Sport Stars of the South Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jennifer Chandler

Jennifer Chandler was born on June 13, 1959. She demonstrated her diving competition skills in 1975, when she won the gold medal at the Pan American games, and again in 1976 at the Olympic Games. At the climax of her spring boarding career, a bad back caused Chandler to retire at age 21.

Answer: Dizzy Dean

Dean, who was born on January 16, 1910, played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1930 to 1937. In a single game, he struck out 17 Chicago Cubs, which set a National League record. He made the All-Star team in four consecutive years 1934 through 1937. Dean was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Answer: Steve Garvey

Steven Patrick Garvey played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969 to 1982. He then switched to the MLB team, San Diego Padres, playing from 1983 until 1987. Garvey was born December 22, 1948, in Tampa.

Answer: Sugar Ray Robinson

According to his birth certificate, Walker Smith Jr., better known as, "Sugar Ray" Robinson, was born May 3, 1921, in Ailey, Georgia. Other famous boxers such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard, all proclaimed him as the greatest boxer of all-time.

After a short period of retirement, he returned to the ring in 1958 and regained the middleweight championship title. Robinson died on April 12, 1989. The International Boxing Hall of Fame inducted him in 1990.

Answer: Freddie Spencer

Spencer, who was called Fast Freddie by his fans, was born December 20, 1961. By executing his break-neck speed, he won three world championships in the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships in 1985. His lifelong dream was achieved when he won the Belgium 500cc Grand Prix on July 4, 1982. Freddie retired from his competitive cycling career in 1996.

Answer: Denver Brackeen

Charlie Denver Brackeen was born February 10, 1931. He was an all-state player while in high school, and then in 1949, he enlisted in the Mississippi National Guard and enrolled at East Central Junior College. While there, he was chosen most valuable player in the nation and many other merits.

His distinctive awards became insurmountable when he attended the University of Mississippi. He received the SEC Player of the Year, SEC's Most Valuable Player awards and was chosen as All-American, just to name a few.

In 1955, the New York Knicks drafted Brackeen where he professionally played center for the NBA team until 1958. Afterwards, he returned home and served as the basketball coach at his alma mater. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 as well as numerous others over the years.

In his military career, he ascended to Brigadier General with just as many honors and medals as he had in playing on the court. Denver lost his battle with cancer on May 29, 2006 at the age of 75.

Answer: Dale Earnhardt

Dale was born April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where he grew up in a poverty way of life. However, he changed that with his successful 26-year career, winning 76 races. Dale was nicknamed the Intimidator for inflicting damage along his way, yet sustaining plenty of his own. Named Driver of the Year five times, he was cited as being one of the most popular and all-time top drivers in stock car history. Earnhardt led his team to victory by claiming the title of seven-time Winston Cup champion. On February 18, 2001 at Daytona 500, the racing world lost their legendary #3 hero because of an accident on the last lap.

His family accepted his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002.

Answer: Althea Gibson

This excellent tennis champion was born in Silver, South Carolina, near Sumter, on August 25, 1927. Her accomplishments included being the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1956, and earning a title when she won the All-England Women's singles at Wimbledon in 1957. Determined to keep her title, she once again won at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon Championship in 1958.

She retired from her illustrious career in 1962. Gibson was inducted into the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.

At the age of 76, she died on September 28, 2003.

Answer: Wilma Rudolph

Wilma Glodean Rudolph was born June 23, 1940, in Clarksville, Tennessee. She contracted infantile paralysis, a form of polio, which forced her to wear a brace for her twisted right leg and foot. In 1952, at the age of 12, she overcame her crippling handicap and emerged as one of America's most powerful and fastest female sprinters.

In the summer of 1960 at the Olympics in Rome, Italy, she won her titles when she ran the 100-meter dash in a remarkable eleven seconds flat. She set a new Olympic record at 23.2 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Last, but not least, Rudolph set a world record in the 400-meter relay for 44.5 seconds. Astonishingly, she did all this by running on a sprained ankle! She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, and later into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1994. Wilma died with cancer in 1994, at the age of 54.

Answer: Don Meredith

Joseph Don Meredith was born in Mount Vernon, Texas, on April 10, 1938. He was contracted in 1960 as the first quarterback for the newly organized team, the Dallas Cowboys, which was headed by Coach Tom Landry. "Dandy Don", the nickname given to him by his squad, was credited with the Bert Bell Award as, "Pro Player of the Year" in 1966 with several more honors to proceed.

After Meredith retired from the legendary Texas team in 1968, he joined the commentator cast in 1970. The trendy trio partners of sportscasters for "ABC's Monday Night Football" also included Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell.

He retired from that occupation in 1984. Meredith was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.