I've tried to do that all of my life - be part of a team." - Geno Auriemma.

Famed for his focus on team spirit and mentality, Auriemma became the winningest coach in college basketball history in the 2015 season when the UConn Huskies sealed their eleventh championship. Perhaps the peak of his reign was the NCAA Championship victory in the 2013-14 season when they faced fellow unbeaten team, Notre Dame. Led on the court by future two time NBA finals MVP and all-American athlete Breanna Stewart who started all 40 games, UConn won all their 40 games by a margin of double figures and sealed victory over their previously undefeated opponents 79-58 in the championship game.

Furthermore, Auriemma has gone on to achieve international coaching success at professional level, coaching the USA women's basketball team to four gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 World Championships and the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He was also the assistant coach for the USA's 2000 Olympics win.

Answer: Claudio Ranieri

All three incorrect options were fellow Premier League winning managers. Jose Mourinho is Portuguese, Sir Alex Ferguson is Scottish and Pep Guardiola is Spanish. "Why can't we continue to run, run, run? We are like Forrest Gump. Leicester is Forrest Gump" - Claudio Ranieri.

Leicester City hired the Italian in the summer of 2015. A prolific journeyman manager, Ranieri had coached a plethora of Italian giants, such as Juventus, Napoli, Roma and Inter Milan and was manager of Chelsea FC from 2000-2004. Immediately upon his appointment at Leicester, he used his tactical nous to move away from a three at the back system, which had given Leicester temporary success at the end of the previous season, and focused on a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 formation which they used in 35 of their 38 league games. Two banks of four solid defenders and midfielders would allow the team to defend deep and hit teams on the counter attack, using the electric pace of Jamie Vardy and the ingenuity of Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, who would go on to be the PFA Player of the Year, to devastating effect. Their average possession figure of 42.43% is by far the lowest of any Premier League champion with Ranieri getting the absolute maximum out of the players at his disposal. Perhaps the smartest signing under Ranieri's stewardship was little-known French midfielder N'Golo Kante, whose relentless work rate and pressing set the tone for the rest of the team. Kante joined Chelsea FC in the summer of 2016, won the league title and was PFA Player of the Year.

Leicester City rode a wave of momentum (hence the Forrest Gump comparison) that did not stop until they won the title. Ranieri would refuse to talk about title aspirations until four games before the end of the season, keeping the pressure off his group of players. His man management was further emphasised by a promise to buy pizza for all of his players when they kept a clean sheet. "I told them, if you keep a clean sheet, I'll buy pizza for everybody. I think they're waiting for me to offer a hot dog too." Leicester finally got that clean sheet on October 1st 2015 against Crystal Palace and Ranieri kept his promise, taking the team to Leicester eatery Peter Pizzeria and turned the reward into a team bonding session with the players having to make their own pizzas together before eating them. Ranieri emphasised the most important ingredient for the club was "team spirit", and the second most important was to "enjoy the training sessions".

I distinctly remember a conversation with a friend, who supports Leicester City, during the 2014-15 season. I praised Riyad Mahrez, who had only scored four goals in that season, as a talented player and one to watch. He dismissed this. The following year he was a Premier League title winner and the PFA Player of the Season. As incredible as Ranieri's achievement was I can't help but feel as though they could have saved a lot of money by making me the manager instead.